Search - Big Sugar :: Heated

Tends to Drag

acnoth | Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada | 06/20/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Gordie Johnson goes back to his guitar hero persona with a vengeance with this CD, but he may have been better served to rely more heavily on the talents of the saxophone and harmonica (especially harmonica) of Kelly Hoppe. Big Sugar had their biggest artistic triumph with the blues guitar and wailing harp of "500 Pounds," and they followed it up reasonably well with "Hemi-Vision." "Heated" is a step back. Not one of the tracks is weak, but there is nothing definitive about any of them. In fact, the best track on the CD is a cover of Randy Bachman's "Let it Ride." It sounds great, but it's hardly cutting edge. That's the problem with this CD; there's really nothing on it that hasn't been said before and to greater effect. Johnson's breakout CD was his blues-rock "500 Pounds." While I understand that he may not want to be pegged as just a blues artist, he may want to stick a bit closer to these roots so that he doesn't continue to lose his focus."