John Lee Hooker - Chill Out (1995)

It's a bad sign if the first sound on a John Lee Hooker album is icy synths and it's a further problem if the first audible guitar is not Hook's but the distinctive rounded tone of Santana. These are two pretty big tipoffs that 1995's Chill Out isn't a typical John Lee Hooker album, and arriving after the very typical 1992 album Boom Boom that could be seen as a welcome change of pace; after all, that record might have been tight and professional but it never was engaging. Sadly, Chill Out is also far from captivating, living up far too well to the mellow promise of its title. This is the rare Hooker album that exists almost entirely on a superficial surface: his signature boogie is buried so deep that even the handful of solo cuts here don't feel as idiosyncratic as usual -- they're quiet and restrained, so much so that they barely rise above a murmur. They feel like mood music, which is ultimately what Chill Out is. Sanded free of any grit, it's an album of background blues, designed as a soundtrack to a tasteful afternoon at a coffeehouse or a bookstore. It's the John Lee Hooker album for people who like the idea of listening to Hooker but don't quite care for his music.