A less manicured, wider reaching, down to earth live set
Robert H. Nunnally Jr. | Allen, TX United States | 01/07/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
""[a]nd still the ghost of Be Bop Deluxe haunts me, despite the charms and crucifixes outside my imagination's door"---Bill NelsonBe Bop Deluxe's Live! in the Air Age! is a definitive (and strong) live record of the band's history through Sunburst Finish. This second live set, Radioland, provides an interesting contrast. These live tracks, recorded by the BBC in three bursts from 1976-1978, lack the more refined production values and sense of guitar heroism that the Air Age album exudes. Instead, Be Bop Deluxe seems much more down to earth, less a prog band mired in 70s near-cinematic production values, and more a "real live" rock band covering a generous cross-section of an interesting set of songs spanning the band's history. We hear "Third Floor Heaven" from the "Axe Victim" album, rendered with gusto. "Islands of the Dead" and a suite of "Modern Music" songs illustrate the pop sensibility that was then a large part of Nelson's songwriting. "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" is, as in the Air Age album, a guitarplay centerpiece, but this time the solos give less the impression of soaring glissandi than of Hendrix-inspired haze. It's curious to hear Nelson spend several songs jumping between rhythm work and the trademark lead extravaganzas upon which his guitar hero reputation was made, and easy to understand why this band really needed a rhythm guitarist as it evolved. This is a much less varnished version of the band's key songs, very human, very live, and certainly worth owning. The six Drastic Plastic songs alone are worth the price of virtual admission...."
BILL NELSON'S ROCKETSHIP LAND'S A GREAT UNRELEASED LIVE CD!
Jay Siekierski | STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. USA | 01/19/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Griffin Music has just a issued a real treasure... a massive 77 mins.(approx) of Bill Nelson's former rocketship Be Bop Deluxe.
Radioland:BBC Live In Concert is all unreleased live stuff recorded at Be Bop's height from `76-'78. 16 beauties explain
why this band is so fondly remembered and why Bill made a name for himself as a git hero... whether he likes it or not! `94
notes by Bill himself are included on his reflections of Be Bop and this CD"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1