Sunday, December 23, 2012

ROBIN TROWER LIVE




First of three of four short blogs tonight, and for once I mean it (laugh), got Christmas presents to wrap (yes), washing the dishes to do (yes), and a lovely girl to keep me company (no). 

Two out of three ain't bad like Jim Steinmann once sang in MEATLOAF. I am pretty sure I have written a blog a long time ago about this band and album, but because it's so long ago, it doesn't really matter if I am rehashing myself here. 

As far as progressive rock goes, which back in the 70`s was a very broad description for any music which fell outside the pop, disco and mainstream rock category, ROBIN TROWER, the former lynchpin member of seminal prog rock outfit PROCUL HARUM from England, conquered the apex of progressive rock with the power rock band bearing his name and the 1974 album BRIDGE OF SIGHS. 

A heady mixture of JIMI HENDRIX and CRAZY HORSE inspired power rock but still retaining the hallmarks of english progressive rock, particularly that of the band ATOMIC ROOSTER and even a bit of early RUSH, in terms of improvisation more than melodic structure. 

BRIDGE OF SIGHS is the only prog rock album that would make my top 30 list of all time, not for the prog rock purists, because unlike most prog rockers from that era, Trower still knew how to rock till he dropped. 

DAY OF THE EAGLE is the first track off the album, my favourite, and here is a live on  TV performance of it in 1974. Awesome! 

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