A rose by any other name would smell as sweet: discuss. Whereas some albums are named in such a way as to be stating the bleedin’ obvious – Live, Greatest Hits, The Remixes etc. etc.. you might need to be in on the reference points to realise that it’s actually stating the facts in a slightly subtle manner. This is the Carlisle band recorded live in London at the Pizza Express in Holborn. (Scoff not; there’s quite a few well known acts who’ve played there, and not everyone wants to stand all night at gigs.) But if your response is simply to dismiss this album on those grounds alone, you might want to be a little more careful…
Interviewing the band at the tail end of 2023, lead singer Jonny Foster talked about how they’ve had to make their own circuit – in fact, their earlier live album At Her Majesty’s Pleasure was compiled from three shows that they did on a tour of fifteen jails. This time round they’re playing some of their best-known songs unplugged. While I’ve yet to actually catch the band live (I turned up to review them one time only to discover the gig had been cancelled), there’s an energy on this and the earlier live album, that matches up to the studio versions of these songs.
In some cases, it even goes one better. ‘The Ballad Of The Gypsy King‘ surpasses the version on their debut album The Borderland. Whether the maxim of ‘talent borrows, genius steals‘ is true or not, what is impressive is the ingenious addition of Miles Davis‘ ‘So What’ into the song which takes it to another level. See at the bottom of the review to see what I mean.
Whether a live, especially unplugged, album is the best place to start with a band you haven’t heard before is a moot point. But it’s been recorded well, and it gives a good insight into the band, who can certainly write great songs and play with an impressive amount of energy. They’re a hardworking outfit, and it’s clear that they have honed their performance and songwriting skills well.
It might be better if it didn’t finish with a slightly pointless version of Gerry Rafferty‘s ‘Baker Street‘ (although it’s certainly preferable to the dancey version doing the rounds in the early nineties which I advise you to avoid like the plague). However, in this day and age it’s always possible to skip to the end. This album may not change your life, but it’s perfectly listenable and a pleasant way of spending the time. Hopefully it will encourage you to dig out their studio work and keep an ear out for them.
