Live II [Digipak] (CD - 2007)

Additional personnel: Carl Davino (background vocals).

It seemed like just about every major rock band of the '70s used the live album format as a trampoline to arena status. The likes of Peter Frampton, Kiss, and Cheap Trick immediately come to mind as the most obvious examples, but there were also a multitude of other acts that scored big hits with live sets, including Foghat with their double-platinum certified 1977 release, Foghat Live. Despite the set being the group's biggest selling album of their entire career, they surprisingly never issued a follow up -- until 2007 and the arrival of Live II. The only thing is, with the group's two main original members no longer with us (singer/guitarist Dave Peverett and guitarist Rod Price) and a third opting to "sit this one out" (bassist Tony Stevens), it leaves only a lone original member in attendance, drummer Roger Earl. While some die-hard longtime fans will balk at this lack of original members, the truth is that the latest Foghat lineup has no problem replicating the group's anthemic hard rock sound. Recorded in July 2005 at the Sycuan Theatre in El Cajon, CA, the double-disc Live II features all the expected radio classics ("Fool for the City," "Slow Ride"), as well as fan favorites ("Night Shift," "Stone Blue"). And staying true to their '70s roots, you get not one but two unaccompanied/bathroom-break-inducing one-man solos. Add to it a few bonus rehearsal tracks, and you have a worthy follow-up to Foghat Live. ~ Greg Prato minimize