Ted Nugent: Craveman (2003)

(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )

Ted Nugent
Craveman
(Spitfire)

Like other forces of nature, Ted Nugent is better off channeled than simply letting go. And whether it was the Amboy Dukes in the ’60s/’70s, his own band in the ’70s/’80s, or Damn Yankees in the ’80s/’90s, what has always channeled him best is the strictures of commercial radio. His last major-label effort’s having stiffed, he spends most of this minor-label onslaught in full gonzo mode, and while the results are hardly dull, they’re also predictable: He’s big, he’s bad, he rocks loud and hard, he’s politically incorrect, he’s straight (in both the chemical and the sexual senses), he’s well hung, he can outcuss Eminem and the Insane Clown Posse combined, and he knows his Second Amendment. So what else is new? Including the way the name of his current record label captures his essence now at least as accurately as "Epic" did then? Rating: Three-and-a-half whites of their eyes out of five.