Still listening to the music.
The Doobie Brothers - World Gone Crazy

The Doobie Brothers are the latest classic act to be heard retro-Rockin' Down the Highway with their new album 'World Gone Crazy.'
But not, I’m very pleased to say, by taking the rewritten-the-old-songs route…

’World Gone Crazy’ is the Doobies first new studio album in 10 years.
The band have reunited with producer Ted Templeman who was at the board for all their classic '70s and early '80s recordings.
With Templeman at the helm, the band have recorded a collection of songs that have a familiar Doobies '70s groove - and given them their highest charting album since 1989.
Deservedly so.

The band at their core is the four piece of Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, John McFee and Michael Hossack, with various guest and session musicians incorporated into the mix.
Founding members, guitarists and vocalists Simmons and Johnston are the primary songwriters and have been the drive behind the Doobies since the recorded reunion of the band on 1989’s excellent ‘Cycles.’
Drummer Michael Hossack was with the Doobies in the early ‘70s and returned to the fold for the late ‘80s reunion shows. He has been an ever-present since 1989.
Guitarist McFee is also a two-time Doobster. He first joined the band in 1979 (replacing Jeff “Skunk” Baxter), remained with them until the 1982 split and rejoined in 1993.

The guest and session musicians mentioned earlier certainly play a part on ‘World Gone Crazy’, with over twenty featured to some degree or other.
Guy Allison, who has played keyboards with the band for nearly two decades, is unsurprisingly a featured performer on the album.
Two guest appearances deserve special mention…

Long time Doobie Michael McDonald, the major force behind the band's mid to late ‘70s success, duets on vocals with Patrick Simmons on the Simmons-Templeman penned number ‘Don’t Say Goodbye.’
The song could have sat comfortably on ‘Takin' it to the Streets’, the first Doobies album to feature McDonald.
More of a surprise, and a pleasant one at that, is ‘I Know We Won’ featuring the voice (again in duet with Simmons) of the living legend that is Willie Nelson.
The song was written by Nelson and Simmons and is one of the albums highlights, with the voices complementing the song, and each other, wonderfully.

Songs such as the two just mentioned are good examples of the tempo of the album.
It’s certainly not as rocky as post-reunion releases such as the aforementioned 'Cycles' or even 1991’s 'Brotherhood,' but the song 'Chateau' is reminiscent of classic Doobie burners in its musical vibe.
But the real charm and success of 'World Gone Crazy' is that the band haven't formulated a retro-rock album where it sounds like you have heard all the songs before - rather the album produces the feel of the old material without it ever being re-written.
It’s traditional Doobies west-coast light rock with touches of New Orleans and swamp blues thrown in for good measure (as typified by ‘Law Dogs’).
One particular reviewer said the album is the "best Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits album you've never heard." He may be right.

It’s not just the feel of the material however - it’s the feel-good factor of the work as a whole.
Opening with ‘A Brighter Day’ the feel-good groove kicks in early, musically and lyrically, with an infectious sing-a-long shuffle.
Similarly, the honky-tonk rock and roll tempo of ‘Young Man’s Game’ is a foot tapping reflection of better days past, while the title track lyrically expresses concern over the fast times we’ve grown accustomed to, and work in.

There is a genuine familiarity with older material in one particular case.
‘Nobody’ is a re-recording of their first ever single, which featured on their 1971 debut album.
It’s faithful to that original, with traditional Doobie harmonies alongside Tom Johnston’s lead vocal.

'World Gone Crazy' is not a perfect album and will never match the impact or critical acclaim of ‘Stampede’ (the best of the Simmons-Johnston Doobies albums and arguably their best ever), but it’s polished, professional and presents the Doobies as a musical force still to be reckoned with.
The imperfections hinted at are few but I feel it's a little on the light side musically, albeit its hard to argue against the Doobie-lite of ‘My Baby’ and ballads such as ‘Far From Home.’

The one track I have a concern with is actually a very good song, but ‘Old Juarez’ suffers from sounding too much like Santana's 'Smooth' in arrangement.
Every time I play it I’m sure Carlos himself will burst from the speakers to take the lead or Rob Thomas will step up to the mic to sing a line or three.
But as faults go, that’s all I’ve got.

As is the norm these days, there are multiple versions of the album available.
The standard or original release seems to be the 11-track CD but there is also a CD and DVD set.
The 11-track version seems to be the least promoted or least available as the obligatory “with bonus tracks” release is the more commonly advertised (available through iTunes amongst others).
And that’s no bad thing because the bonus tracks add to the already strong collection of songs: ‘New York Dream’ is a Johnston number with a rock-jazz-swing while ‘Little Prayer’ is all Simmons, a beautiful lullaby love song.

‘World Gone Crazy’ was the last 2010 album to be given a full FabricationsHQ feature review and there couldn’t have been a better choice as the year plays out.
That's primarily because it’s what I would describe as the Doobie Brothers 'warmest' album in decades and, as I have been playing the album during some of the coldest Scottish weather in living memory (even by December standards), it's been the perfect musical remedy to those sub-zero blues.

While the Doobies continue to produce quality like this, 40 years on from their first album, I’ll still listen to their music.

Ross Muir
December 2010


The following audio tracks are presented to accompany the above review and to promote the work of the artist/s. No infringement of copyright is intended.

A Brighter Day
Chateau
Little Prayer (Bonus Track)