Elly Roberts reviews
Chris Rea: The Road To Hell And Back
Distributed by
Polydor
- Released: October 2006
- Format: 2 CD set & DVD
- Rating: CD 8/10; 8/10
When you consider what Chris Rea has been through over the past few years, the title is very apt.
On doctors’ advice, he’s been forced to drop any future plans to play live
on a grand scale, or maybe at all. This, the first, and last, live album from
the seasoned Blues-orientated Geordie is a fitting swansong.
This ‘farewell’ CD & DVD simultaneous release was filmed in Birmingham (the
Symphony Hall I think) and recorded at several venues across Europe, marking
his premature retirement from touring. It captures Rea’s immensely popular
live concerts with some interesting re-workings from his immense back
catalogue.
Since his arrival on the music scene in the late '70s with pop hits like
Fool If You Think Its Over and On The Beach he’s sustained
his popularity with some top class singles and albums, being on chart for
a combined 474 weeks. He also drawn in a new set of fans through his Blues
albums.
On disc 1 we get his more authentic bluesy sojourns, opening with an R'n'B
belter Jazzee Blue, with Rea’s left hand doing some deft and sparkling
bottleneck workouts. Cooling it a tad, That’s Where The Way It Goes
is a softer jaunt, but equally as effective with his gritty voice and
harmonica adding sublime textures.
Across the collection hits Josephine, On The Beach, I Can hear Your
Heartbeat and Fool are fabulously reworked introducing reggae and
Brazilian flavours.
A raucous Stainsby Girls closes CD 1 on a romping high with Rea and
band pulling out all their collective clout over eight minutes, again with
Rea giving a bottleneck masterclass.
CD 2 has only six tracks, lasting 45 minutes plus, but they’re much more
expansive versions, with I Can Hear Your Heartbeat, Road To Hell going
well over the 10 minute mark. Track 1, Highway 61 & 49, reverts back
to his Blues love affair: a really slow rustic blast with some more exemplary
bottleneck.
On the DVD, the ominous The Road To Hell sees the theatre
and audience splashed in red, creating a devilish vista before it goes into
high energy rocking mode. Crowd pleaser Let’s Dance gets ‘em on their
feet before he teases the crowd with a magnificent Fool (If You Think
It’s Over).
Waving goodbye, he gets a standing ovation, which he thoroughly deserves.
We hope it isn’t over Chris.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
