BE-BOP DELUXE: LIVE! IN THE AIR AGE (1977)
1) Life In The Air Age; 2)
Ships In The Night; 3) Piece Of Mine; 4) Fair Exchange; 5) Mill Street
Junction; 6) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape; 7) Blazing Apostles; 8)
Shine; 9) Sister Seagull; 10) Maid In Heaven.
Recorded on a UK tour in early 1977, this is
the official answer to all of the fans' red-hot prayers for a live Be-Bop
Deluxe record — but coming just a wee bit too late in the band's career, I'd
say. Because there is no better reason to hope for some documentation of Bill
Nelson's live powers than a desire to check the man's guitar prowess in action
— yet, by that time, Nelson was already edging away from the status of a guitar
hero and moving more in the direction of «economic» songwriting. There is plenty of guitar prowess on display
here, not to worry; but not the sort of bold, reckless melodic experimentation
as first seen on Axe Victim — for
the most part, things are kept under tight control, almost as if, with new musical
values on the horizon and all, Nelson was becoming afraid of potential
accusations of «wankery».
Altogether, the selected setlist, spread across
an unusual format of one LP and one «bonus» EP, includes but two sprawling
workouts. ʽAdventures In A Yorkshire Landscapeʼ, extended by a good four
minutes from the original running length, contains several fusion-style
workouts in the spirit (though not quite in the form) of John McLaughlin,
interspersed with Simon Clark's less involving, but pretty, keyboard solos. In
stark contrast, ʽShineʼ (not the same as the studio recording, appended as a
bonus track to Sunburst Finish) goes
for a completely different mix of funkiness and psychedelia — real trippy,
far-out-there stuff that sounds like nothing else in the band's catalog.
The majority of the other tracks comes from Sunburst Finish — oddly enough, none of
the material from Modern Music was
seen fit for inclusion, even though the tour itself was allegedly held to
promote the latest record — and they are not too drastically different from the
original, being about as well-polished and well-rehearsed as the studio
blueprints. Then, almost as a «for-the-casual-fans» afterthought, Futurama is represented by quick,
polite, but honest runs through ʽSister Seagullʼ and ʽMaid In Heavenʼ on the
last side of the EP.
All in all, due to solid choice of material and
professional commitment, In The Air Age
is never «bad» or «unlistenable», but it is still a disappointment — adding
very little, if anything at all, to our understanding of and «spiritual bond» with
the band and Nelson in person. Serious fans will, of course, enjoy the many
nuances and appreciate the minute differences in tones, tempos, and textures,
but this really ain't no Live At Leeds or Made In Japan, where these differences just jump out and kick you
in the face, regardless of how many years of experience you have had with the
bands in question. A pity, that — Be-Bop Deluxe was one of those bands that
seems like it had enough brains and
brawn to make their stage act into a separate phenomenon from their studio
creativity. Maybe it was just a case of unlucky selection, but, whatever be the
answer, I am not going to implore you to run off in search of Be-Bop Deluxe
live bootlegs based on this particular
experience; sticking to the studio albums seems quite enough.
Check "Live! In The Air Age" (CD) on Amazon
Check "Live! In The Air Age" (MP3) on Amazon
Frankly I suspect that albums like Live at Leeds and Made in Japan are the exceptions. From 1975 until now the vast majority of live albums are nothing but as faithful as possible renditions of the studio versions. This means they invariably fall somewhat short. It's the reason I never cared for Rush live.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that live versions should be some way or another something special seems so rare that it should be treasured.
Again, I bring up a comparison to R&B, where the audience participation thing can be a factor in live performances. Of course, the only full-fledged R&B performers whose live albums I own are James Brown and Otis Redding. Otherwise, it's only rhythm-and-blues based bands like Humble Pie (whose live albums are almost as good as The Who's and Deep Purple's, in my opinion).
DeleteStudio technology didn't really allow "stage" bands like Deep Purple, Ten Years After, etc., the chance to fully reproduce their live sound until relatively recently. Thanks to the quantum leap in sonic engineering, any band can now make a studio album that pretty much puts them in your lap. Plus, there's the concert DVD that gives you the chance to see, as well as hear, the band play. And there's also the fact that social media basically guarantees that every band that plays live gets the results posted on Youtube within the hour. Due to all of these factors, the "live album" is essentially obsolete (except in the case of archival releases for groups who haven't existed in years).
DeleteSarcasm: Yes, because Youtube uploads of live performances are of such high quality.
DeleteSome of them are of equal quality with bootleg recordings made in the 70's. The point is that groups don't really need live albums they way they used to.
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