On a recent Merv Griffin telecast, Doug Gray, lead vocalist for the Marshall Tucker Band, explained that the title of their new album, Dedicated, refers both to bassist Tommy Caldwell (who died in a car accident last year) and to the group's craft. I'm sure that Caldwell was dedicated. I'm sure that the band is, too. But dedication without sufficient inspiration merely adds up to a super-abundance of boredom that no amount of professional expertise can camouflage.

Whether they're playing "Silverado," with its lame spaghetti-western lyrics, "This Time I Believe," which Griffin thought so lovely, or "Ride in Peace," the maddeningly placid number dedicated in part to Caldwell, the Marshall Tucker Band never manage to sound like more than an ineffably pleasant imitation of themselves. Sure, Norton Buffalo's capering harmonica provides a spark or two in "The Time Has Come," and Gray's twenty-five repetitions of the title lyric in "Love Some" are oddly fetching. But nothing here ever really jars the senses. Since these guys can't come up with a single surprise, why should we care how dedicated they are? (RS 355)

ERIK HEDEGAARD