Customer Reviews

Essential Robin Trower

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a single disc compilation of Robin Trower's solo work for Chrysalis from 1973-1981. Robin Trower broke away from Procol Harum after he fell under the influence of Jimi Hendrix. He switched guitars from a Gibson to a Stratocaster and went solo. He formed a power trio and played in the style of Hendrix but did not go over the top like say Frank Marino. His adaption of the style was more funky and bluesy with ethereal type ballads interspersed for contrast. He is no mere copyist however and is good song writer. Most of his songs are originals with the occasional blues cover tune thrown in for good measure. Another reason the band was successful was due in large part to the whiskey-throated vocals of bass player James Dewar. After Dewar left the band Trower's popularity began to wane. One cut on this anthology features the vocals of former Cream bass player Jack Bruce who replaced James Dewar for 2 albums. Some of my favorite tracks include "Too Rolling Stoned", "Lady Love" "Bridge Of Sighs", "Shame The Devil" and "Messin' The Blues". I was disappointed that the compilers omitted "Little Bit Of Sympathy" and "Fool & Me". That being said this is the best retrospective of Trower's solo work currently available. If you enjoy inventive 1970's era axe work, you will enjoy this disc. I also recommend the "King Biscuit Flour Hour" disc and the remastered "Bridge Of Sighs" disc with extra bonus tracks.

THE ESSENTIAL ROBIN TROWER is a great compilation of much (but not all) of Robin Trower's greatest work. Sure, it's missing "Little Bit Of Sympathy", "Day Of The Eagle", and "In This Place", but you do get hard-to-obtain songs such as "Hannah", "Victims Of The Fury", and the vow of caution "Gonna Be More Suspicious." This, and BRIDGE OF SIGHS, are the first Robin Trower albums to get.

Before listening to this album, I had only heard the song "Bridge of Sighs" played ad imfinitum on classic rock radio. I had also heard that Robin Trower was a good guitar player, playing in the style of Jimi Hendrix. That's all I knew. After picking up this album on a whim - I realized there was a lot more to this great guitarist than just one song.

While "Bridge of Sighs" is a stand out track - there are so many other great songs that tend to go unnoticed - "Daydream," "Lady Love," "Shame the Devil", and "Victims of the Fury" to name a few. All played in a style Robin can comfortably call his own. Yes, there are similarities to Jimi Hendrix - but who ever said that was a bad thing? As a guitar player myself, I've found that substance will always win out over style - Robin's music stands the test of time and sounds as good today as it did 30 years ago.

After listening to this, I made it a point to check out Robin's other albums and found I have a lot of catching up to do!

This is the first i've heard of Robin Trower, as my dad had given me the album. Anyways, I enjoy this album. It's very good blues. I imagine in my mind him rolling his fingers down the guitar neck while using his wah-wah. Such an example can be found on the intro to "Shame the Devil," which shows Robin Trower's experience as a guitarist.

The only complaint I have about this album is that the recording is fuzzy. It needs to be remastered.

For the bulk I like it.
4 Stars.

A lot of critics have slammed Trower for copying the style of Jimi Hendrix. Like this is a bad thing? Yeah, his playing sounds a lot like Hendrix, almost to the point of being downright eerie now and then ("I Can't Wait Much Longer" and "Bridge of Sighs" are the best examples herein), but hey, it makes for some great blues/prog rock. There are a few songs from Trower's extensive workload that were overlooked, particularly "Man of the World" and a guilty pleasure of my own "Jack & Jill" from the Victims of Fury album (at least they put "Victims" on here). But "Hannah", "Too Rolling Stoned", and the classic ballad "Daydream" are all present and accounted for to display one God's greatest gifts to the Stratocaster.

I have watched Robin (in person) since the Procul days and this is the best overall sampling from his career. If you enjoy the sound of a Stratocaster through Marshall amp's this is the CD.

Is the Northeast the only part of the country where "Long Misty Days" was played to death on FM radio ? I agree with the other reviewers that feel that there are omissions but this is the most glaring one as far as I am concerned.

A superb guitarist, and a pioneer in hard rock during the 70's, Robin Trower was an artist that received some radio airplay, but never really had any major commercial hits. In its most notable lineup, the Robin Trower band was a power trio, with Trower on guitar, James Dewar on bass, and Bill Lordan on drums.

The Essential Robin Trower is apparently an attempt to provide a somewhat balanced representation of Trower's recordings from 1973's Twice Removed From Yesterday, up to 1981's B.L.T., a collaboration with Jack Bruce and Bill Lordan. In my opinion, essential entails capturing the essence, and in that regard, this compilation includes some very questionable selections, and has some glaring omissions.

Limited to a single CD, the tracks that I would not have included are Hannah, Confessin' Midnight, Pride, Sweet Wine of Love, and Bluebird, with Victims of the Fury being a borderline selection.

The classic album Bridge of Sighs (1974) is truly "essential" listening for any Trower fan, and why Day of the Eagle, The Fool and Me, and A Little Bit Sympathy, were omitted from this collection is a complete mystery, particularly given some of the songs that were selected.

Caravan to Midnight (1978) is not represented at all. My Love (Burning Love), and the spacey instrumental Caravan to Midnight, should have been included. I'm Out To Get You, is also worthy of consideration.

From Long Misty Days (1976), I would have preferred either the Caledonia, or Same Rain Falls, over Pride, or Messin' the Blues.

In City Dreams (1977) is not one of Trower's best efforts. If any album were to have been given short shrift, it should have been this one.

B.L.T. (1981) has some very strong material. Into Money is a great representative track, but there are also other songs like Life on Earth, that are worthy of consideration. Truce (1982), the second collaborative effort with Jack Bruce is not represented, and neither is Back It Up (1983), a great recording that marks James Dewar last album with Robin. Whether legal matters were the reasons for these omissions, I do not know, but some great songs were certainly excluded from this "essential" collection.

Putting together a compilation for Robin Trower involves more subjectivity than for an artist with a string of hit singles, and The Essential Robin Trower doesn't quite measure up to its name. The three star rating is for the questionable selection of songs, not for the quality of the music. The 2008 compilation Day Of The Eagle isn't perfect either, but it focuses only on the Dewar era (minus Back It Up), and probably does a slightly better job of song selection. In addition, all the tracks have been remastered. Those just getting acquainted with Robin Trower, might find Day of the Eagle: The Best of Robin Trower to be more representative of his music from the 1970's.

To say that Robin Trower is a great guitarist is like saying that Shakespeare was an okay writer. Trower's post Procol Harum, Hendrix-influenced solo work has been some of the best guitar music ever recorded.

This collection captures many of the highlights of Trower's spectacular work for Crysalis records, including Bridge of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned, Daydream, Hannah, and Lady Love.

But this collection is imperfect because Day of The Eagle is missing. It is still worth owning, but it cannot be called a definitive collection since this Trower classic is not on the CD. But if you have this record, you'll have 99% of his best music to date.

A GUITAR HERO FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS! WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SAY ! FOR TRUE FANS THE REMASTERED CDS OF ROBIN ARE A MUST