Customer Reviews

Reaching the Cold 100

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

 

 

This will most likely be a poorly written review. Several ideas thoughts, praises and criticisms in random order.
First, does Peter Green really play much guitar here? It's well documented that on albums like "In The Skies", Snowy White did most of the guitar work, mimicking Green's style. I don't know why, but hearing a solo and not knowing if it's Green or Watson really bothers me. It's like viewing a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa, once you find out it's not the original, all the beauty is gone. The guitar work here isn't bad, but it's far from spectacular. I really can't help but suspect most of the playing is Watson. I have no insight into Green's physical condition so I really do not want to comment on his playing any further...just don't expect anything even close to his work with Mayall or Mac. The album is a enjoyable listen if you start with low expectations. Very laid back, "groovin" blues played with workmanlike precision in the tradition John Mayall or Savoy Brown. The vocals can be a bit much at times; neither Watson or Green carries a tune extremely well. It's hard to take Green's vocals seriously on tracks like "Dangerous Man", especially after seeing him on the liner photos, but his vocals are very genuine and heartfelt. Again, no new music from the pen of Green himself. The fact that he is no longer writing "makes me wonder". To be fair, the newly reworked Fleetwood Mac tunes are some of the best on the album. The playing on these songs is slightly more inspired than the rest of the disc. If the old tunes were soaked in whiskey, the new versions come across as being drenched in fine wine. Much more mellow and refined than the more firey originals (but again I ask myself, who's playing the lead guitar?).
I quess with each Splinter Group release, I'm expecting just a little trace of the "Green God" to reemerge; and I'm still waiting. Time to go dig out my old lp version of "Pious Bird Of Good Omen".

I could never get enough of peter green's sound and style like he had when he played with fleetwood mac.he was everything a blues guitarist should sound like, and the best of the british blues guitarists. and sadley we lost him to his demons for to many years, with only breif returns to the music scene. these returns produced some great music and some that was just o.k. then, he gave us his splinter group.they have always been good, but i have felt that people wanted to really hear what greenie could do, did he still have it? his muisic thus far was on the verge, just a taste of what we hoped he could still do. well with this effort i have to say, grenie gives it to us!!! the c.d is a strong efort with solid tracks that have solid beats and good blues foundations. his playing is fluid and his leads rich and emotional with traces of his olde style. the last five tracks are just phenomanal. i know they are mac tunes,but it's greenie! again playing HIS mac tunes the way you expect to hear him play.just check out black magic woman. thanks greenie, and welcome back! p.s. credit must be given to the band especially nigel watson who is great in his own right and does a wonderful job here.

I have been a Peter Green fan since his muse burned brightly in the glory days of the original Fleetwood Mac. He is a legendary figure to thousands of fans who wonder what might have been had he not gone off the deep end for an extended spell. We watched, we waited, and we hoped. His old band went through several profound transformations while he stayed gone, reappearing only briefly to record End of the Game, an album I consider one of the most boring and pointless I have ever heard. Then in the early eighties an album would appear on occasion that was putatively his. The first couple contained some pretty good songs mixed with a lot of garbage. Then he submerged once again next to resurface with a new band, Splinter Group.
I have followed Splinter Group since Green first joined, and I have to say that they get better with each successive recording. For that matter, Reaching the Cold 100 is Green's post-Mac effort to date!
There is a load of excellent blues here. The first five tunes are rather hard-driving and do well showcasing the talents of the Splinter Group. Must Be A Fool and Don't Walk Away are slow blues numbers with kind of a mid-70s feel about them. Then the mood changes entirely with a humorous Richard Thompsonesque song about being sucked into legal and financial problems.
The second half of the CD weakens considerably. I don't care at all for Spiritual Thief or Nice Girl Like You, and the renditions of the other originals are merely decent. Then the band gets back on track as it launches into the bonus tracks. If my praise of the first seven songs didn't have you clicking the buy button, then just maybe my praise of the last four will get you motivated.
Some reviewers consider the bonus cuts the best on the album, most likely because as old Fleetwood Mac tunes they are more familiar. Indeed, Green and company do a yeoman's job with them. But to say they are the best negates the very real progress the group has made over the years. Sure, I like Green Manalishi, Black Magic Woman, Albatross, and It Takes Time and the Splinter Group does tackle them with aplomb, but I also really enjoy Ain't Nothin' Gonna Change It, Look Out For Yourself, Needs Must The Devil Drives and Must Be A Fool. And contrary to what some have written, I think Green's husky, world-weary voice is a nice fit for the music. It is certainly superior to and more distinctive than Nigel Watson's.
Overall, Reaching the Cold 100 is highly recommended to all Peter Green fans. If you are new to Peter Green, check this out and see what you've been missing!

Splinter Group has forged a place for itself in the modern blues genre by grafting and molding its collective talents around the still fragile Peter Green, once the leading light of Fleetwood Mac during its formative (and some say best) years.

On each Splinter Group recording leading up to this one, it has been a pleasure to track the progress of the band and Mr. Green and wonder what the possibilities might be. But the progress seems halted on "Reaching the Cold 100," which is certainly a good but by no means great session.

There are plenty of fine songs here---17 tracks including four remakes from those early Fleetwood Mac days---but the weaker material (and I do not think that Nigel Watson should be unfairly blamed as the sole source of that material as some apparently do) tends to drag more than the stronger material tends to soar. When Mr. Green and Mr. Watson do rise to the occasion, the results are shimmering. Peter Stroud and Roger Cotton excel as composers and performers (bass and keyboards respectively) while Larry Tolfree keeps everything in check via the drums

The slick, crisp production is not really the culprit though folks whose sensibilities are more rooted in the old school of blues may wince a bit. Rather, everything runs a bit too smoothly, and some tracks, such as the clever Spiritual Thief, sound like theme music for sitcoms..

Rather than steer people away from this recording, I would suggest that they temper their expectations from great to good and give this CD a listen. Most will self-edit the tracks after a couple of listens, consigning at least one third of them to the scrap heap and dialing in a few favorites for repeated listenings.

One hopes the next effort from Splinter Group can elicit a bit more pedal to the metal and less cruise control.

This album is a different side of Peter Green but is still nonetheless amazing. The best tracks are the bonus tracks. They showcase Green's maturity and development as a player on old classics such as "Albatross" and "Black Magic Woman." Also, just to note for "In the Skies" most of the lead work was done by Peter Green, Snowy White had only one major solo and the was for "Slabo Day." For that album you only have to hear "A Fool No More" to be convinced. I also assure you that Peter Green does his share of lead work on this album as well. I am not sure where or why the rumors started that Peter Green does not do his own lead work anymore but they are false.

As with most of the folks who have bought this CD, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Peter Green fan, happy to see him with a guitar in his hands again--and I've been waiting for the flames to burst from the coals that have at least hinted at heat during the "comeback." Well, I now admit that time--and several CDs--have tempered my expectations, and I no longer wait for the Green inferno to re-ignite. But I have also realized that the Splinter Band is a solid blues ensemble--very solid, even spectacular on occasion. In fact the band is maybe too solid, a little too smooth. To an extent Peter Green, especially with vocals and harmonica, does manage to provide a little spiritual edginess to the mix. I do wish it was more Green and less Splinter, but I've reached a level of acceptance in this regard and I don't regret the purchase. Bottom line for me is that this CD offers some fine music--it ain't the Mac circa 1969, but it is very good. 3.5 stars would be more accurate, but I'll round it up to 4.

This is the third studio album by Splinter Group, featuring Peter Green and Nigel Watson. As with previous Splinter Group releases, Peter Green sings and plays guitar, but contributes no new material.

The last new compositions Green recorded were in the 1979 sessions that produced the "In the Skies" album. Since then, if he's written any songs, he hasn't liked them enough to record them. Now his compositions are restricted to new arrangements of his old songs, and covers of blues standards.

The other members of the Splinter Group are quite active, however, and contribute another collection of decent tunes. It's hard to get around the fact, however, that the new recording of "Black Magic Woman" is easily the best track on the album. Green has absorbed some of the Latin idiom that Carlos Santana injected into the song and reclaimed it as his own; this version could be called definitive. The remakes of "Green Manalishi" and "Albatross" should make clear to the newcomer why Green was so popular in the heyday of Fleetwood Mac. His ear for music went far beyond his considerable guitar skills. After all this time, his old 60s tunes are still head and shoulders above anything that his new bandmates can produce.

This is not so much a criticism of the other band members as it is a comment on how sad it is that Green has not been able to return to composing. He would only be competing with himself.

"Cold 100" is a solid effort, with deft, virtuoso playing from everyone. The bottom line, however, is that the "remakes" of Peter Green's old 60s tunes (particularly "Black Magic Woman")are what make the album an essential purchase.

Good sounds, fine voices, nice production, and very well played? What more do you expect from a Splinter's album? No self indulgence, no rethorics. And a shadow of pain. A swansong, maybe?

The Splinter Group features Peter Green(baum), Nigel Watson, Roger Cotton, Peter Stroud and Larry Tolfree. "Reaching The Cold 100" features 13 new original tunes and four "bonus tracks" in which the Splinter Group remakes Greens trade mark tunes, "Black Magic Woman", "It Takes Time", "Green Manalishi" and "Albatross". Musically, the guitar work of Watson and Green is in top form and all of the songs, including the reinterpretations, sound crisp. I was not sure whether I would enjoy hearing a modern day interpretation of these tunes but I did, especially "Black Magic Woman". On the downside, the vocals of both Green and Watson are noticeably weak and despite the fine playing, the vocals tug hard in the direction of 3 stars rather than 5. If you can get past the vocals, you will find some rather pleasing and surprisingly good material here. "Look Out For Yourself" and "Cool Down" are two of the brighter spots.

This will most likely be a poorly written review. Several ideas, thoughts, praises and criticisms in random order.
First, does Peter Green really play much guitar here? It's well documented that on albums like "In The Skies", Snowy White did most of the guitar work, mimicking Green's style. I don't know why, but hearing a solo and not knowing if it's Green or Watson really bothers me. It's like viewing a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa, once you find out it's not the original, all the beauty is gone. The guitar work here isn't bad, but it's far from spectacular. I really can't help but suspect most of the playing is Watson. I have no insight into Green's physical condition so I really do not want to comment on his playing any further...just don't expect anything even close to his work with Mayall or Mac. The album is a enjoyable listen if you start with low expectations. Very laid back, "groovin" blues played with workmanlike precision in the tradition John Mayall or Savoy Brown. The vocals can be a bit much at times; neither Watson or Green carries a tune extremely well. It's hard to take Green's vocals seriously on tracks like "Dangerous Man", especially after seeing him on the liner photos, but his vocals are very genuine and heartfelt.
I quess with each Splinter Group release, I'm expecting just a little trace of the "Green God" to reemerge; and I'm still waiting. Time to go dig out my old lp version of "Pious Bird Of Good Omen".