Half A Boy/Half A Man

04/13/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

The great thing about the blues is the way you can count on it. You can guess the chord changes. You can guess the subject matter. You can guess what it's going to sound like even before the first note. Like a reputable fast-food joint, you get what you pay for with no chance of surprise.

George Thorogood's been playing the blues for over 20 years now, covering old classics, digging up obscure gems, and sneaking in his own derivative "originals." He's made somewhere near a thousand albums that all sound alike, so if you like one, guess what? This guy couldn't come up with a new idea if his career depended on it. Good thing it doesn't. Hank Carter's "happy organ" and sax work make things festive, and George himself sounds dedicated--but, really, we've got CD reissues if we want to hear the way it was.