Customer Reviews

Twice Removed from Yesterday/Bridge of Sighs

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Trower/Dewar/Isidore... does it get any better than this? This set is pretty hard to beat, I'll tell you what...

All three are in FINE form here - do yourself a favor and listen with a good set of headphones.

Bridge Of Sighs might the better known of the two CDs here, but Twice Removed From Yesterday stands on it's own merits. I Can't Wait Any Longer/Hannah/Twice Removed From yestarday and Sinners Song are all KILLER tracks.

Jimmy Dewar had the perfect voice to go with Trower's guitar - and the more I listen to Trowers'older stuff, the more I see Jimmy's talent. What a shame we lost Jimmy - I would have paid top dollar to see a reunion of these three guys.

All that said, this is classic, classic stuff and I can't recommend it highly enough. Buy it, put your headphones on, kick back and listen to three guys play their souls out. It's quite an amazing work.

Twice Removed From Yesterday (1973) and Bridge of Sighs (1974.) Robin Trower's first and second albums.

In 1971, Robin Trower split ways with Procol Harum, where he was the longstanding guitarist of the classic psychedelic group. After a failed project with a band called Jude, Trower hooked up with the ex-Stone the Crows bassist/vocalist James (Jimmy) Dewar and drummer Reg Isidore in 1972 and was signed to Chrysalis. He then recorded his debut album which was released in 1973.

Trower's debut, Twice Removed From Yesterday, is an outstanding collection of bluesy, wah-wah infected space rockers that are filled to the brim with long, etheral soloing. Due to his use of the wah he is often dogged as a Hendrix imitator, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. He was obviously influenced very much by him (most guitarists were) but after a few listens you forget all about the Hendrix-like passages. He took guitar to otherworldly places, with bluesy singer Jimmy Dewar giving an almost gothic-metal feel to the band (not lyrically). This album has two of his longstanding classics, I Can't Wait Much Longer and Daydream, which much be heard to believed. The title track is a nice dose of psychedelia, and the rest of the album rocks out in heavy fashion. A well produced, packaged, and presented debut.

The second album, Bridge of Sighs, expands on what was done on the debut and is generally considered to be his best album and one of rock's classic albums. The opener, Day of the Eagle, is a spacey rocker and is one of his more well known tracks. Too Rolling Stoned is a masterpiece, the outro solo being one of his finest moments outside of the slower "ballad" type numbers. Bridge of Sighs is a slow, haunting song that well deserves its place as one of Trower's all time best and truly clarifies the slow, bluesy, drawn out, and emotional feeling of his work. The rest of the album also features some top notch effects-riddled classics. Obviously, Trower's technique and use of effects is masterful.

Bridge of Sighs will probably always be looked at as Trower's all time best, and though it is his hit album and breakthrough, I wouldn't quite jump to that conclusion, seeing how great the debut is and some of his later work (Victims of the Fury). This twofer gives you a good dosage of Trower and is alot better than the already fine best-ofs on the market. Perfect for the beginner to Trower or worthy to those Procol Harum fans wanting to see what the guitarist did post-Procol. Soon, Trower would be playing to stadiums and sold out crowds, riding on the success of Bridge of Sighs. It established him as one of the 1970s guitar greats and showed what could be done with solo careers.

In 1996, British company BGO remastered and reissued Trower's releases as twofers, and this is a great choice seeing that his debut is out of print. Bridge of Sighs got remastered by Chrysalis in 1999 and features live bonus tracks which are awsome and give a nice taste of Trower live, but if you aren't that hardcore get the twofer which is a better deal. However, if you can't find the twofer in stores (it isn't stocked in most superstores such as Best Buy) then get the Bridge remaster, which is very easy to find.

To conclude, get these albums if you are a fan of 1970s blues rock or admire Hendrix's style of playing. They are most certainly worth your money. Don't be swayed by what you've heard as him being a crappy Hendrix imitator- that's totally false. Happy listening.

I heard two old guys talking about this guy trower, when i was at work,last week. Did the research and listened to these two albums, and everything up to caravan to midnight. I'm a 21 yr old hip hopper, and i can tell you, i have never heard anything like this before.
My man trower and dewar have changed the way i listen to music, completely! I felt the tones, the feelings, the soul, the inspirations, and everything else i can't name, that i just haven't gotten from hip-hop and most R&B music. This s**t is just unreal!! this power trio slams even on the ballads. Sail on, bluebird, ballerina, and others. Confession midnite, too rollin stoned, daydream... man i could go on and on. These boys have just funked my life in a major way!!
I'm collecting everything i can from these guys and i'm spreadin the word. I ain't even got the words to say what i need to say...i'm just that damn blown away!!

When I was 13 my brother mentioned that the music from a surf flick we saw was Robin Trower. I bought "Twice Removed" (1974) and have been hooked ever since. My favorite album of all time is still "Twice" with BOS a close second. Not just Trower, all albums... must have been a formative time. I have yet to hear a guitar played as Robin plays one. And it's not just the playing. Coupled with Dewar's voice it is a force to be reckoned with, a harmonic convergence of epic proportion. This CD with both albums is the BEST. If you're a fan of guitar work of the highest quality or like hard diving rock and roll you can't lose, and it will be some of the best money spent on music ever.

Robin Trower's debut solo album after departing the confines of Procol Harem (best known for the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale") is a celebration of his freedom from the group and explorations into the distorted blues stylings of the late Jimi Hendrix. Accused by many of ripping off Jimi's sound, Robin would say that in order to make any progress as a modern guitarist, one would have to go through Jimi. The palate of songs is a wide one, varying from the slow tempo and ethereal feel of "Daydream", "Hannah", and "Ballerina", to more upbeat electric R&B stylings of "Man of the World", and "I Can't Stand It". There are some attempts at progress in the title track, but listening to them 25 years later (this album was originally released in 1973), you can definitely date the sound to its time period, similar to some of Steve Miller's work of this time. If you are a Hendrix fan, and are new to Robin's music, I would recommend the "Bridge of Sighs" album first, then this one. Other early titles like "For Earth Below" are also good, but towards the late 70's the group started to lose the edge that shows on the first 3 releases. Aside from the guitar work, the vocals of James Dewar are quite good, and the drumming is also up to par for a good blues/rock trio.

I have been a Robin Trower fan for a long time. I liked him with Procol Harem but he's too good to be hidden in a band. This album is just outstanding. Daydream is an ethereal piece and his guitar has a velvety rolling edge to it. Being a guitar player myself I really appreciate his expertise. If you like later Robin Trower then you must have this album. It's different than Bridge of Sighs. Hanna and Ballerina are haunting tunes that stick in your head . An excellant CD to listen to while driving, or anytime. I highly recommend Twice Removed From Yesterday to any Robin Trower fans. This was the first Robin Trower album I ever listened to and it was the last one I bought. I have most of his albums on CD and Vinyl. Thanks Robin for timeless music.

Jimmy Dewar- one of the most underrated baritone bassists in history! He is sorely missed and, at the risk of maligning Robin's subsequent attempts at resurrecting the band's classic sound, the band was never the same without him. "Bridge of Sighs", much like Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", can never be played enough over the airwaves in tribute to one of the greatest rock trios ever. Play on, man............

Trower's first two records were inarguably his best. It was on these that he did best what he was best known for: he almost uncannily evokes the guitar playing of the late Jimi Hendrix. While his playing style never got quite as abstract as many of Hendrix's acid-fueled live solos tended to, the similarites are still undeniable. However it does not sound like mimicry or imitation, it sounds like an honest-to-God channeling of the spirit at times!

As for the songs, Twice Removed features a couple of my all-time favorite Trower tunes. The first track, "I Can't Wait Much Longer" is actually one of my all time favorite songs, period. It is to me the penultimate heavy-stoned-blues-trip rock that Trower represented in his first few albums. The other extreme stand-out track here (they're all good, but) is "Hannah". With a slow, bass-driven opening riff that's almost Sabbath-heavy, and a double-time middle eight that just plain rawks.

On to Bridge of Sighs, hailed by many as Trower's greatest work. The tracklist here speaks for itself, reading almost like a miniature Best-of comp. "Too Rolling Stoned", "Lady Love", the title cut, and my favorite "Day of the Eagle". Heavy, up-tempo rockers combined with slow-but-sweet stingers and some of the fanciest fingerwork the man ever provided.

Two wonderworks on one disc. You really can't go wrong.

Well, I picked this album up mostly on RT's reputation, and vague recollection that I liked him as a kid (though I didn't actually have any of his records). Also based on the reviews here at Amazon....

I'm thrilled with this set, it's definitely a strong "4" (and I seldom give "5"s). I recognize quite a few of the songs, including the FM "hits" "Day of The Eagle" and "Bridge of Sighs". This is 2 albums on one CD, the second, "Bridge of Sighs", is even better than the first, which is very good. As noted by another reviewer, the sound is a bit "flat" on the first album, bit it's fine on the second. Not bad, though, especially for 30 year old recordings. I'm plarticularly pleased with the 2-for-one format. Much better than junk demo/filler that sometimes gets jammed on the tail end of re-issues.

If you're looking to revisit some of the less overplayed gems from the 70's, here's a good starting point!

For a long time I couldn't find either one of these two landmark Trower CD's anywhere. Twice Removed From Yesterday was just not to be found. Then somebody had the good sense to put both albums on this CD. If you are a Robin Trower fan and don't have either one of these then you need them in your library. I saw Robin Trower live do Bridge of Sighs in the Old Paramount Theater in Portland Oregon and it was astounding! An excellant value that belongs in anyone's rock music collection.