Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Good As It Gets..., December 29, 2003
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.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trower goes solo and releases 2 classic albums, October 9, 2005
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.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
unbelievable, April 18, 2004
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!!
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by Robin Trower 
