Blues Traveler

The band's sophomore album features their most powerful ballad, "Sweet Pain," on which John Popper offers a bittersweet but ultimately optimistic view of hard times. The rest of the disc proves equally captivating, with rocking post-funk grooves and lyrics that that address issues ranging from war to evolution.

They sure can play their axes--might even be tolerable as a boogie band. But "All in the Groove" is just a classic-rock line. John Popper's interest in fun is strictly rhetorical, and his rhetoric is so prolix I bet they only play three-hour sets so he can get all the words in. I also bet that as a Jack Bruce fan he thinks it's groovy when his rhythm section hustles out more notes than a good groove needs. (Grade - C-)