Invoking the legacy left by the Heat’s deceased founder members Al Wilson and Bob Hite, this is the first album from the outfit reincarnated by survivors in 1999. Predictably enough, the album is a safety-first nostalgia exercise with help from past associates including Taj Mahal and the late John Lee Hooker. Stylistically it covers the blues waterfront, from Dallas Hodge’s breezy “Bad Trouble” to the firecracker revival of “Let’s Work Together”. It is not an unqualified success?Greg Kage’s insipid “That Fat Cat” pales against the seasoned favourites, and the single “Getaway” is an ill-advised excursion into radio rawk. All told, a good-natured but not particularly impressive salute to their past.
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