Bruford's Boisterous "Bootleg"
Bruce Hughes | Brooklyn Park, Minnesota USA | 02/10/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Recorded and mixed for Radio broadcast before a wildly appreciative audience, The Bruford Tapes was criticized on release for its relatively poor, near-bootleg sound quality (it is certainly packaged like one, and sold--Import only--suggested retail price of $5.98 printed right on the album sleeve itself). Given the current spate of "from the vault" and etc. live releases, it sounds more than acceptable today--kind of a neat little qualitatively expectational inflection, when you stop to think about it.
ANYWAY, T.B.T. is a more than decent live album. The band are obviously fired up, and play with a hard-charging energy that makes this the "rockiest" lp B.B. has yet to release under his own name. Bassist Berlin founts constantly inventive runs, Stewarts' keyboards provide commentary and structural nuance, and the "Unknown" John Clark proves a more than able replacement for departed guitar-guru Alan Holdsworth. And live, Bruford's drumming is far from the skitterish cymbals and fills that ornament his studio work; here the leader burnishes a rocker's power and a jazzer's finesse--truly the best of both worlds for real percussion aficionados.
Perhaps because they were playing live on the radio, the band reigned in (a little) the jazzier, improvisational elements, as these songs--though played with a real jolt of electric energy--don't vary all that much from the original studio versions; I saw this same band on the Gradually Going Tornado tour the next summer, and they stretched things out quite a bit more.
That said, this is a real fun Bruford Rock album. "Hell's Bells" opens out, and the audience is obviously going nuts. That excitement really comes across on record, and is the truest, best test of a live album. "Beelzebub" is that rare creature, an actual rock improvisation that works by building from ground zero up to full roar. Top notch!
p.s.--also printed on the front album sleeve are the cautionary words "parental guidance suggested", making this the first self-censored lp in history, and long before Frank Z. asked Tipper G. "Does humor belong in music?"
You might well arsk....
B+
"
Subpar recording
bloodnok | east finchley | 04/06/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"this was a great band from back in the days when bruford smacked the snare rather than today's fiddly cymbal work (hint: bill, your progressive rock/fusion drumming was/is far more interesting than your attempts to be an old-time jazz-o), but the recording quality is appalling, fluff such as the sponsoring radio station's promotional announcements were left in whilst decent songs were poorly faded out early to fit the 33-1/3 disk layout, and i did mention the recording quality is appalling. spend your money on bruford's studio recordings, "feels good to me" and "one of a kind" rather than this lame excuse."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1