Half a Boy/Half a Man

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineCapitol/EMI finally dropped George Thorogood after 1997's Rockin' My Life Away stiffed, so where else was there for him to go than CMC International, the label that doesn't care if their artists keep remaking the same record for years on end? That's exactly where Thorogood and his Destroyers landed in 1998 and they released their first record for the label, Half a Boy, Half a Man, the following spring. Not surprisingly, there are no surprises anywhere on the album, unless you count the fact that it was a good idea for him to tackle Nick Lowe's great rocker "Half a Boy, Half a Man." No, the album serves up the blooze-n-boogie that Thorogood fans love and his detractors have come to despise. The difference is, Terry Manning's production keeps things moving, resulting in his liveliest record in nearly a decade. Unfortunately, the album isn't blessed with the strong material that characterized Rockin' My Life Away, but that album didn't have the raw, visceral edge that this album does. And when it comes to rockin' blues, sometimes it's better to have better sound than better songs.