Customer Reviews

Bring Em Back Alive

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Just another example of why the Dregs are such a superior instrumental band! This disc features music from prior Dregs studio albums, along with certain "cover" tunes. Steve Morse's guitar on "Kashmir" would make Jimmy Page weep of inadequacy, and I consider Mr. Page a good guitarist. If you enjoy incredible instrumental music in a live setting, this is your disc. Any other Dregs disc will give you the same in a studio setting. Enjoy!

I have over 20 instrumental guitar albums, and this is still as enjoyable as the first time I heard it ten years ago or so and one of the best. It's hard to describe, but it grows on you. I bought "Unsung Heroes" by The Dregs in a pile of cheap tapes just to see what it was and couldn't believe the songwriting and musicianship. Now to hear those songs live and played even better than the studio, is awesome. Steve Morse's live solo is so smooth. To me there is no debate between John Petrucci and Steve Morse. What a great influence to have though (and John is awesome too, but not at this stuff). I love the tradeoffs between the violin, guitar, and synths. There's nothing else like it that isn't a short moment at a concert that tires the band out and makes the audience sweat. The production is still top notch today, if you get any Dixie Dregs, Dregs, The Dregs, Steve Morris Band, WHATEVER, get THIS ONE first. I think someone already said that, lol.

This is a fantastic album for those who want an introduction to the works of the Dixie Dregs. The CD has material from several CD's from the past. If you like this CD go back to the originals and see where that takes you. Morse is master here with Rod Morgenstein showing why he is one of the world's best.

After all the time I've tried to introduce others to the musical wonder that is the Dixie Dregs, I still find myself struggling for words that'll decently describe the music to someone who hasn't heard them. They blend every genre available into a wonderfully addicting hard-rock jambalaya, embellishing rock's standard guitar/bass/drum setup with an incredibly masterful violin and an array of jazz-based keyboards that know no boundaries of style. Beyond the group's skill and chemistry (which is a marvel in itself), just as astounding is the writing ability of mastermind guitarist Steve Morse. The man is a wellspring of musical ideas. Ultimately it's his talent for composition that boggles the mind more, but his fretboard dexterity is not to be missed either - he can make that six-string laugh and cry through moments of sublime beauty, then rip and shred through some superhuman feat of technical sorcery with the precision of an android and the calmness of a Zen monk.

Instrumental virtuosity and variety are the order of the day with this band. "Road Expense," "Bloodsucking Leeches" and the extended "Cruise Control" are all basically flat-out rockers, and as different as they are from each other, they're just the tip of the iceberg. "Kat Food" is equal parts sunny rock and upbeat jazz. "Hereafter" is a dreamy slice of pure heaven put into sound. "Holiday" wondrously mixes a Celtic jig and an ear-candy pop instrumental into something truly heart-lifting. "Odyssey" spans the range of a whole adventure story in a mere six minutes, from minor foreboding to gorgeous soaring violin to violent churning frenzy and back again. They paint all kinds of pictures in the air without even any lyrics present (or needed). The one traditional Dregs flavor that's missing on this record is the helping of country/bluegrass; "Country House Shuffle" does have a slight tinge, but there's no foot-stomping hoedown like "Pride o' the Farm" or "The Bash" (aka Wabash Cannonball). It's probably a good thing for those whose taste in fusion doesn't extend to cover hillbilly music.

The sound mix is wonderful, the boundless energy and joyous mood are more consistent than any other Dregs disc out there (no easy feat, let me assure you), and half the songs here are only otherwise available on import or out-of-print albums. They transform a tiresome plodder into something fresh and vital ("Kashmir"), they lighten things up with a whimsical medley of classic rock riffs ("Take it Off the Top"), they bring everything to life with an incredible chemistry that never lets up. Any album could serve as a starting point for anyone curious about the Dregs, but for my money this is the pick of the lot. Every song is a mood-lifting gem, every performance is inspired, everything is technically astounding but always beautifully listenable. I can't express my love for this band enough. Just listen.

If you consider yourself any kind of a fusion OR progressive rock fan, and you don't own this album, add it to your shopping cart NOW! This 1992 live album is right there with anything either genre has ever produced. The Dregs were a phenomenal band, with five virtuoso musicians playing the most intricate yet insanely catchy instrumental rock you can imagine, led by the world's best guitarist (and one of its best composers), Steve Morse. Morse was voted "Best Overall Guitarist" by "Guitar Player" magazine's readers for five straight years before the magazine created a Hall of Fame level to give others a shot at the title. This tour reunited Morse, drummer Rod Morgenstein, keyboardist T Lavitz, and violinist Allen Sloan, along with Steve Morse Band bassist Dave LaRue ten years after the Dregs' breakup. The album functions as a "Best of" collection -- the 12 cuts include 8 of the 10 songs on the "Divided We Stand" best-of album, and all of the Dregs' albums to date are represented. There are no bluegrass or baroque tracks, but the rockers, prog ("Odyssey" and "Divided We Stand"), funk ("Assembly Line" and "Kat Food"), and ballads ("Hereafter") are all here. The only song they could have included that might have made me any happier would be "Twiggs Approved". The highlights are "Country House Shuffle", an amazing 3-1/2 minute cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", and "Take It Off the Top", which is rearranged to include a medley of classic rockers like "Summertime Blues" and "Mississippi Queen". The 14-minute version of "Cruise Control" may seem excessive, but this is how the song was played as an encore in the early 80s, with a long segment where Morganstein soloed, Morse played with only Morganstein on stage, and Morse then went on an excursion on guitar synthesizer -- fans who've seen the Dregs live will find this track a lot more listenable than newcomers.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

This CD arrived on time and in perfect condition. Would recommend dealing with this supplier to anyone. I am sure I will buy more myself from this source down the road.

This hard-to-find disc is worth seeking out even if it costs a bit more. Not only does it have the highest number of the best Dregs' tunes you can find on one disc (not a weak sister in the bunch), but, virtually to the last track, it also happens to have the altogether best versions of those songs! This was recorded in 1992 at the Roxy and by that time the band had, at least perceptably, begun shifting away from their more fusion-oriented, Southern-rock roots in favor of a slightly more (then) updated, progressive-rock approach to their known works, yet for this reunion they stop well short of presenting their sound as if it were, in effect, a Steve Morse Band production (a more sparse sound and straight-on rock approach) - something they have since been increasingly prone to do. But, as slow to stylistically change, from album to album as the Dregs were, for many fans, this disc may represent an ideal point, of sorts, in the evolution of the band's sound. Others say, for them, it's the band's fusion, Southern-rock origins that always keeps them coming back for more. Over the years I've found myself going back and forth between the two points in the spectrum (not to mention anywhere inbetween) with immense satisfaction from both, if each for differing reasons. Then again, many would say, and have already said, that there isn't a Dregs disc out there that isn't worth owning, for that matter - and to that I say amen.

But, this disc in particular stands tall:

TRACK 1: ROAD EXPENSE - The Dregs are well known to start off many an album, live or studio, with the most solid, kick-@ss rocker on the disc. Of all the the tracks they ever chose or wrote for that purpose, I think Road Expense trumps them all. It doesn't hurt here that this version has all the drive, energy and fun of the studio original - and maybe even then some, if that's possible.

TRACK 2: ASSEMBLY LINE - One of their most creatively conceived progressive-rock instrumentals. Alan Sloan's solo violin has about a 2-3 second delayed echo (I don't know it to be intentionally duplicated on any other version of it they did) that manages to impart a perceptably psychadelic feel that's only one of the elements of this performance that allows it to take flight and transcend its otherwise mechanical (but, no less inspired) theme. The music itself is an inspired blend of Celtic and progressive rock.

TRACK 3: HOLIDAY - Here is another inspired mix of Celtic and progressive rock with Morse's screaming guitar soaring high and free, virtually from the start. A superb (and, for me, yet another) individually fascinating composition by Steve "I'm-always-conscious-of-not-wanting-to-bore-people" Morse. This is the best version of it they did.

TRACK 4: COUNTRY HOUSE SHUFFLE - By 1992, this had become a fun and expected staple at a Dregs concert event, and the amount of fan feedback they'd received over the years on this popular title perhaps inspires them to give the most spirited of all their many performances of this cut. Always a winner.

TRACK 5: KASHMIR: - As far as I know, exclusive to this disc, the first half of this track is a beautifully faithful cover, complete with Morse's guitar screaming over top with, first 1, then 2, or even 3 strings at a time, but added to each other with a certain amount of familiar harmonic discord that effectively recalls Plant's own ability to strain his vocals seemingly to the breaking point. Siezing on a musical break, the band then takes a new direction and Led Zep's original musical ideas are, after an interlude, taken for a little, off-roading romp - Dregs style. Wow! The whole thing is 12 minutes plus.

TRACK 6: Odyssey - One of the band's better progressive-rock numbers with a performance that seems even more fluid than the terrific studio original from the What If album. Again, I happen to think this is the best version of it. (Starting to see a pattern here yet?)

TRACK 7: KAT FOOD - Another fan favorite. An excellent progressive rock instrumental and well deserving of inclusion here.

TRACK 8: HEREAFTER - An all-time fan favorite and has been one of mine, as well, from the very first time I heard it off of Dregs Of The Earth. In fact, of all the tracks on this disc, this is probably the only one of which I might consider the studio version being better, however slightly, as the rather delicate balance of the alternate turns of contrasting instrumental colors could no doubt only be as perfectly presented as they were certainly able to do in the studio, and I believe it proves to be no small part of the artistic vision of this work, really. Not to say the version here is bad at all, but, I suppose, had they been able to duplicate such subtlties as those in a live setting as equally well, it seems to me it would have likely been a miracle indeed. A terrific track here all the same, though.

TRACK 9: MEDLEY (TAKE IT OFF THE TOP) - A progressive/fusion track that was popular among fans ever since the 1978 What If album. This version is a departure from its other appearances in their discography in that it includes a few recognizable, instrumental lines from pop/rock culture that the band saw fit to have a little fun weaving into this performance - I think the only version of it to do so. You'll hear snippets of The Knack's My Sherona, Brian Setzer's Summertime Blues and Skynyrd's Free Bird - each "taken off the top", as it were.

TRACK 10: DIVIDED WE STAND - One of the Dregs best (the best?) overall tracks, a long, rather leisurely and infinitely varied blend of Celtic, a most satisfying vein of blues and expounding progressive rock. This version is not to be missed - and again, I think their best version of this title.

TRACK 11: BLOODSUCKING LEECHES - Ask any fan: what definitive Dregs disc could be complete without a rockin' version of this title on it? This one likewise kicks @ss!

TRACK 12: CRUISE CONTROL - Hands down, the most phenomenal version of this track I've heard, well-utilized here as the show-stopping finale. Ron Morgenstein has a killer drum solo (anybody, besides me, old enough to remember those? In case you're under 30, relax, you'll find the way it's done here isn't nearly so dated as it may seem). This track clocks in at more than 14:20 and covers a whole lotta territory in that time - a knockout.

No band sounds like the Dregs and all of their recordings are worth owning. Their instrumental compositions blend rock/country/classical to perfection, and all players are master musicians. On this energetic outing, recorded live in 1992, the band performs a great selection of tunes, something for all tastes (provided you like instrumental music), and a killer rendition of "Kashmir". Could go on and on about how great this band is, so I challenge you to listen for yourself, and bring `em back soon!

First I bought a couple of Steve Morse Band CDs and I was very satisfied because I found quality and virtuosity. Months later I bought this CD (Bring Em Back Alive) in a sale, and said, ohh I'm lucky. This CD is better than "Structural Damage" and "Coast to Coast" (the others of Steve Morse Band). This CD is more complex and rhythmic. Enjoy it!

Totally Awesome!!!....words won't do this album justice.

Buy it turn it up and enjoy one of the best live perfomances ever recorded.

SC