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42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
UNDEAD and then some !!, August 8, 2002
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
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Of The Best Live Rock Recordings Of All Time, January 2, 2007
This review is from: Undead (Audio CD)
I saw Ten Years After live in a small club called "The Bank" in Torrance, CA, circa 1968, at which time their live act consisted of what is captured here on Undead. I was totally blown away and immediately went out to get the LP. TYA was in a blues/jazz mode at this stage, and although they went on to be a mega superstar act in the later years of their career (I saw them live 4 times thereafter), their style changed somewhat as they began selling more records (mass popularity in the music biz usually requires a less esoteric style for the masses).
Undead captures the band at their purest apogee of intensity and finesse, when jazz and the blues more than rock 'n roll characterized their musicianship. Undead is especially noteworthy for some great bass soloing by Leo Lyons and some jazzy Hammond soloing by keyboardist Chick Churchill. Their later stuff concentrated on Alvin almost exclusively as the band's soloist, as demonstrated by TYA's recent Live At The Fillmore East CD, which although excellent, features Alvin's guitar pyrotechnics exclusively and which relegates Leo and Chick into the background.
Alvin at the time of the late sixties and early seventies was revered as one of the great guitar gods, right up there with Clapton, Page, Beck, and Hendrix. Many contemporary music critics tend to denigrate his style nowadays, characterizing him as all speed and no style. Undead (and Live At The Fillmore East) prove them all wrong, from my estimation, as only a cursory listein to "I May Be Wrong But I Won't Be Wrong Always" or "Woodchopper's Ball" off of Undead will otherwise prove. Absolute jaw-dropping work that his contemporaties in Guitar Olympus would not have been able to duplicate, dare they even have tried.
My only regret with Undead is that they brought out this version with the bonus tracks after I had already purchased the original CD, the latter of which contained only the same tracks as the LP. Is this some sort of insidious packaging conspiracy on the part of the recording industry, or what?
Bottom-line: this is one of the greatest live rock recordings of all time, bar none.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE SPRING BOARD TO GLORY, April 16, 2008
This review is from: Undead (Audio CD)
I have mentioned in other reviews, how highly I regard Alvin Lee. Many others have given you their long winded reviews of this musical offering. My crique is more simple and to the point. This CD/album changed the description of what is required of a rock/blues/jazz guitar player. Alvin is cemented into the top five rock & roll guitarist and to be truthful, he is actually in the top five axe players of ANY genre.
I had the great fortune of attending TYA in concert, as the middle act on a three act show in 1970, where the great Muddy Waters was the headliner. Ten Years After stole HIS show! In truth, Alvin Lee stole the show. I was in total awe of this man with his fret speed. The ONLY other artist I ever saw that was in his league with speed, is/was Johnny Winter (another on my top five list). What is so unique about Alvin, is the clarity that he maintains with such speed. Many times, he is so clean and fast that his guitar comes across as sweet as a violin.
This is as close as you'll get to hearing what Bill Graham and others found amazing as a live performer! Graham continued to use TYA at both Fillmores and at Winterland. TYA's album "Live at the Fillmore East" is a steal on Amazon MP3 download for $8.99 for the two disc set.
If you are new to TYA, "A Space In Time" (in my humble opinion) is their best studio offering as a group.
It appears I've found myself being long winded too. It is hard not to be when reviewing a LIVING LEGEND. Buy it and smile:)
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