Okay, that I had not seen this coming. But "Terrible" Ted has jumped down from the soap box long enough - and then comes the surprise - to make something that alarmingly smell like a candidate to this year's rock'n'roll album! 
When you hear the exuberant, energetic and enthusiastic "Shut Up & Jam", it makes you wish that Ted would just follow his own advice in the title and make some more music. It is almost seven years since it’s predecessor, "Love Grenade" was released after all. 
As many will know, Nugent instead of concentrating on his music has spent way too much time defending his outrageous political views to anyone who could be bothered with (or could not escape) listening to him. And here we are talking views, which practically has made ​​the man the guardian angel for the "Tea Party" movement and the – to put it mildly - right-wing TV station Fox News.

Think of that what you want (and many of us do) and discuss if you like, but it is beyond discussion that Ted Nugent musically have the ability to make even the most world-weary rock clichés jump up from their deathbeds and take another turn on the dance floor for Chuck Berry.

Johnny B. Goode

""Johnny B. Goode "forever!", as Ted proclaims in his welcome in the album's liner notes, and you can safely assume that he means it. From the get go with the title track and 50 minutes ahead "Shut Up & Jam" sparkles with energy and an obvious desire to convince us that these rock and roll clichés never grow (too) old. If only provided by a true believer and Nugent is that if anything.


Whether he ploughs on in his beloved Chuck Berry's footsteps in the title track and "Do-Rags & A .45", swings happy on the coarse groove in the "Trample The Weak Hurdle The Dead" and the charmingly foolish "I Love My BBQ", takes another hard rock soul/ blues walk-around on his guitar on instrumental track "Throttledown "and" Semper Fi " or pours his soul into the self-explanatory optimistic and engagingly melodic" Never Stop Believing".



There is nothing - as in absolutely NOTHING - here you have not heard before. But who the hell wants to worry about that when Ted Nugent delivers like he had discovered rock and roll only the day before yesterday and additionally – despite his 65 years - do it with an amount of energy and enthusiasm that could give musicians a third his age serious performance anxiety. 
Simply one long party!