Maybe it’s time for Truth-In-Labeling laws for music, as MAD Magazine keeps insisting. The can on the front of this particular CD might read “Warning: Contains no ‘Bear’ or ‘Blind Owl.’ Contents may appear half-assed.” While the guiding forces (and vocals) behind the Heat are gone, remaining members “Fito” De La Parra and Larry “The Mole” Taylor have assembled decent replacements for both in vocalist/slide guitarist/harp man Robert Lucas.

The opening track is Fats Domino’s “Wait And See,” given the “Going Up The Country” treatment, but no one’s gonna be fooled into thinking this is the Heat they grooved to in their Volkswagen mini-bus. There’s some good stuff, though, with the lads makin’ like Santana on “World Of Make Believe” and fashioning a great “L.A. Woman” groove on “Too Much Giddyup (Not Enough Whoa).” And their taste in covers remains unparalleled, what with the Fats song and Cannibal and the Headhunters’ “Searchin’ For My Baby.”

Still, despite the attempts at updating the Heat with misguided songs like “2000 Reasons (Y2K Blues),” which is about as dumb as it sounds, and despite the yeoman efforts of Lucas, the Heat just isn’t catching fire like it did back in the Days of Peace, Love and Music. Good blues is timeless, but this just sounds past the expiration date. Did someone finally forget to boogie?