GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS, THE HARD STUFF CD REVIEW ON ROCK N ROLL UNIVERSE

Move it on over, George Thorogood and the Destroyers are back in 2006 with their latest release on Eagle Records,'The Hard Stuff'. George & company really get the house rocking on probably his best album since the mid 80’s. Make sure you have your bourbon,scotch and beer on hand while listening to this one, as it has the same feel as his first few releases on Rounder Records.

The title track reminds me of a heavy Fabulous Thunderbirds sound and is a great track to open the album with. Thorogood revisits his old friend Josephine as he covers the Fats Domino penned “Hello Josephine”."I Got My Eyes On You” is my favorite track on the CD, as it rocks like only Thorogood knows how. Not much lyrically went into Thorogood’s own “I Didn’t Know,” but it kind of reminds me a bit of a rocking version of Bo Diddley’s”I Can Tell”. The instrumental “Cool It” highlights the entire band and guitarist Jim Suhler really steps up and shines on this one. In the liner notes Thorogood laughs about a comment made by Bob Dylan:"Dylan dubbed Thorogood the worst. So I’ve been called the worst by the best, and that’s pretty damn good, don’t you think?”. On the CD George goes back to Dylan’s 'John Wesley Harding' album and does a great cover of Dylan’s “Drifter’s Escape”. The CD closes appropriately with a house rockin’ version of John Lee Hooker’s “Huckle Up”. The sound has a heavier, more crunching feel to it probably from the help of co-producer Jim Gaines who has worked with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Thackery and Santana. The whole CD is great and the Destroyers sound very tight. On a scale of 1-5 I give “The Hard Stuff” 4 shots of bourbon.