AMG Review of Spirit of the Wild

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Spirit of the Wild ranks as one of Ted Nugent's finest moments because it cuts away the filler and keeps the wildman's tendency for indulgence in check. A fair amount of the material does concern itself with the wilderness, which fits right in with his '90s reinvention as a conservative family-values spokesman. That doesn't mean that it's a tame record -- it means that Nugent sounds committed again, since that passion for hunting and family flows throughout his performance.