Review! ‘Walk This Road’ by the Doobie Brothers
No longer rockin’ down the highway, the Doobies 16th album finds them slowing down and delivering a disappointing, disjointed set of songs, none of which come close to their past glories
I rarely do album reviews, focusing mainly on shooting and reviewing live music. So this is a little unusual for me. I’ve been a long-standing fan of the Doobie Brothers — I bought What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits when I was still at school and still regard it as one of my favourite albums. I’ve also seen them live a few times. I can still recall the first time, when they headlined a Warner Brothers show at London’s iconic Rainbow Theatre. Also on the bill that night were Montrose with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals!
That was way back in January 1975. Fifty years later, the Doobies are still around, still touring and every once in a while releasing new material.
The last time I saw them was years ago when they did a corporate gig in Las Vegas. I’ll never forget being mistaken for one of the band when I checked into the hotel!
2025 sees the release of the Doobies sixteenth studio album, their first since Liberte four years earlier, which was the follow up to 2014s Southbound. Prolific, they are not.
Notably, this marks the return of Michael McDonald, whose last album with the band was 1980s One Step Closer. As he’s always been one of my favourite vocalists, I was hoping for something to rival Minute By Minute which remains my favourite Doobie Brothers album.
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I don’t know whether that also applies to albums, but if it did, this one didn’t bode well, nor did its title. But hey, it’s the music that matters, not the artwork.
Sadly, none of the ten songs on the new record take any risks or deviate from what you’d expect. It’s standard-sounding Doobie fare. But lacking in any pizzazz.
Of course when you have three superb vocalists in the band: Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and of course Michael McDonald, whoever’s singing means it’s going to sound just like the Doobie Brothers. And indeed, every track has a familiarity, regularly reminding you of something you’ve heard before.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing truly memorable about them. It’s pleasant enough, but all too often the laziness of the songwriting and the lethargy of the music is clear to hear. I doubt anything here is going to trouble the charts or feature too much in their live shows. That’s a disappointment, because they’re capable of so much more. Much of the blame I suggest is down to the producer, John Shanks, who also co-pens every track.
So let’s get into it, beginning with the gospel flavoured opener and title track, Walk This Road. Musically it features a prominent slide guitar and background horns, courtesy of Woody Mankowski and Jamie Hovorka. McDonald starts it off before Johnston and Simmons each follow on lead vocals.
It’s the only song which features all three singers. Mavis Staples also makes a guest appearance at the end as does Steely Dan alumni Dean Parks (who played on classics including Josie, Deacon Blue and Haitian Divorce) On this track however his guitar contribution is barely noticeable. The repetitive, uninspired lyric is a recurring theme throughout the album.
Indeed the song’s lyrics perfectly describe what the Doobies are about today, still active, but with their best years well and truly behind them:
“What will be will be, the past has come and gone. We don’t have much, but we keep on keeping on.”
Angels & Mercy features Patrick Simmons on lead vocals and is probably the least Doobie Brothers sounding track on the ten. For me, the best part of it is the ending.
Next up is Call Me and Tom Johnston’s vocals immediately tell you it’s the Doobies. Helped by some beefy horns and a signature Doobie breakdown, it’s OK. But with its oh-so-predictable arrangements and even lazier lyrics (“Sometimes we’re lost, sometimes we’re found, life’s a little better having you around”) it’s yet another forgettable tune.
Things do improve with the soulful Learn To Let Go which sounds like it could have been an outtake from the Minute by Minute album. As well as Michael McDonald’s emotion-laden, husky vocals, it features instantly recognisable Doobie backing harmonies as well as a Patrick Simmons guitar solo. It’s definitely an improvement on the first three tracks, and even though it may be the album highlight, it’s fair to middling at best.
Speaking of which, we’ve now reached the midway stage and a mellow, reflective track called State of Grace. This one has Patrick Simmons on lead vocals. With John McFee’s pedal steel, it has a country tinge, but yet again it’s another unremarkable song that just passes you by. To be honest, if you weren’t told it was by the Doobies, you’d probably never know.
Here to Stay (Yes, even the titles are boring) has Tom Johnston back on lead vocals. After its a cappela opening, this one threatens to rock, but doesn’t. Johnston’s familiar vocals immediately tell you this is the Doobies. Tom has revealed this was an old song of his which had “sat around for a few years”. In fact, he originally wrote it as a tribute to Keith Knudsen (the long-time Doobies drummer who died in 2005) Whatever its intention, once again the lyrics are just so bland and repetitive (“Yeah, I’m ridin’ wild horses, grab the reins and fly away. Lost in rock n roll heaven, and you know that it’s here to stay.”) that the song can’t be saved by Tom’s fine vocals or the album’s first interesting guitar solo by John McFee.
Your ears start to perk up with the opening of the next song The Kind That Lasts with McDonald on lead vocals, electric piano and Hammond organ. From the off, this has pure Little Feat vibes. It’s the liveliest and best track so far.
New Orleans is another instantly recognisable Doobies song with Tom Johnston on lead and New Orleans native Sharlotte Gibson providing backing vocals. It also features along with Michael McDonald who also plays accordion. Although a new song, it’s another that sounds like it was an outtake from an earlier album.
The penultimate track, Speed of Pain features Michael McDonald on vocals, but thanks to its programmed drum rhythm, it sounds like a totally different band. Indeed with its I Can’t Go For That staccato percussion, it easily could be a Hall & Oates song. But while McDonald’s soulful vocals are probably the best of any song on this album, take away his distinctive voice and you’d be hard pressed to remember much about it.
The album concludes with Lahaina — the ballad originally released in 2023 to provide aid for the Hawaiian town which was destroyed in that year’s deadly wildfire. The song features Johnston and McDonald sharing lead vocals, with fellow Maui resident Mick Fleetwood on drums and Hawaiian native Jake Shimabukuru on ukelele. Despite the assembled talent, the song is as bland as the majority of music on this album.
So how to sum up?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, with no less than three lead vocalists, Walk This Road lacks any cohesivity as every song sounds different from its predecessor. Indeed, it comes across like the lead vocals were divvied out so everyone gets their time in the spotlight.
Indeed, in a Noise11 interview Tom Johnston admitted the song sequencing is something he (and the rest of the band) don’t get involved in:
“As far as how they were arranged sequentially, that’s the producer and the mixer. Those guys do all that stuff. Maybe Warners to some extent too.”
Explaining why that is, Tom added:
“I didn’t get involved in that because I figured they know what they think works best, how the songs flow. It’s something I never think about because I’m focused on getting the songs done.”
Delving deeper into its etymology, the disjointed nature of the album can be traced to how it came about.
“The idea was to go in (to the studio) and see what happened with a couple of songs. It was originally gonna be four — like an EP — but we ended up with ten songs and making an album. It was no more planned or set up than that.”
Listen to the album, and that uncoordinated, unthought-out approach is all-pervading. Something borne out by Tom’s telling comment:
“We’re pretty happy with this. I don’t think anybody knew what to expect.”
There’s no question that both Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald still have great voices, voices that are instantly recognisable, but when compared with their past output, you have to ask the question: were any of the ten songs really worth recording? I’m not sure they were, at least not all of them.
Going forward, the Doobies desperately need to find a decent lyricist and a producer who is able to inject some of the old sparkle into their recording.
Tellingly, when they appeared on Stephen Colbert the same week they were being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as Learn To Let Go from the new album (which, incidentally came across way better live than on John Shanks’ recording), they chose to play extended versions of Listen To The Music and Long Train Running, two of their oldest songs (from 1972 and 73 respectively). Both sounded superb and put their new material in the shade.
I’ll leave the last word to Patrick Simmons, who explained the album title this way:
“Walk This Road represents the road we’re all on. We’re all walking together to get some place and eventually we’ll get there.”
You’d be hard-pressed to get a more uninspired idea!
About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in creating out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens, not forgetting an array of automotive exotica.
On the writing side, he has used his research skills to author deep dives into some noteworthy songs beginning with Bryan Ferry’s ‘These Foolish Things’ ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Real Wild Child’ by Ivan and ‘All The Young Dudes’ by Mott the Hoople.
He has also written a biography of Robert Palmer and the stories behind Whitesnake’s blatant Led Zep rip-off, ‘Still Of The Night’, Harry Styles’ anthem to positivity, ‘Treat People With Kindness’ and the little known Queen track ‘Cool Cat.’
Most recently, Gary has penned the fascinating story behind George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ as well as ‘Believe It Or Not’ a look into the rise of fake news.
All these can be found here on Medium, along with his reviews of gigs and events and chats with musicians including the likes of Royal Blood, Joe Satriani and Wolf Alice.
