Ride 'Til I Die review from American Hit Network

If nothing else, this release proves that George Thorogood plans on riding his career out ‘til the bitter end, and that he plans on doing it in style. Apparently, not much has changed since the glory days of 1978, when he released “Move It On Over” to surprise mass acceptance. He’s rocking just as hard now as he was then - maybe harder – flaunting his one-two combination of grease-soaked blues and guitar-based boogie to near perfection.

Thorogood’s John Lee Hooker obsession remains evident here, particularly on tracks like “She’s Gone” (written by Theodore Taylor), “You Don’t Love Me, You Don’t Care” (Ellas McDaniel, a.k.a. Bo Diddley) and the title track (duh – it’s written by Hooker). “You Don’t Love Me, You Don’t Care” suggests ZZ Top’s “La Grange,” which probably explains why the label chose this to be the lead-off single, but almost anything here could qualify. “Greedy Man” kicks off the album and it burns from start to finish. “American Made” is almost as good, and twice as topical. Thorogood still isn’t writing, but his choice of material is impeccable. Elvin Bishop, Nick Lowe, J.J. Cale and Chuck Berry contribute one song each, but none of the selections are obvious. As a music fan who dabbles considerably in the blues, I’m quite impressed that Thorogood could compile such an inspiring collection of songs without touching on anything that is too familiar. He can make a sleeper like Chuck Berry’s “Move It” sound as though it was written yesterday, or convince you that Nick Lowe wrote “That’s It, I Quit” specifically for him. Over thirteen tracks, the energy level consistently remains in the red, and Thorogood sounds just as youthful and energetic as ever. The only real difference is that his present-day band can keep up with him.

If Ride ‘Til I Die was released in 1978, it would have been a top 40 hit album with steady rotation on rock and roll radio (God, who would have thought that we’d ever reminisce about the good old days of the late ‘70’s?). These days, the blues are a commercial pariah. So is any type of rock and roll that is performed by anyone over twenty-one, unless the topic is some ‘new miserable experience’. In these corporate times, radio is no longer a cooperative entity, which means that GT has his work cut out for him. To promote this album, Thorogood and the Destroyers will need to tour their asses off, hoping to generate word-of-mouth. Based on this album, it should work. I for one will DEFINITELY be there if they come to my town, because this band is hot, and as far as word of mouth is concerned, I’m gonna start start hollerin’ about Ride ‘Til I Die right about now.

-Tom Ryan

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