If you just can't get enough of that
Duke Robillard, then this is definitely the album for you: two discs full of songs and instrumentals in a variety of styles, from the raunchy Delta sound of
Bob Dylan's "Everything Is Broken" to the slippery New Orleans funk of "Look Out," and from the jump blues instrumental "Bounce for Billy" to the straight-ahead jazz of
Wardell Gray's "Stoned."
Robillard is still no great shakes as a lyricist, and his singing is perfectly fine without ever being exceptional. But his stinging guitar solos are always a pleasure to hear, and he writes a very fine head -- "Bounce for Billy" is a classic period piece, and his writing on "Anything It Takes" is also very impressive. There are moments that feel just a bit like filler on this 23-track program, such as the extraneous
Bo Diddley cover ("Who Do You Love") and a by-the-numbers blues exercise called "You're Killin' Me Baby." (And did he not notice how completely his "Sweet Thing" evokes the Sesame Street theme?) But he does both
Booker T. and
T-Bone Walker complete justice on his versions of their songs, and he even manages to take a
Tom Waits number and make it his own. This album is a very solid value for the money overall.