Three years after the Allman Brothers Band dissolved, they somehow were able to patch their differences and reunite – minus two members, but maintaining the core of Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Butch Trucks.

Some have called Enlightened Rogues, the resulting album, a rebirth for the Allmans – and, admittedly, it’s a step in the right direction over their previous studio effort Win, Lose Or Draw. But I’d be hard-pressed to hold this up to such discs as Eat A Peach and say the two were equal in quality.

Let’s face one fact up front: since the death of Duane Allman in 1971, the band had slowly been moving from their blues-jam roots into a more commercial style of songwriting. Now, maybe they would still have done this had Duane not perished in a motorcycle accident. Still, the bulk of the eight songs featured on this disc are a reminder of what was, and what could have been.

Oh, you still have the lengthy instrumental that they had become known for in “Pegasus”… but, this time around, it doesn’t sound as if they’re breaking any new ground musically, which is a shame. This should have been the track to showcase the talents of new guitarist Dan Toler and bassist David Goldflies. Instead, this sometimes feels like a rehash of such instrumentals as “Jessica”.

And then, you have your shorter, radio-friendly songs begging to become hit singles, such as “Crazy Love,” “Can’t Take It With You” and “Sail Away”. Even enlisting the songwriting help of Don Johnson on “Can’t Take It With You” doesn’t seem to inject any new life into the overall sound and performances; if anything, these are just performed by the numbers, without the underlying tension that songs like “Whipping Post” had in their earlier days.

It’s when they dip their toes back into the blues that Enlightened Rogues shows the most promise. “Need Your Love So Bad” and “Blind Love” hold out the most promise in this regard; however, it sometimes feels like it’s too little, too late.

Look, it’s not that Enlightened Rogues is a bad album. But it dares to suggest that the glory days of the Allmans were long behind them, and without the urgency and intensity of performances like “Mountain Jam,” “Ramblin’ Man” and “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” the spark that kept this band going threatens to fizzle out for good.

Rating: C

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