Artist: Ten Years After
Release: 2005
Rating: 4/5
“Roadworks” is actually Ten Years After’s first “live” CD, or rather the second release in the official bootleg series after “One Night Jammed” (2003). It’s a concert recording from one of the band’s shows in Germany in 2004. By now everyone probably knows that Ten Years After are enjoying a new spring with the wizard Joe Gooch on guitar and vocals, in the role he took over from Alvin Lee. At first glance, replacing Alvin Lee looks like a real “mission impossible”. But it’s not quite that way.
Ten Years After released a new studio album, “Now”, in 2004, the first with Gooch in the band, and in that spirit they picked the punchy King Of The Blues from that record as the opener, which is an excellent move for marking the new days in Ten Years After. A hard-hitting, electrified classic rock’n’roll riff gets everyone on their feet right away. And of course the classics aren’t missing! Still, when they get played today, the same old question always comes up. It’s the thankless business of comparing Gooch to his predecessor Alvin Lee. The first plus is that Gooch sings completely in his own way, gives purely himself to the Ten Years After songs and doesn’t try to imitate Alvin Lee. Sure, in “blues rock” waters, the “swallowing” of vowels and stretching the vocals through the nose is something totally desirable and an always welcome spice, and Gooch is convincingly skilled at it too, a vocal approach that can explode raw whenever a higher-level attack is called for. So what are the differences between playing the TYA classics today and back then? In Good Mornig Little Schoogirl, Lyons and Gooch keep the solo interplay of bass and guitar a bit shorter than was customary in Alvin’s days; in Hear Me Calling, Churchill’s organ solo has grown even more over all these years (an excellent enrichment); The Hobbit is here again, and Ric Lee has trimmed his solo quite nicely. One of the highlights of this “live” record, I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes, is again visibly shortened in its instrumental solo section, and the band added the “riff” from Smoke On the Water at the end, to rile up the crowd during the show and of course for (I hope at least) their own enjoyment and fun. And then there’s the performance of the song, or rather “evergreen,” I’m Going Home, which is also shorter and tighter in its new shape. Definitely the boiling point of this album, just as it was during the band’s early-seventies period. The song I’d Love To Change The World gained the most in its new form. It’s a track where a classic “rock” approach takes absolute priority over everything else, with a solo rattled off in the lines of pure classic rock, as if the band had forgotten their “blues” roots for a moment. It’s a case of a classic like Stairway To Heaven, where Led Zeppelin also forgot their “blues” roots for a moment. Ten Years After with Alvin Lee actually never played this song at all. It’s a bullseye, with an acoustic guitar in the first part building a grandiose atmosphere, which then suddenly flips when Gooch straps on the “electric” and starts tearing the song apart, round after round, ever more intense.
Of course Gooch doesn’t copy Alvin Lee in the solos! Take Love Lika A Man, with that unforgettable motif that always makes the song so big, which keeps its traditional arrangement. It’s all here. Energetic outbursts in the transitions, a solid rhythm bass line, erotic guitar and a gorgeous “hammond organ” wrap (the organ) holding the song together. And Gooch plays his own solo here (and not only on this track), paying no mind to Alvin Lee, which is the only right way. Any fear is unnecessary anyway, because Gooch is simply born for Ten Years After (given that Alvin Lee refuses to play with them anymore). He has charisma, he’s dynamic and an excellent frontman! And I’ll say it again: Gooch is simply saving the band. Technically he’s surpassed Alvin Lee, that’s clear, and he’s even faster than Alvin. Gooch has an extraordinary feel, and all the songs keep their clear identity and grandeur. In short, it’s now up to you which shades appeal to you more. The old ones, the band with Alvin Lee, or the new-era ones with Joe Gooch.
All of this proves that the three guys in the band have become wise old-timers today, that the youthful exuberance and rowdiness that drives you to prove yourself, to compete and beat the better ones, and to reach the top, has passed them by. “Roadworks” is a gorgeous document of today’s “modern” Ten Years After, who show that despite their mature calm they still play at full steam, that the famous stage explosiveness still clings to them, that they know how to cut loose and deliver an unforgettable dose of fun, which is what their concerts and their name are so renowned for. In short, it’s a double live album we missed very, very much. And now, at last, we got it.
Lineup
Joe Gooch – guitar, vocals
Chick Churchill – keyboards
Leo Lyons – bass guitar
Ric Lee – drums
Production
Leo Lyons
Track list
CD 1.:
1. King Of The Blues (4:17)
2. Hear Me Calling (6:19)
3. Good Morning Little School Girl (6:52)
4. When It All Falls Down (4:36)
5. Working On The Road (4:54)
6. Big Black 45 (5:23)
7. The Hobbit (7:48)
8. Living It Up (4:04)
CD 2.:
1. Love Like A Man (7:21)
2. I’d Love To Change The World (5:52)
4. Time To Kill (6:24)
5. I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes (14:48)
6. I’m Going Home (10:38)
7. Reasons Why (5:01)
8. Choo Choo Mama (4:51)
Trajanje albuma: 99:17
