Impressions: Peter Wolf, former J. Geils Band front man (“Angel Is A Centerfold,”) and WXRT favorite, has never won me over as a fan. Like John Prine, Warren Zevon, and Boz Scaggs for me, He falls into that regular guy rock/blues singer-songwriter category of interchangable white dudes that get mashed up together in my head. Completely unfair of me I know, but let’s put it on… Opens in kind of a low key sort guitars/mandolin bluesy shuffle with “Growing Pain.” Wolf’s voice doesn’t excite me but here he seems to be operating in a mature, restrained rock -n’-roll-with-roots-accents mood. With Mick Jagger singing backup, “Nothing But The Wheel” naturally sounds like a newer Stones deep cut, and actually sounds better than most latter day Stones material. Waylon Jennings pitches in on that track too. Age has given Peter Wolf a little more gravitas to his sunglass-wearing bluesy rock guy persona from the ’80s, but still bits of that annoying jivey persona slip into a few songs, like the Tom Waits-lite sounding”Homework” or the swing blues ditty with Keith Richards “Too Close Together.” He seems to fare better on the Latin-tinged “Oh Marianne” or when he performs in a more straightforward way with the title track, but I found myself sort of bored by his vocal style. If you are a fan of this guy, you probably will eat up this tasteful collection of bluesy, rock songs done up with the late-career Van Morrison formula. But for me, while the music is solid, Wolf rarely elevated the material for me.

Starred Songs: “Nothing But The Wheel,” “Sleepless”
Sneaky Track: “Oh Marianne”
Will you listen to this again? Naw.
Should this album be on the list? Eh, I wouldn’t have put it on there.
Replace with: XTC’s 1999 orchestral release Apple Venus Vol 1 is adventurous, quirky, affecting and is a much stronger late-career album than this one.
Summary: Tasteful blues/rock/roots tunes are well played with nice guest turns but I had trouble getting past Peter Wolf’s vocals.