When Ray Royer left Procul Harum in 1967, in stepped guitar hero Robin Trower.
He’d already played with Gary Brooker’s Paramounts in 1963. They made
several singles, but only a cover of Little Bitty Pretty One achieved any
local success, and they broke up in 1966. Reunited with Brooker a year
later, he played on a couple of PH hits and the band’s first three albums. He
added a rockier Hendrix edge which was almost at odds with the band’s
stately pace.
After four years he broke loose and went solo in July 1971. It
took three years for him to resurface with what is considered one of the
seminal recordings of the period - Bridge Of Sighs. I remembered the title
track being played regularly on late night radio rock shows. The album went
top ten in the States, and it still sells 15,000 units world-wide. In the
interim, he formed the short lived Jude with Frankie Miller, the Robin Trower
Band, then he joined Bryan Ferry.
In later years he’s written and produced film music. As he embarks on his first
UK tour in 20 years, Trower releases this collection to coincide with the highly
anticipated gigs. The old-skool rocker does a thinly disguised tribute to Hendrix
and Thin Lizzy. Hendrix’s spirit is everywhere on the rockier side, particularly on
Please Tell Me, whereas the mellower is out of Lizzy’s soft-rock
repertoire.
His vocals are a spit of both Lynott and Hendrix. Track 3 is a surprising vote
for the group that should have been the best on the planet - Free, as he tackles a
soulful Another Time Another Place and mid-paced Sweet Angel.
Instead of being ground-breaking, it’s too retrospective for his own good in
terms of progression. That said it’s a solid enough an outing, with sublime
guitar sojourns reminiscent of the early 70’ s,as he gives a healthy nod to
the age of guitar decadence. Despite it’s retro feel, it’s definitely worth
buying.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
