Search - Robin Trower :: For Earth Below/Live

Guitar Alchemy, Voodoo Vocals & Bill Lordan To Boot!

El Kabong | 08/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Good to see Trower finally emerging from the confining 'Hendrix-clone' tag that dogged him throughout the 70s & 80s. True, the influence permeates all of his 70s work, but here's two news-flashes: 1), there's a difference between an honest, heartfelt homage and a crass, note for note ripoff; and 2) Hendrix strongly influenced EVERYONE in the early-to-mid 1970s. (Maybe the bigger insult to Trower was the way he was continually associated with Frank Marino's Mahogany Rush - we'll know the reissue boom is totally out of gas when HIS annotated box set comes out.) Vintage Robin Trower lps provided not just scads of soulful, distortion-heavy guitar but the supernatural blues vocals of bassist Jimmy Dewar, who's maybe my favorite singer of this era. He never imposes himself or overstays his welcome in a song, and he knew how to modulate that husky low tenor like an instrument. (I was shocked & saddened to learn of his debilitating stroke in the late 80s. This truly is a musician whose recorded work needs to be reappraised up to its true value). Brit label BGO has been quietly doing the fan a favor by reissuing the remastered back catalog on twofer CDs at an affordable price...I recommend starting here, as this one features Trower's best studio album along with a brilliant live-in-Stockholm set from '76. FOR EARTH BELOW captures the band honing the spacy blues-rock of their first two records to a diamond-tipped point, resulting in ferocious jams like 'Confessin Midnight' and the shimmering icy perfection of the title cut....after 20+ years, I still get chills hearing this song. And the live tracks are KILLER. 'Daydream' is not only enduringly gorgeous but as deeply-felt a tribute to the shade of Jimi Hendrix as you'll ever encounter....he's not mimicking a technique here, he's summoning, and capturing, a moment in time from out of thin air. Incredible version of this song! In fact, Trower himself - always a modest, unassuming, almost ascetic personality - seemed a little out of his element even by 1976, as if was '66 when he'd gone to sleep the night before. When he eventually teamed up with Jack Bruce at decade's end, it felt almost inevitable."

Guitar never sounded better

ifutureman | NJ | 02/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The critical album on this release is "Live." Anyone curious to hear how good an electric guitar can possibly sound should purchase this CD. Trower deals in both overdriven and clean sounds with his Fender Strat, and his use of effects like the wah-wah pedal and the Uni-Vibe, while sometimes drawing unfair and shallow comparisons to Hendrix, is unparallelled in grace and style.



When Trower unleashes a sustained feedback note (i.e. near the end of "Daydream"), I want it to last thirty minutes. But he's also capable of dramatic bursts and flurries of notes, punctuated by bends and whammy bar workouts ... as Robert Fripp himself noted, Robin Trower has mastered the "bends and wobbles."



During the last solo of "Lady Love," Trower plays a pinch harmonic that is THE sweetest single note I ever heard, anywhere.



Jimmy Dewar lays down a great bass groove throughout - and his voice is quite powerful. He has a rich, soulful vibrato that compliments the music nicely.



Bill Lordan is a good, jazzy drummer, although occasionally his cymbals do clutter the sound, especially on the live album. But let's face it, the reason we are all listening to this is to hear what Robin is gonna play next :)



I could write pages about how great this CD is - do not wait a minute longer. Order it!"

Above The Rest

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 12/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By 1975 after the success of his first two albums, Robin Trower was either loved or dissed. If you were lucky enough to attend one of his concerts, there is no way you could admit that anyone on the planet was going to play with more emotion and fire than this man with the bangs, that always dressed in white. If you were thick, you would write-off the amazing talents of this artist as an: "Hendrix Clone".



I was in attendence in San Francisco at the Winterland Arena when Bill Graham made a blunder. He placed Robin Trower, second on the bill to fifties parody rockers: Sha Na Na. Robin's set lasted well over an hour, and almost all of the contents of: "Twice Removed From Yesterday" and "Bridge Of Sighs" were performed. With jaws dropped and still gasping, over half the audience left and headed homewards. It was the greatest guitar playing, I have ever witnessed on any stage, nobody had a right to headline over Robin Trower in 1974...nobody.



How do you top: "Bridge Of Sighs?" Only Robin, himself could answer that question. He simply continued writing music and playing guitar. In 1975, he released his third album: "For Earth Below". It is a worthy successor to the greatness of his first two recordings. Except for the addition of a new drummer: Bill Lordan, this is what we were all expecting from Robin, more great songs and more of his incredible playing.

"Shame The Devil" sets the tone as a solid rock/funk opener. "It's Only Money", is slow and spacey, and Robin uses his effect pedals to fly over you to find notes that exist only out in those galaxies that he is able to soar to. James Dewar, with that gruff voice, is a counterpoint to Robin's guitar, he has never been given his due as a great vocalist, James, gives each number on: "For Earth Below", 150 per-cent of his talents. And the new man; Bill Lordan, does an execellent job as well with his solid playing and accents to everything featured here.



Faster numbers: "Gonna Be Suspicous" and "Alethea" melt together with the slower tunes: "Fine Day" and the dreamlike title track to make this a well-rounded record. "For Earth Below" does not top: "Bridge Of Sighs", but it is that record's equal, in every way.



"Live" was brought out in 1976 and DOES show what Robin's music becomes when he plays in front of an audience. It is my favorite of his 70's records. To hear the amazing track: "Daydream" in this majestic form, will leave you gasping, It is a wonder to hear Robin live,and what he plays here is haunting and beautiful, and this material is so full of fury at the same time. When he held that one note, {For Days} everybody at the concert, I attended, was right there with him for the journey and we could not believe this was happening. "Too Rolling Stoned" goes so much beyond it's studio cousin, as does "I Can't Wait Much Longer", that had grown wings since it's first appearance in 1973. The studio recordings are fine, but they only HINT at what Robin plays live in concert. "Live" is a must-own, for anyone who likes rock, and rock guitar. And when you think about what is not included, it is indeed a shame that the full concert has never been brought forth.



This BGO Two-Fer Disc, is a Bargain. This is One, not to be Missed!

Four Stars!!!"