Return of the Boogie Men 1994 Album

Foghat

Sometime in the early 90's Peverett returned to the U.S. after a long hiatus, and reformed the original lineup of Foghat. The eventual result was Return of the Boogie Men, which sounds, and is structured like the rote, fan-friendly comeback album we all would expect from these guys. On the one hand, I guess it's a good thing they are not messing with the formula which made them famous in the first place, but on the other hand, a lot of the aura and excitement which surrounded the band is sorely missing. The new cuts collected here have that whiff of ZZ Top-inspired hokeyness to them ("Motel Shaker"), while they elect to recycle a bunch of their old tunes acoustic-style, just to reinforce the elder statesmen vibe. There was always something unique in the mood department about a Foghat album, up to this one, but here, they finally fall in line with all the generic blues clichés, and the album suffers as a whole. So, they should have stayed hidden, I'm afraid.