Boom Boom

John Lee Hooker won many new listeners with his 1989 star-studded comeback album, The Healer, and his 1992 studio album, Boom Boom, was designed as introduction to his classic songs for this new audience. It wasn't that The Healer or its 1991 follow-up, Mr. Lucky, avoided either Hooker's signature boogie or several of his signature tunes, but they were tempered by both a slicker production and newly written tunes. In contrast, Boom Boom was lean and direct, relying on such staples as "Boom Boom," "I'm Bad Like Jesse James," "Bottle Up and Go," and "I Ain't Gonna Suffer No More." This leanness is in comparison to its two immediate predecessors, of course, because Boom Boom is hardly as gritty as the original versions of these tunes. It might not feel as slick as The Healer, but it's polished and professional and filled with cameos -- but this time, the professional sound comes from the seasoned sidemen offering support and the stars here are all guitarists (or in the case of Charlie Musselwhite, a harpist) who never overshadow Hooker. Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray have never been known for their flashiness and they give their respective numbers -- "Boom Boom" and "Same Old Blues Again" -- sharp, typically tasteful leads, but even Albert Collins seems a bit restrained on "Boogie at Russian Hill" -- it's as if all involved decided to lay back and give Hook the center stage. However, he's not in a particularly energetic mood here. He's hardly lazy, but he's not inspired either, which leaves Boom Boom as a rather curious entry in his latter-day comeback catalog. The feel is better than The Healer (and certainly the subsequent Chill Out), but it's not as memorable as some of the other albums that may not have been as consistent but at least had distinguishing characteristics. Boom Boom just captures Hooker the professional -- which is good enough to modestly entertain as it plays but it leaves no real impression behind.