The Tiki Bar Is Open (2001)

This album, reuniting the master singer-songwriter with his late-'80s band the Goners, falls short of its classic predecessor, Slow Turning, but then, 13 years have elapsed. In '88 Hiatt was a newly recovered alcoholic and born-again family man, and his sky-high spirits kindled the proceedings. While the Goners are consummate roots-rock pros, this reencounter is mere Hiatt Lite, highly listenable but lacking Turning's fervor (or, for that matter, the laid-back authority of Hiatt's all-acoustic gem, Crossing Muddy Waters).

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