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2002 was a busy year for Michael Knott. He did a limited release of the rock album Comatose Soul and a full release of the acoustic project Hearts of Care on Northern Records.

This is a very different album from Comatose Soul. Noah and Beth Reimer of Ticklepenny Corner provide help on additional guitar, harmonica, violin, and background vocals. The sound is very earthy and acoustic. As anyone who has heard Michael Knott knows, he can pull off the unplugged thing very well.

Hearts of Care is a pleasant listen from start to finish. The album opener "Detox Radio Station" was written while Knott was lamenting the death of longtime friend and musical companion Gene Eugene: "Sippin' on coffee with gold was my old destination/ Lying in a life so sold it was always mistaken/ Praying for a chance to get out of this deadly vacation/ I can't see you now cause you're outside of this padded wall." The song "Wasting Time" is another highlight as Beth Reimer shares lead vocals with Knott in one of the best duets in recent memory.

The focus of the lyrics is love. You can tell as the album progresses that Knott has experienced his ups and downs in this area of life. As the album begins to draw to an end, it takes a turn into Knott's more depressive side on "Nothin' Is Roses": _Nothin' is roses/ Sink a little deeper now/ I want to climb but I don't know how/ Nothing is roses/ There's no thorn to make me bleed/ There's no beauty to make me need/ And I still dream about you and I wish we could work it out some way/ Someday soon._"
 
The album's closing song "Hammers and Nails" confirms Knott's faith that things will work out: "And I'll walk this road even if you're not going/ This love is still growing, it's ringing like bells/ Just listen straight at me, hear my whispering failings/ That's why I'm singing/ His love never fails."

This is a great album for any fan of Michael Knott, Ticklepenny Corner, or acoustic music in general. It is to be played during happy or sad times since it seems to encompass both emotions and spread them out equally across a musical canvas that is pure Michael Knott. 

Trae Cadenhead 3/15/2003