I've mentioned several times that honesty is one of the main things that I look for in an artist, and I was reminded of that again recently when I finally got around to listening to Ian Hunter's dazzling 2009 release, Man Overboard. I guess I had been listening to so much Mott the Hoople as I followed their surprise reunion via the internet that I ended up putting off hearing his latest album. Well, I was wrong to do so - it's great, one of his best, and it'll be in heavy rotation on my CD player for the foreseeable future. OK, now back to the point about honesty. The first track is called "The Great Escape" and it tells a vivid story, about running away from a fight with a thug, that is rare in its candor - most rock singers refer to themselves as if they're comic book characters (or something) who never back down from anything. Well, that's quite simply not the the way things really are, no matter how much some might pretend otherwise, and to put it simply, violence is the lowest form of human behaviour. Hunter's truthfulness has always set him apart, and it's always been at the center of his songwriting power. Man Overboard shows that he's continuing to prove it into his seventies. Lyrics: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Ian_Hunter:The_Great_Escape. Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoA2OJf5aRQ