Search - Man :: 1999 Tour Party

Chicago 1974-best live Man currently available

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 08/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is from 1974. It is called "1999 Tour Party" because it was recorded while Man was the warm up band for Hawkwind's 1999 tour.I am giving this 5 stars because it is the best live Man album that you can currently buy. It is probably more of a four star album, when compared to other Man live albums. There must have been 10 different live CD's released in the 1990's (from 1970's concerts), mostly by the record label Point. They all have there good points (except Live at Redding) and a few slow points.The best live Man album is Back Into the Future. The worst by far is Live at Redding and should be avoided. It is from a reformed Man sometime in the 1980's. Those two albums, plus a number of others are currently out of print.This album is just at 60 minutes. All the tracks on this album are fairly strong. There is a 24 minute C'mon, that has a very nice spacy interlude. The 14 minute Spunk Rock is also very good. They are just done a little better on Back Into the Future (where Spunk Rock is retitled Jam Up and Jelly Tight). Deke Leonard has some interesting, but biting things to say at the into of most fo the songs. But, they are quick and don't detract from the performance.Since the Man albums don't seem to stay in print very long, you should pick them up as soon as you them."

Top quality down the line live rock and roll

John Peter O'connor | 05/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album was recorded Live in Chicago April 1974 for a Radio broadcast while Man were touring as support to Hawkwind. You get an hour's worth of top quality down the line live rock and roll here. I'd recommend "Be good to yourself at least once a day" as a better introduciton to the band but if you like that album, you will not be disappointed with this.The first track, "71 71 551" and also "It's a hard way to live" were not originally Man numbers. They were written by Deke Leonard during one of his spells away from the band. (He had been sacked, an event which was fast becoming a hobby of the band.) Deke's hard edged vocals are great on these songs.Romain is named after a partiularly brutal Belgian policeman who administered a very severe beating to band member Martin Ace (not playing on this album). Romain was awarded compensation for stress against the band but instead of paying, they wrote a song about him. It's a great song and you can really feel the band putting their hearts into this.Man performances have a tradition of using the song C'mon as a platform for an extended improvisation session and this one is no different. However, the version here is nowhere near as good as some of the others that are available. Parts, especially the closing section are great but there is a long period of rather aimless wandering about in the middle which does not appeal at all.Spunk Rock which rounds off the set is another established part of Man's live repertoire. From the way that Jones and Leonard trade guitar lines here you'd never guess that the former had sacked the latter and only just brought him back into the band."