Raw, heavy and magnificent
Cartimand | Hampshire, UK. | 05/10/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Having seen Carl and his virtuoso companions at the Basingstoke Studio last Saturday, I just had to buy one of their CDs on the way out, as this music is truly awesome!Whilst queuing to get in I heard the end of the band's soundcheck - a portion of Tarkus, and thought to myself "hey they must have a keyboard guru to rival Keith Emerson!" I was wrong. The fast and furious keyboard parts are all played on screaming lead guitar and, oh boy, does it sound incredible!Whilst Carl's live band is now sporting a new young guitarist (sorry don't know his name), due to Steve Baxter (who plays on this album) suffering from severe tinnitus following a car crash, their styles and skills are very similar and at first I couldn't believe that the guy playing on Working Live Vol 1 wasn't the one I saw in concert.All of the tracks will be well known to ELP fans, but you will never have heard them like this before. Barbarian opens the album and sets the scene for what is to come; oh-so-heavy brooding and intricate bass from the greatly talented Dave Marks, coupled with blistering guitar from Steve Baxter and, of course, pounding, weaving mesmerising percussion from the master himself. Enemy God from "Works" is an even greater vehicle for Carl to display his mighty skills. LA Nights, which ELP fans will remember featuring Joe Walsh on "Works" has a slightly more jazzy/bluesy feel and contrasts nicely with the more gothic material here (and also has an almost miraculous guitar outro), whereas the seminal Tank is supremely evocative. Bullfrog is, for me, perhaps the only slightly disappointing track, as it comes over as less tight and more discordant than the rest and with no particularly enjoyable melody. It does, however have some scorchingly fast guitar work to redeem it. Then we have the album's highlights; Ginastera's Tocatta from the classic "Brain Salad Surgery" album is nothing short of a masterpiece here. This eerie and magnificent piece has never sounded better. Then Canario (probably the only good thing from the disappointing "Love Beach" album) gives the axeman par excellence a chance to display his ample skills and will have you agog with awe. Carl then rounds the album off with the drum solo to end all solos. Throughout this set, the musicianship is stunning - rarely will you find three musicians working so hard - each masters of their own art, but also coming together to create something far greater than the sum of its parts.Live, the band's encore is a delightfully bombastically gothic rendition of "O Fortuna" from Orff's Carmina Burana. I gather this will feature on Working Live Volume 2. I can't wait to get that.This music is heavy enough, grungy enough, gothic enough and above all, inventive enough to appeal to far more than just ELP fans, so buy this truly great live album now and play it LOUD! Also, do try to catch the band live. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"
MONSTER DRUMMER and BAND
Vincent B Leonberger | Chantilly, Va USA | 06/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I just saw the Carl Palmer Band at the Birchmere in Alexandria , Va. last night. I'm so glad I went. This was some hard driving
technically astounding rock music played by 3 of the most overachieving talented musicians I have ever heard.
Carl Palmer is the most turbo charged dynamic drummer in the world. He is in a class all his own. He was playing double bass drum solos, cymbal solos. He had great showmanship, very witty warm personality and he new how to touch the
crowd by speaking to us between every song, telling a little story about the next tune to be played. --
"And here's a little song off of Brain Salad Surgery titled 'TOCCATA' "!
His guitar player looked about 18 years old ( bass player looked about 20) and both have already mastered their instruments.
They played a ton of ELP tunes and I am still amazed how the guitar player was able to pull it off!!
This was some solid straight ahead HARD Rock. Very loud and moving. I still can't get over how strong of a drummer CP is. Two straight hours of Heavy Metal THUNDER with a brief interlude of some soft jazz guitar virtuosity . Finger tapping for both bass and guitar players. Tasteful vibrato with distortion and very heavy playing.
I hope the Carl Palmer band comes back to town because I'm ready for round two.
E, Your ears still ringing? I think we got some good pictures. -v
"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
