Page 94 - Classic Rock (February 2020)

Various of Uriah Heep’s classic sound
Pink Floyd
The Later Years PINK FLOYD/LEGACY
The post-Waters era collated, with the
odd gaping gap.
“ quite clever forgery,” Roger
Waters said of 1987’s
AA Momentary Lapse Of Reason,
the first Pink Floyd album following his
1985 departure. His comment showed
a possessive arrogance, Waters believing
himself to be the heart, soul and spirit of
the band. And certainly those fans hooked
on the oppressive autobiographical
dramatics of The Wall and The Final Cut were
best advised to follow him into his dark
conceptual solo world. The Floyd that
reconvened without him – David Gilmour,
Nick Mason and a returning Richard
Wright – were a brighter, more weightless
proposition. And although they would
produce only two proper albums (Reason
and 1994’s The Division Bell) and the
ambient reworking of studio offcuts that
was 2014’s The Endless River over almost 30
years, their tenure is still respected enough
to warrant an 18-disc retrospective box set. of greatest interest to completists will be
Big it is, comprehensive it ain’t. The
Endless River isn’t in it, and fans of The
Division Bell might already own the 2014
reissue mix and the Pulse live DVD, slightly
tweaked here but still most notable for the
full, stadium-sized run through The Dark
Side Of The Moon. Mostly, we’re
encouraged to revisit Reason, where
Gilmour solo material was repurposed to
throwback to his wonderfully airy
influence on Wish You Were Here and his
94 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM
David Gilmour: taking
the helm of Floyd after
Roger Waters left.
spectacular riffs on The Wall: Signs Of Life
could be Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part
X, One Slip a stumbling sequel to Run Like
Hell and The Dogs Of War a more action-
packed Welcome To The Machine.
Set alone, and with some drums and
keyboards re-recorded for added punch
here, Reason makes for an impressive
rebalancing of the Floyd canon to honour
Gilmour’s contributions, but when its
draggier second half is pitted against the
deathless classics of Waters’s prime period
on the live album Delicate Sound Of Thunder
(here in audio and video forms), it comes
up noticeably short. The second half of
immaculate 70s Floyd has virtually no
slack, even when an eight-minute Money
drifts off into jazz and reggae segments.
Among the videos, documentaries,
memorabilia and live footage from
Knebworth and their floating Venice show,
the seven unreleased tracks from The
Division Bell sessions, largely listless and
insubstantial prog and blues workouts but
involving a charming church-bell flamenco
version of High Hopes and a half-written riff
rock piece called Nervana with some fiery
Gilmour weight behind it. A few more
fresh gems like that would’ve pushed this
beast of a box towards being essential.
QQQQQQQQQQ
Mark Beaumont
Live At The Roxy London during his 10-year tenure with
WC2 (Jan – Apr ’77) RHINO the band. In addition to playing
Legendary punk compendium on 13 Heep albums, Hensley
revisited. made two solo records before
The urgency, his departure in 1980, and
speed and another soon after, each
immediacy of presented in this set with bonus
1977’s UK punk tracks and a DVD of interviews
scene was conducted by Classic Rock’s
head-spinning. The rock media, Malcolm Dome.
both mainstream (four weekly Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf
inkies) and Xeroxed (countless (1973) is a must-have for fans of
fanzines, from the Glue on down) vintage Heep. The acoustic Go
were all over it, but the major Down and From Time To Time
labels were too cumbersome to show a more reflective side of
react to its ever-changing Hensley’s writing, but the brash
landscape of bands and to title song (check out the searing
supply actual recorded evidence slide guitars) and the slow-
of its rapid progress. burning blues of When Evening
Consequently, during its most Comes offer a stripped-down
fertile period, punk happened variant on Heep’s sound,
live. More specifically, it Hensley favouring piano over
happened live at The Roxy. his trademark Hammond
Situated in a run-down, pre- organ. Eager To Please (1975) is
redevelopment Covent Garden, elaborate at times, with strings
The Roxy was a snug, squalid embellishing gentle ballad
breeding ground for countless Through The Eyes Of A Child, while
neophytes bound for greater displaying a pronounced Heep
things, where the capital’s kids vibe on rollicking rockers Winter
would gather to exercise their Or Summer and Who Will Sing For
You. Free Spirit (1981) is poppier
inner Sid while pogoing (and,
latterly, posing) to punk’s finest overall, but hits the mark with
exponents. Despite not coming a bunch of upbeat rock numbers
out until July, Live At The Roxy including New York, Brown Eyed
WC2 was still fresh enough to Boy and Telephone.
capture the imagination of QQQQQQQQQQ
provincial punks who’d as yet Rich Davenport
only seen albums delivered by Geordie
Damned, Clash, Jam, Stranglers Reissues DEMON
and 999. Live At The Roxy
introduced many to X-Ray Spex Newcastle noisemakers who
(shrill), Johnny Moped (basic), included one of rock’s most
Eater (snotty), Wire (artful), recognisable voices.
Unwanted (chancers), Slaughter There were
And The Dogs (savage), The
many early-70s
Adverts (bored) and, to those hard rockers
unfamiliar with their Spiral who in their
Scratch EP, the newly Howard hearts wanted
Devoto-less Buzzcocks (brilliant) to be Led Zeppelin or Deep
and – with snatches of vérité Purple but in their heads knew
dialogue recorded in the Roxy the way to getting on the TV
toilets secreted in between its was to be Slade or Sweet.
tracks – the essential ambience Geordie, like Nazareth, briefly
of the club itself. Here re-pressed pulled it off, expectorating
on (pink and blue splattered) gravelly hits like All Because Of
vinyl, this once essential parish You and Can You Do It all over
mag of punk retains an the nation’s pop kids. Nazareth’s
unpolished charm and tangible USP was of course the unholy
electricity that’s a timely shriek of Brian Johnson, which
reminder of significantly more made Noddy Holder sound like
passionate times. Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant. You
QQQQQQQQQQ probably know what became of
Ian Fortnam Brian after Geordie floundered
as the 70s came to an end.
Ken Hensley Geordie’s first four albums are
The Bronze Years now excavated on quirkily
1973-1981 CHERRY RED/HEAR NO EVIL coloured vinyl, and emphasise
A heep of solo Ken. that they were fiery in spurts if
Ken Hensley’s not regularly inspired. Hope
songwriting, You Like It (1973) landed its hit
keyboards, singles, while 1974’s Don’t Be
slide guitar and Fooled By The Name stomps ALBERT WATSON/PRESS
occasional lead solidly but slumps around its
vocals were an integral element dreary version of House Of The