Feeding Frenzy (Live)

By 1990s Feeding Frenzy, Jimmy Buffett enjoyed a nationwide following of "Parrotheads," fanatics who ate up his easygoing Caribbean pirate music and washed it down with the proverbial margarita that's always an arm's length away in Buffett's music. With his summer tours a perennial success, a veritable empire of merchandise and watering holes, and a successful second career as an author, Buffett had come a long way since You Had to be There, his 1978 live album. However, somewhere between the blender and the tumbler, Buffett's songwriting went a little flat, and this is obvious with Frenzy, which focuses a bit too much on later-career moments ("You'll Never Work in Dis Bidness Again," "Honey Do") that just aren't as strong as his signature material, even if they're written in — or under the influence of — the same spirit. Luckily, Buffett is still a wonderful host. He cracks wise and heaps praise on his fans, and can still make each one of them feel like it's just Jimmy telling stories in a bar. The sun-kissed singalong "One Particular Harbor" is a standout, as is the gooey, juicy goodness of "Cheeseburger in Paradise," the gloriously goofy, quintessentially American song to which even the most ardent hipster has to hum along. The tasteful, wistful "Pirate Looks at Forty" also shines. In the end, it's not really about the music, but how the music makes people feel. As Buffett says with true conviction during the intro to "Come Monday," "I've never won an award for any music I've written, but I don't really care when I have fans like Parrotheads." In an age when the concert industry has been overtaken by avarice, it's refreshing to find that Jimmy Buffett is still helping people get a good buzz on.