Marshall Tucker Band - The Next Adventure Review

[guitarpatch]

ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Review : by Stpehen Thomas Erlewine

What is The Next Adventure? Not to put too fine a point on it, but for the Marshall Tucker Band it's simply surviving, finding their way as veteran rockers - the kind that doesn't get respect from critics, or even the world at large, but they still have plenty of fans that will buy compilations, concert tickets and new albums, like 2004's Beyond the Horizon or its 2007 followup, The Next Adventure. This isn't quite as lively as that '04 comeback, but it doesn't need to be: this is the sound of the Marshall Tucker Band relaxed and confident, knowing that their audience is there and playing direction to them. As such, it feels familiar - the blend of country, blues, & rock, is certainly tied to their '70s peak - but it would never be mistaken for the work of the band 30 years ago, not just because guitarist Toy Caldwell is among the departed, but because this is a warm, mellow record that rarely raises its temperature but never sounds, lazy either. It's comfortable, but in the best possible way - the kind of record that longtime fans, who have stuck them through the ups and downs, will like but may not carry the same resonance for those who haven't been through the twists and turns because this familiarity only gains resonance when you know what the MTB has been through.