Customer Reviews

Living in Fear

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

 

 

This is a great 70's rock album.
The reissue liner notes discuss the idea that even riff-masters like Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin were influenced by some of the riffs and ideas on this album.
Guitarist Ollie Halsall played alongside renowned guitarist Allan Holdsworth in an earlier version of this band. This record is a treasure of great rock guitar playing in a classic progressive rock style. Also check Halsall's work with group Patto, especially the record, "Hold Your Fire"

This brilliant '70s progressive pop band still sounds fresh. Great tunes, brilliant playing. Check out the late, great guitarist (and here vocalist/keyboardist, as well) Ollie Halsall, who was one of the truly remarkable unsung heroes of prog rock. Look for his albums with Patto and Kevin Ayers (particularly "June 1, 1974").

Wow, this album was a great surprise, with amazing guitar from Ollie Halsall. I got this record because I kept hearing Ollie's named mentioned alongside Holdsworth. Now I know why! I don't know who influenced whom, but Ollie could have sure given Holdsworth a run for his money, back in the day. Sometimes the similarity is amazing. With his singing and energetic attitude, Ollie really stands out. As a Tempest album, I like this even more than the debut w/Holdsworth, with better production, singing, songs, and plenty of great guitar work. What a find. Now I guess I have start trying to find other records Ollie Halsall played on...

This second Tempest album saw the departure of vocalist Paul Williams (GOOD RIDDANCE!!) and uber-guitarist Allan Holdswaorth. In his place, an insanely creative loon by the name of Ollie Halsall who had just completed a stint with the brilliant but ill-fated Patto.

In the vocal department, bassist Mark Clarke steps up to the plate with very pleasing results. Guitarist Ollie Halsall plays with great fire and brilliance. On the surface, there are some minor similarities to Allan Holdsworth's legato style but there are plently more differences to make Ollie stand out. On "Dance To My Tune", Ollie gets to strut his stuff with wild abandon in the middle section, as Mark Clarke and Jon Hiseman provide sensitive and flexible support, from thoughtful to flat-out rocking!

Overall, the quality of the songs is very good though a bit less adventurous than the first album, some of the highlights being "Dance To My Tune", "Living In Fear" and "Funeral Empire". The one thing that seemed a bit pointless was a rather by-the-numbers rendition of The Beatles "Paperback Writer".

The musicianship is nothing short of top-notch, with Ollie tossing in keyboards on several tracks (a nice touch).

Such a shame this band broke up, by the sound of it, it hadn't even begun to tap into its potential.

After "Hold Your Fire", I consider this a gem. Ollie Halsall was an unheralded guitar phenom. The song writing on this cd is great - perhaps, the weakness of Patto was in the song writing, but Ollie performs magnificently here with some great tunes as a pleasant surprize.