Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs (2003 Remastered Version)

by Richie UnterbergerMcPhee took the unusual step of adding progressive rock elements on this album, especially in his use of mellotron and harmonium. Blues-rock and progressive rock is not exactly a fashionable combination among critics these days, but McPhee at least deserved credit for trying something a little bit different instead of endlessly recycling the blues-rock clichés he'd mastered. Lyrically, he reached back to the socially conscious (if not terribly clear) musings on war, peace, and philosophy that had preoccupied him on the Thank Christ for the Bomb album. It wasn't gripping enough to add up to something notable, and the band were still prone to wander off into headache-inducing extended riffs, as on the closing track, "The Grey Maze."