On the negative side of the ledger, ‘Another Day’ drifts a little close to adult contemporary with its saxophone solos, and the closer ‘Learning To Live’ could have been trimmed. ‘Surrounded’ turns a beautiful piano piece into a full blown rocker before dropping back into ballad mode. Of the more accessible songs, the simplistic structure of opener ‘Pull Me Under’ works when coupled with the group’s blazing chops. ![]() ‘Take The Time’ effortlessly explores difficult rhythms, while Petrucci’s solo in ‘Under The Glass Moon’ was designed to be so technically challenging as to be impossible to copy. The centrepiece of Images And Words is the ten minute ‘Metropolis-Part 1’ a complex progressive piece full of insane instrumental breaks, memorable melodies and an involved story-line that was later expanded to create 1999’s album Scenes From A Memory. But the primary reason for the success of Images And Words is that the group have some straightforward, memorable tunes on occasion, balancing the more intricate and demanding pieces. LaBrie’s high pitched vocals can be off putting, but he fits in nicely to the sound of the band even if he does come across as soulless at times (it doesn’t help his credibility that he doesn’t write any of the lyrics) the purity of his voice on this record is often gorgeous. Dream Theater’s biggest draw-card is the member’s impressive instrumental abilities if you could prove that intricate solos and riffs automatically equated to good music, and there are music fans for whom this is certainly true, Dream Theater would be top of the pile. Unplugged isn’t without its good qualities, but I just don’t find Clapton interesting enough to be able to sit through it.Īfter their debut bombed, Boston’s progressive-metal Dream Theater recruited high pitched and operatically trained James LaBrie, launching this grandiose mixture of terminally uncool progressive rock, hair metal and AOR balladry. Most of the highlights are clustered in the second half of the album, and it’s a test of endurance getting to them through boring blues songs like ‘Hey Hey’ and the watered down version of ‘Layla’. Conversely the highlight of Unplugged is ‘Running on Faith’, the other song with the least blues influence, which has a touching gospel feel.Įlsewhere Unplugged works when there’s a sense of fun ‘Alberta’ is a light-hearted Huddie Ledbetter piece filled with rollicking piano, while ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’ pulls out a showstopping kazoo solo. Despite its overplay and inherent sappiness it’s not as terrible as its reputation warrants, even if it does reinforce the album’s adult contemporary flavour. Of course, the famous song from Unplugged is ‘Tears in Heaven’, a tribute to Clapton’s infant son who fell from his apartment. ![]() ![]() But with Eric Clapton, who is just about the least charismatic lead vocalist in existence, fronting Unplugged, it’s difficult to get excited about this popular live album. ![]() There’s a classy and restrained performance from his backing band, with dual acoustic guitars and classy bluesy keyboard noodling. Clapton also avoids his early career the notable exception is a reworking of ‘Layla’, which lacks the power of the original in this format. states with looser Covid mandates - Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia - on September 13th.Jumping on the bandwagon of MTV Unplugged Specials, this live album thankfully steers clear of Clapton’s 1970s AOR hits, and sticks to mostly traditional blues songs. However, the Lockdown Sessions will be overshadowed by the fact that Clapton spent the past year complaining openly about Covid-19 regulations, vaccinations, and touring mandates: The guitarist first aligned with Van Morrison on anti-lockdown songs like “ Stand and Deliver” and “ The Rebels.”Ĭlapton, who is vaccinated but regretted that decision, later came out against vaccines on his new song “ This Has Gotta Stop,” and stated he would not play any venues that enforce a vaccination mandate.Ĭlapton is scheduled to kick off a tour of U.S. The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions, due out November 12th, is available to preorder now in a variety of formats, including bundles that pair the live album with a film of the concert footage. In May 2021, after a string of Royal Albert Hall concerts were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Clapton and his band convened in the English countryside and staged their own concert - with video cameras rolling - where the one attendee was Clapton’s wife Melia, the titular Lady in the Balcony.Įnvisioned as a sequel of sorts to Clapton’s Unplugged album, the Lockdown Sessions features largely acoustic live renditions of tracks spanning his entire career - like “Layla,” “Tears in Heaven,” “After Midnight,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” and other hits - as well as a pair of Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac covers.
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