One of the strongest albums in Walker’s canon. Hellfire blows all over the map
gutbucket blues, joyous gospel, Rolling Stones-style rock crunch, and aching R&B.
Walker’s guitar playing is fine and fierce.
Hellfire is a heavenly showcase for Walker’s unduly underappreciated virtues.
-- Billboard

On Hellfire, Mr. Walker plays jump blues; slow, searing blues, Rolling Stones-style rockin’ blues; electric country blues; Chicago blues and gospel blues.
His raspy, powerhouse voice is out front while his stinging
guitar cuts through the uncluttered arrangements.
-- Wall Street Journal

Hellfire is Walker’s most rock-oriented release. His wah-wah inflected solo on Hellfire digresses with the kind of fierce embellishments that Jimi Hendrix might’ve conjured.
The slow-burn What’s it Worth spins ever wilder and wider into outer space with each solo. Walker attacks these songs like the gospel vocalist he once was.
His ferocious guitar playing conveys desperation and determination in the
face of some pretty heavy moral choices.
-- Chicago Tribune

...Joe Louis Walker was born in the Fillmore district of San Francisco on December 25, 1949. By the time he was 16, he was working the local club scene steadily as an in-demand guitar player. When Walker was 19 he befriended famed guitarist Michael Bloomfield.
    Bloomfield introduced Walker to many of the day's top rockers and helped push Walker's blues into a more rock-fueled direction. The two were close friends until Bloomfield's death in 1981.
    In 1985 Walker released his debut, Cold Is The Night, on Hightone Records, his first of many outstanding albums. Firmly rooted in blues, gospel, R&B and rock, the album caught the attention of music fans everywhere. Over the course of the next 26 years, with each subsequent release, Walker's audience continued to grow, as his touring schedule continued to expand.
   He's played major European festivals, including Northsea Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, Notodden and Montreux, as well as festivals in Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Ireland, Turkey and Brazil. He's appeared on national television, including performances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Don Imus Show and Later With Jools Holland in the UK.
    Fans and critics have been celebrating Walker for years. Living Blues said, "His fretwork is indelibly stamped with his own trademark blend of emotional heat and impeccable precision even at his most flamboyant, Walker sounds as if he's playing ideas, not just notes."
    The New York Times raved, "Walker is a singer with a Cadillac of a voice. He delivers no-nonsense, gutsy blues. His voice is weather-beaten but ready for more; his guitar solos are fast, wiry and incisive, moaning with bluesy despair..."