This is a much different album for Tim Hardin, but it is much better than most would have thought. There are no original songs on Painted Head, but the song selection is so esoteric that the listener doesn't notice much. Backed by a crack team of British musicians, Hardin works his loose magic on such cuts as Jesse Winchester's "Yankee LW," Badfinger's "Perfection," and Randy Newman's "I'll Be Home." While other cuts, such as the blues classic "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" should have worked, they come off a bit flat. While Painted Head isn't that great an album, it shows that Hardin was trying to reel in his excesses and give his career some much-needed discipline.