Undead

Ten Years After | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B000001F6S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,384 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always

2. At The Woodchoppers' Ball

3. Spider In My Web

4. Summertime/Shantung Cabbage

5. I'm Going Home

Editorial Reviews

Japanese only SHM paper sleeve pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. 2009. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNDEAD and then some !!, August 8, 2002

By 

Herb Staehr (Hingham, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Undead (Audio CD)

When Alvin Lee & Ten Years After were first invited to play in America by legendary rock promoter Bill Graham in 1968, they wanted to release an album to coincide with the tour. Their 2nd studio effort (Stonedhenge) was not yet complete, so it was decided to release a live album. The result was one of the best live recordings of the period, and it arguably remains as one of the best "Live Rock & Blues" albums ever! As indicated in my Visual History book on Ten Years After - when Alvin Lee first heard this album he thought "Well that's it, that is probably the best I'll ever play and there are going to be problems recording in the future because that encompasses just about everything the band can do". Fortunately things turned out much better for Ten Years After but, listening to UNDEAD, it quickly becomes evident that Alvin's initial concerns were not unfounded. This album absolutely "SMOKES" from the onset and the musicianship is remarkable throughout.

Ten Years After were quite different from the other "2nd British Invasion" blues bands of the late 60's because they effortlessly fused jazz and blues, and that characteristic is exemplified in this album. "Woodchoppers Ball" and "I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always" are absolutely stunning and every bit as impressive today as when they were originally recorded. A few critics later got some sort of perverse pleasure from claiming that Alvin Lee's guitar playing was "all haste and no taste", but none of that is remotely evident on UNDEAD. His highly accomplished and precise technique on the aforementioned two songs dances above, around, and under any solos recorded by the other so-called "guitar gods" of the time. The four new tracks, comprised of material originally excluded due to vinyl record time limits, have made the remastered CD even better. "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" were, of course, played by almost all of the British blues bands and Alvin obligingly introduces "Spoonful" as a "Clapton - Howlin' Wolf number". But it's a treat to now hear TYA's own version of these tunes with Alvin's inimitable guitar work.

In the wonderful booklet that accompanies the CD, drummer Ric Lee describes the added "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" as being, "a bit rough around the edges". Although it's not quite the polished version found on future TYA releases, it is very much a "diamond in the rough" being an early and quite interesting 14 minute version of the song. The closer, "I'm Going Home", is only half the length of that famous Woodstock version that would emerge more than a year later - yet it is every bit as energetic, and perhaps even more so!

I strongly recommended the other TYA re-releases ("Ten Years After", "Stonedhenge", "Live At The Fillmore East 1970" & "Cricklewood Green"). They all have bonus tracks and great new descriptive booklets authored by Ric Lee, with the original artwork plus several additional rare photos. But if you have not yet heard any of them, I suggest you start with UNDEAD ...It truly Rocks !!

Herb Staehr

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turn 10 Years After up to 10, April 3, 2001

By 

"adamjayjohnson" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Undead (Audio CD)

When I first purchased this album a few monthes ago, I was a bit hesitant. But once I put it in my player I knew I had made a wise purchase. The lyrics are a little below par, but the musical virtuosity is hard to top. Listen to the great bass solos on "I may not always be right" and "at the woodchopper's ball." When you can hear Alvin Lee in the back screaming out "yeah!" you know these guys came to play and are no frills blues rockers. The absolute speed of guitarist Alvin Lee is incredible. He is sorely underrated in the group of 1960's blues guitarists. Song after song he churns out blues lick after blues lick at a pace which has to be heard to believe. The ending song-"I'm going home" is a bit subdued when compared to the essential 12 min version from Woodstock a year later. Reagardless, this album is one which you should buy if you love blues and want to hear some speedy guitar. The performances are great and will leave you wanting more from this seminal British blues band.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great example of '60s british rock, April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Undead (Audio CD)

Ten Years After appeared in 1966, the same year that cream and jimi hendrix made their british debuts, marking a new era in british rock. These bands took american blues and added volume, jazz experimentalism, and their own unique twist to create a high point in rock development. Ten Years After featured the incredible guitar work of Alvin Lee, a player who merged jazz dexterity with rock and blues grittiness, but never achieved the same notoriety as his compatriots hendrix, clapton, jeff beck, or jimmy page. He himself always seemed to downplay his own ability, forever trying to outrun the image of him in sonic oblivion at woodstock. This album, though, captured the band in its live glory. It runs from scorching blues to seminal jazz fusion ("woodchoppers' ball"), all driven by lee's guitar. It is raw, loud, and unpolished, but incredibly good at capturing this band at their peak. Worth having, if only to capture a unique moment in rock history.