Have you ever noticed that when an artist presents an album titled in such a manner as to suggest that you’re gonna find something special laced between the grooves … you seldom do?Such is the case with The Path Of A Decent Groove, where Tony Joe seems to have lost his path, or perhaps been inspired by a producer anxious to send him down a different avenue in hopes of embracing a wider audience. The dead giveaway came with the song titled “2 Hot 4 U,” a song that really isn’t too hot for you, while the nomenclature of the title suggests that Tony Joe is trying to form an alliance with a language and group of people that are not of his age, and certainly not of his ilk.However, there are two blisteringly perfect numbers to be found here, “On The Return To Muscle Shoals” and “Backside Of Paradise,” floating back image of the days when Mr. Dylan was so unsure of himself and his abilities that he coveted his own material, releasing but a couple of great tracks on each album. The majority of the tunes making up this outing are not indicative of the swamp rock blues Tony Joe is known for, most of the songs are rather useless ballads from a man who should have known better, or at least have surrounded himself with those who would have known better. Regardless, my relationship with this productive artist is to cobble together all of the material from Tony Joe that suits my needs most comfortably, so finding one or two perfect songs sets my day right, where I can spin them as part of an ever growing compilation collection that darkly haunts my late night listening hours … and cause those who catch me wading knee deep in the swampy waters of Tony Joe during the day, to be intoxicatingly wasted, asking “Who’s that?”Review by Jenell Kesler