"The New Age" is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Canned Heat. Released in April 1973, the album marked a departure from the band's traditional blues sound to explore more contemporary rock styles and sounds.
"The New Age" opened with the hit single "Keep It Clean", which garnered significant radio airplay and marked a stylistic transition for the band. It showed the band moving in a slightly different musical direction, mixing their traditional blues style with elements of folk and psychedelic rock.
This was the first album with James Shane and Ed Beyer, acting as replacements for the departed Al Wilson and Larry Taylor respectively. While the line-up had changed, the band's characteristic humor and energy remained. The album was produced by the band members along with Skip Taylor and was engineered by Don Tarbutton and Mike D. Stone.
The album was well received by critics, with the AllMusic guide rating it four out of a possible five stars. Nonetheless, like most of Canned Heat's late-period work, "The New Age" met with limited commercial success. It reached #152 on the Billboard 200, which was a significant decline from their earlier high-placing albums.
The legacy of "The New Age" is one of innovation and adaptability for Canned Heat, making it a fascinating listen for fans of the band and of the 1970s rock era in general.
