Artist: Foghat Album: Zig Zag Walk

Year: 1983
Duration: 0:0-1

A Walk Through Zig Zag Walk: A Critical Review of Foghat's Iconic Album

Foghat's Zig Zag Walk is a timeless classic that heralded the band's striking fusion of blues and hard rock. It's a masterly crafted album that delivers captivating rhythms and thought-provoking lyrics that still resonate with rock music enthusiasts to this very day. This album was Foghat's way of reinventing themselves and breaking out of the mold of typical blues rock bands of the time. In this blog post, we're going to take a critical look back at the Zig Zag Walk album that sent seismic waves through the music world over four decades ago.

To appreciate the Zig Zag Walk album, we need to give you a quick overview of the band's history. Foghat was formed in 1971, previously having been referred to as Tony Stevens' Foghat and the Brunning/Hall Sunflower Band. The band's first album, titled Foghat, was released in 1972 featuring a cover of Willie Dixon's I Just Want to Make Love to You, which sold over a million copies. It was recorded in London's Olympic Studios, where Led Zeppelin had recently recorded their untitled fourth album and was quickly hailed as one of the most exciting bands of the time.

Foghat's Zig Zag Walk album is best described as rock music with a bluesy twist. The title track, Zig Zag Walk, opens the album with powerful electric guitars, a catchy harmonica, and a grooving bass line. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie is an uptempo fusion that incorporates some jazz into the sound. Love Rustler showcases Dave Peverett's talent for bluesy vocals whilst What A Shame is a thought-provoking track that mulls over the complexity of relationships. Talk To Me Baby offers an upbeat and catchy chorus that gets stuck in your head long after the album has ended.

Perhaps the most innovative part of the album is the band's embrace of synths. The track No Hard Feelings features a synth solo that is unusual for Foghat's genre and unusual for the time. This artwork element was something fresh in blues rock music for the time and represents a step towards the experimentation and progression found in the album.

However, the Zig Zag Walk album was not without its flaws. The album's weakest song is Bustin' Up or Bustin' Out, a cliched rock tune that was better off left forgotten. Also, there were overarching comparison issues for the covers: Easy Money (Rick Derringer) and Choo Choo Ch'Boogie (Louis Jordan). Even though Foghat makes both of these covers sound great, they still pale in comparison to the originals.

In conclusion, Foghat's Zig Zag Walk is a critically acclaimed album that holds fast to its place in rock history. The band's original and innovative compositions, harmonies, and style have endeared them to fans worldwide. This album was Foghat's way of saying that they were not afraid to take risks in their music, and it was a move that paid off. After over 40 years, Zig Zag Walk remains a testament to the group's talent and creative vision and is an album that we all need to revisit. It's proof that sometimes, reinventing oneself can only lead to greatness.