Search - Yardbirds :: Vol. 2-Reunion Jam

A rockin' good time!

Russell Garrett | N.Y.C. | 11/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Chris Dreja jumped up on stage with the Jim McCarty Band, at London's 100 Club in 1992, it was just a couple of old bandmates having a blow for Auld Lang Syne. No one, the two musicians least of all, could have imagined that, 14 years later, they would still be playing together, and driving that most sainted of all 60s icons, the Yardbirds, into the hearts of an entire new generation. That decision came later, although listening back to tapes of the show, it's hard to see how they could have arrived at any other conclusion.







The lion's share of this momentous show was released back in 1999, and quickly sold out. Volume Two, as its title might suggest, wraps up the remainder of the concert, the bits that didnt fit on last time around. But before you groan into your British Invasion teacup, there's not a track on here that didnt deserve inclusion last time around Indeed, with Shapes Of Things and Over Under Sideways Down kicking off the disc, and For Your Love and I'm A Man wrapping it up, Volume Two is arguably the stronger of the two discs.







In between times, the album powers through a frenzied snapshot of all that made the Yardbirds slice of the Sixties so memorable , a pounding 10 minute romp through Gloria, a speeding Route 66, an electrifying Talkin Bout You, and a positively spellbinding Hey Joe, caught somewhere between Jimi Hendrix's blueprint and Roy Buchanan's reinvention, and sounding just as fresh as either.







The spirit of the Yardbirds is one of those elusive beasts that almost every past member of the band has tried, at some point, to capture it primarily because, they tried too hard. McCarty and Dreja were not trying this particular night; they were just having fun. And that turned out to be the missing formula. Reunion Jam Volume Two, like the Reunion Jam that preceded it, is fun. And it sounds so much like the Yardbirds that it became them.

Dave Thompson - Goldmine Magazine











Jim McCarty-drums

Chris Dreja-rhythm guitar

John Idan-lead guitar/vocals

Rod Demick-bass



Executive Producer:Russ 'Slick' Garrett

Produced by: Mike Ober

Remastered at: Digital Force, NY

Album Design by: Black Coffee Graphix

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