House of the Blues features sessions from the early ‘50s that helped cement John Lee Hooker’s signature blues sound. His ominous stomp, serpentine guitar, and doomy vibe were present before, but on razor-edged slices of urban blues like the foreboding but propulsive "Leave My Wife Alone" and the intensely spooky "Ramblin' By Myself," Hooker leans even harder into the smoldering sound that made him a legend. Second guitarist Eddie Kirkland joins in as well on tunes like "Louise," making Lee’s barbed-wire bite even more visceral.