Customer Reviews

Rides Again

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joe Walsh is one of the most underappreciated musicians in rock music. Whether it be his work with The James Gang, The Eagles or solo work, he consistently makes quality and inspiring rock music. He may have been at his best with this Ohio-based band and Rides On is their finest effort. The album kicks off with a rock classic, the manic "Funk #49" which has a great riff. "The Bomber" shows off Mr. Walsh's guitar prowess with some wicked slide work. The first five tracks are classic arena rock, but the band shows there diversity with the second five tracks that form a song suite of sorts. They are more in the country-rock vein and show a softer side as opposed to the heaviness of the first five tracks. The James Gang never achieved the commercial success they deserved, but Rides Again is a great place to start to get an idea of the quality of this group.

The Joe Walsh led James Gang may be the most unknown group in rock and roll... I say that because most people think 'Funk #49' and 'Walk Away' are JOE WALSH songs. Their loss...

This album is definately one of the best rock and roll albums ever from first note to last. 'Funk #49' leads into the playful 'Ashtonpark' to the bombast of 'Woman' and 'The Bomber'(oh, that last chord that just rings out for 15 seconds!). Then the "light"/ more acoustic side featuring 'Tend My Garden/ Garden Gate', 'There I Go gain', the working man's themed 'Thanks' ["Yes to the man above ya/ Hope you passed the test/ Nope to the man below ya/ Leave him with the rest"] and closing with the sadly beautiful 'Ashes, the Rain and I'.

My only gripe is the inclusion of the extended mix of 'The Bomber' INSTEAD of the original mix. Why not add the extended mix as a bonus track?

Other than that, the new remaster sounds fantastic and if you turn up you can feel Joe's guitar and Dale Peters' bass in all their sonic glory and enjoy Jim Fox's under appreciated drum work (especially on the quieter songs). Get one for the car AND one for the house.

This album represents the Joe Walsh incarnation of the James Gang at its artistic zenith. The band sails effortlessly through a breathtaking set that ranges from lovely, sparse acoustic folk and lush orchestration to no-holes barred crunching riff-rock. The newly remastered version also restores about a minute or so of the original extended Walsh guitar showcase that makes "The Bomber" such a memorable workout. For guitar afficiandos, this one song features just about every possibile demonstration of tonal and melodic expression a gifted player can communicate with minimal frills (just an Echoplex and a slide!).The set of connected songs on side 2 (if you've never had a vinyl copy, that's "Tend My Garden" through "Ashes The Rain & I") is comparable to the Beatles' groundbreaking "Abbey Road" suite. An excellent START on remastering the James Gang catalog...now, how about the Tommy Bolin era-- nudge nudge hint hint?

The reviewer from Euless Texas regrets that "The Bomber is the extended version instead of the original version", but in fact this IS the original version and I like it better with both Bolero and Cast Your Fate To The Wind quotes in place; the Bomber was shortened by removing the Bolero section after the first LP release because of a copyright dispute with the estate of Maurice Ravel, composer of Bolero. Thankfully, they were somehow apparently able to settle and restore the album to its originally intended state.

Unfortunately, when people think of the James Gang, they usually only think of Joe Walsh. In many ways, the James Gang was like America's version of The Yardbirds: an institution only known for launching the careers of great guitarists like Walsh and Tommy Bolin, but little of anything else about the group is remembered, such as the grounbreaking music that was produced and the musicianship within the band. And just as The Yardbirds were one of Britain's most underrated supergroups, The James Gang became one of America's most underrated supergroups, especially as each band's 'star' guitarist soared to higher highths.
Musically, together they were equal parts Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad (the transition from metal to funk like Grand Funk, and the transition from metal to folk like Zeppelin.) This particular album, "The James Gang Rides Again", of all their albums, best incorporates all those styles. And just as their first album was a statement of where they came from, this second album was a statement of where they wanted to go. Of course, this record contains some of their best known songs like "Funk 49" and "Woman", but for my money, the best track on here is "The Bomber." Just as Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused" has an intro, middle, and an outro, with the middle part being sort of a psychedelic interlude as a platform for Jimmy Page's guitar pyrotechnics, "The Bomber" is constructed in much the same way, with a "spooky" bass guitar leading the way into the psychedelic middle section which lasts for a few minutes--enough time for Joe Walsh to flash his guitar "bomber" effects (hence, the name) climaxing with a "rave-up", before finally getting back into the song at the end--again, very much like "Dazed and Confused".
One thing that tends to be forgotten about the "heavy" groups of this era, like the James Gang, Mounatin, or Grand Funk, was that they were just as good at writing melodic ballads that weren't at all boring, but in fact, were some of the most beautiful rock songs ever recorded--"Tend My Garden" is a perfect example.
People that have only heard Joe Walsh in recent years, may not recognise his voice too much on this record. In those days with The James Gang, it was a little higher octave, and he comes out sounding like a "wicked elf", but it lends itself to the character of the band's sound (either owing to the fact that Walsh was a lot younger and thus had a younger voice, or the producer had recorded his voice a little too fast, toward "chipmunk" territory, back then.) Although he was a great-guitarist and songwriter, Joe Walsh was not the leader of this band, and in my opinion, alothough it may not be shared by others, Walsh has not been the same since he had the classy drums of Jimmy Fox and the funky bass of Dale Peters behind him.
This is the kind of band that should have stayed together, because they sounded good together. Joe Walsh needed them as much as they needed Joe Walsh, and it is as much a tragedy as The Who without Keith Moon, and Led Zeppelin without John Bonham that, for whatever reason, they didn't stay together, because they could have been great. But then, the world may never have heard of Tommy Bolin had Joe Walsh not have left, just as the world may never have heard of Jeff Beck had Eric Clapton stayed in the Yardbirds. Maybe having a "launching pad" status isn't so bad, after all.

Huh...and to think that Joe Walsh was going to join The Eagles about five years after this rockin' album came out in 1970! Not only that but you wouldn't have thought he would become a "funny man" in rock music either years later...I'm specifically referring to songs in his solo career like "Life's Been Good to Me So Far." No, nothing on this smoking hard rock L.P. hints at it...so enjoy what one reviewer called "a mix of Grand Funk Railroad meets Led Zeppelin." He couldn't have hit it on the head better!

I was first turned onto the James Gang as a young kid in the late 80's...seeing a promo clip for "Walk Away" on MTV's "Closet Classics" program and then by hearing tracks like "Funk #49" on what was then Southern California's premier classic rock station KLSX 97.1. Finally at the age of 28 I own "Rides Again" in this wonderful remastered edition. If you are in anyway curious about the James Gang and want to know where to start in their catalog....here it is! The album is a rocking mix of blues, funk, folk, country, and psychedelia all rolled up into one...there's even a few classical elements thrown in for good measure! For anyone reading this, track no.4, "The Bomber," is worth the price of admission alone! This song should appease fans of Zeppelin and Sabbath as well as Pink Floyd for it's long spacey break in the middle. This is a true "Headphones" track...I get to experience it on my pair of AKG headphones and it's awesome! "Funk #49" is this album's best known track and it has every right to be...it's some of the best heavy funk rock right up there with early Grand Funk. You won't get it out of your head...believe me!

The rest of the album rocks and soothes as well. "Asshtonpark" is a bouncy short instrumental that sounds great following "Funk #49." "Woman" a great blues rock number. "Tend My Garden" is the one track on the album that comes a little close to a Pop/Rock sound while "There I Go Again" shows a definite Poco influence (the band even employing Poco's steel guitarist Rusty Young on the track). "Ashes the Rain and I" closes the album beautifully. All in all this belongs in everyone's classic rock collection! I can only hope more people will pick up on the funky hard driving sounds of the James Gang courtesy of these remastered CDs. It's Joe Walsh like you've never heard him, especially if you only know the guitar solo in "Hotel California."

That "Rides Again" is not available on a domestic label is a crime worthy of the crew the band was named for. You can buy the band's various greatest hits packages if you want, but this is the only album you really need to hear. Guitarist Joe Walsh broadened the band's power trio approach, incorporating accoustic guitars and keyboards into their sound. The result, as shown on the latter half of the album, is stunning. The first half contains strong guitar jams like "Funk #49." This is one of the best American rock albums of the 1970s, even if no American record label will acknowledge it.

In 2000, MCA re-issued all three Walsh-era James Gang albums in remastered format. Unfortunately, the remasters are particularly lackluster, suffering greatly in the clarity department.

However, the previous year, the German Repertoire label released a 2CD "Best Of", with their own dedicated remastering.

Quite simply, the Repertoire set is the James Gang album you literally never knew you really wanted, especially if you own all three MCA CD's. All the muddy sound of the MCA discs is gone; the percussion is clear, the bass thunders and Walsh is there in all his distorted glory, with the dynamic range of the original albums perfectly intact.

Unfortunately, the Repertoire disc has the abbreviated "Bomber Medley", which is an enormous sore point for JG fans. Also, Repertoire allotted a major portion of the set to the non-Walsh JG years; only 14 of the 40 tracks are Walsh-era material. I'm sure many JG fans will have their opinions over excluded tracks, but the selections were made with input from Jim Fox, who contributes a song-by-song synopsis of each track in the booklet. There is also probably the best essay on the history of the band of any JG CD ever released.

It's a shame that Repertoire didn't produce individual editions of the first three JG albums, because they would have blown away the lackluster MCA discs. But, I've heard just about every other JG "best of", plus the BGO discs, and the Repertoire set towers above them all. While less than half of the Walsh-JG tracks are contained on the Repertoire set, no true JG's fan's collection is complete without it.

Joe Walsh, I tell you, he just jams on this album. And I'll be honest with you folks, The Bomber is enough to give this album 5 stars right there, he just plays that guitar like it's a rapture. Woman jams too, I just feel as though when they made this album, they were just having one hell of a good time and the jam session is so pure. The classic Funk 49, always good, still Funk 48 is better from the prior album but this will do. Overall, get this album for your listening pleasures, you deserve it.

I got turned on to the James Gang by a friends brother who had just got back from Viet Nam. The album was Rides Again and I was hooked. This is one of my all-time favorite recordings. Joe Walsh was an innovative and rockin' guitar player who displayed a mixed bag of styles from blues, rock, country, folk and psychedelia. The James Gang had a tight and pounding sound of country rock melodies with a melancholy feel. Rides Again was a much more serious recording than Yer Album (see my review)with a fair mixture of electric and acoustical pieces. The highlight of Rides Again is the song The Bomber, which was an FM radio classic in the day when FM radio still rocked. This song is a prime example of the bands talent; truly a rock and psychedlic classic! Play this loud, sit back and enjoy. If you are disappointed then your taste for rock is beyond hope.