[Though the songs on Lightfoot's "Endless Wire"] are firmly in the rather narrow poppy side of folk in which the man specialises, there is certainly more aggression and bite here than the man's ever displayed on record before….

By his standards, this is quite a bold album … but it still doesn't go far enough to be hailed a true breakthrough.

Tepid, instantly hummable songs of introspection like "Sometimes I Don't Mind" and "Dreamland," or the trivia of "Songs The Minstrel Sang" suggest Gordie's keeping his options open and attempting to maintain the affections of middle America's pseudo-trendies on the one hand while branching out more ambitiously on the other with tracks like "If There's A Reason" (an outstanding song with an unexpectedly bluesy feel) and the commendable honesty of "Hangdog Hotel Room."… The self-portrayal of a directionless drifter in "Endless Wire" compounds the view of him as insecure...