Customer Reviews

Positive Vibrations

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

 

 

When I was a kid (this was in the early 90s) I was something of a classic rock junkie. My Dad gave me all his old records and I was in hog heaven. I'd spend my $5 allowance per week on 50 cent albums at thrift stores and used book stores. I loved the Beatles especially but would even buy albums by Journey, Bob Seger, The Eagles, and others if they were cheap enough. I liked them well enough but they were cheap and, more importantly, MUSIC, so I loved it.

My Dad had Positive Vibrations in his library and I found it when I was young. This is not their most popular release, but I'm very glad my Dad had it (he became a fan of the band after their awesome performance at Woodstock and their hit A Space In Time album). I used to pretend that I had a radio station back then and I'd pick a few choice cuts to put in regular rotation. My favorite on this one was the title cut. The lyrics, in retrospect, are kind of lame, but the chord progression and melody are classic, just totally fantastic. I wonder if Positive Vibrations is a play on Good Vibrations...

My other favorite cut on this album was Look Into My Life, which features better lyrics and a great riff that is expounded upon very well by the insanely well done drums. Another good melody on this one, as well. Look Me Straight Into The Eyes is another highlight, featuring the band in very tight form and another driving melody.

The rest of the album is pretty good as well, comprised of 50s rock throwback sounding songs (even a great Little Richard cover) and pretty straightforward Ten Years After sounding 70s blues/rock.

I could see how some would say that TYA had run out of steam by this album, as certain parts sound like they're coasting. But that is the view of the jaded music critic; the less cynical music fan will most likely find it enjoyable and worth the money - especially if you can find it in the 50 cent bin at the thrift store!

GOING BACK TO BIRMINGHAM, YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY, LOOK ME

STRAIGHT INTO THE EYES, I WANTED TO BOOGIE, LOOK INTO MY LIFE,

and IT'S GETTING HARDER are all stand outs in the great tradition

of earlier TEN YEARS AFTER releases. But the band had set the bar

so high by the time of this set that it was close to impossible

to reach on a consistent basis. The remaining four songs are not

quite up to the standards these guys had set for themselves,

which is not to say they are bad songs. If they had been recorded

by any other band of the time, they may very well have been

considered album highlights.

Yes, the band was getting tired by '74 {and tired of eachother}.

Even so, they come through hard enough on this release for it

to be considered a rock classic and an essential entry into any

serious rock collection.

POSITIVE VIBRATIONS? The title almost invokes visions of a

softer, gentler TEN YEARS AFTER, but make no mistake, this c.d.

ROCKS.

Thanks, and keep rockin' to the classics.

Tom

Definitely a superior sound. Great hearing these classic TYA tracks come alive. Hit 'I Wanted to Boogie' and crank up the volume. You'll hear keyboards & cowbell percussion not noticeable on the American Chrysalis release. Enjoy.

'Positive Vibrations' was released in 1974 as the last studio album from Ten Years After. The band had an incredible run of eleven excellent albums. In the same year that 'P.V.' appeared on the shelves, Alvin Lee released a double vinyl disc with a collection of musicians known to him affectionately as "and company". That album lacked the classic Ten Years After sound that Lee's fan base had grown accustomed to, yet revealed Lee's composing prowess was anything but exhausted. In contrast, 'P.V.' possesses the superficial sound of TYA, but absent the composing genius that had continued into their previous studio album, 'Rock and Roll Music To The World', and the fire of their 'Recorded Live' 1973 release.

The title track from 'P.V.' is one of only two highlights on the disc, and even that song gives one the feeling that you've checked into a psychiatric hospital and the staff is trying to calm you down. The track does possess some interesting ponderings, such as Lee's complaint about "too many wonderers, ponderers and squanderers are wondering, pondering and squandering". Images like that may in themselves drive you crazy, if the rest of the disc doesn't. While Alvin and his fellows work hard to recreate the TYA formula for success, throwing in good-time rock & roll ('Going Down To Birmingham', complete with lyrics like "boom, boom, boom, boom", and "say hey, hey, hey, baby"), a lengthy, thoughtful epic ('Look Me Straight Into the Eyes', at 6:18 the longest excursion on the disc), a laid-back acoustic love ballad ('Without You', even with its dubious lyrics, such as, "I'm just like a grave without the flowers..."), a nod to the band's nodding off, drug enthused chapter ('Stone Me', which announces, to no one's surprise "I can't deny... I'm high"), and a Bob Seger 'Katmandu' redeux, 'You're Driving Me Crazy'. 'It's Getting Harder' brings in some horns to spice up the night, and a couple funky rock tracks with decent riffs (no surprise there) can be found in the opener, 'Nowhere To Run' and 'Look Into My Life', with lyrics harkening to '50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain'.

The best song on the disc turns out to be the closer, however... which gives us something positive besides the previous vibrations to remember the band by. While 'I Wanted To Boogie' may seem like faux-boogie at first glance, there's some sweet pickin' and interestin' lyrical work going on here. It's the one song on the disc where Alvin really churns convincingly on his e-lectric geetar. And with each verse beginning with "Well I wanted to boogie...", and finishing with entertaining mantra's such as "... but I wasn't sure if I wanted what you wanted me for", the song gets your foot to tappin' and you're brain cells firin'. Really too bad the rest of the album can't cook like that. I guess 'P.V.' retired the band in the same way all too many of our favorite entertainers, sports stars, and generals exit our lives... they just fade away. This one is for hard-core fans and completists only. I considered giving the disc two stars, but let's add one as a "thanks for the memories" to Alvin Lee, Chick Churchill, Ric Lee, and Leo Lyons. Thanks for the positive vibrations, men!

Not as good as rock 'n roll music to the world, but A solid effort.

This record is like a fine tuned automobile cruising down the highway. The tunes have a "in the pocket" feel that is an obvious reflection of a band that is a finely honed machine having playing hundreds of gigs in it's lifetime. Unfortunately, what was happening within the bands circle, is a total contradiction to what plays on this excellent effort. This BGO release does an excellent job with the sound - however - the liner notes doesn't even acknowledge nor address this album choosing instead to give us a brief account of the band's history. Oh, well, summer's here and this record (cd) belongs in your car especially if you plan to just cruise on down the highway. Great stuff!!!

A lot of people pan this 1974 album, but this is Ten Years After returning to their roots -- and doing it superbly.

After Woodstock, everybody got Alvin Lee fever, but TYA'S sound was NEVER a one-man-act. I own all of Lee's post-TYA stuff, and he's never yet put out anything that can touch the TYA stuff as far as I'm concerned. Although "Zoom" is darn good.

That's because TYA was a BAND, where each individual player was a master of their own instrument and played their own material for each song, with the product jelling as music.

What's nice about this CD is that the mixes and arrangements allow each instrument equal presence -- just like it was on "Cricklewood Green" and "Watt" -- not consistently shoving the guitar out front, but making sure it's there when it's got the lead spot.

If I had to compare the sound and style of "Positive Vibrations" I would call it a mix between "Watt" and "A Space in Time" -- truly, two classic TYA albums.

It has the excellent timing changes within the body of songs like "Watt," and great use of acoustic guitar like "A Space in Time."

Bass, keyboard, and drums consistently play distinctive elements of the songs, not just background reference for the lead guitar.

Speaking of which, Lee's work on this album is -- there's no other words for it -- superbly tasteful. He's not trying to show off at all, but works his notes into intricate patterns that, again, are reminiscent of "Watt."

Although 1972's "Rock N Roll Music to the World" is an excellent album, the sound, mix, and production on that album was and is too Alvin Lee-focused, but with "Positive Vibrations" it is the band playing as the band again -- cleanly, and doing it well.

As for the lyrics, they're written with the same flavor and level of skill that any of Lee's other stuff ever was. I like them. He's a guitarist, not Wordsworth.

Anyway, if you listen to this album and think "Watt" and "A Space in Time," and enjoy TYA's jazz/blues rock fusion material, you'll find this album grows on you.

It is really very, very good, and it is a sad statement of the times -- then, and now -- that the legend of Alvin Lee's blistering fingers still overshadow the last great effort the full band put out in their original days.

If you dust this baby off, I think you'll find a true Ten Years After gem.

It does not appear to be remastered, however. Neither BGO's website, nor the CD make that statement. Only the Amazon.com description. But the sound is still excellent because the original was done properly.

Enjoy.