ROBIN TROWER – Three Decades Live (5CD)

Delaware 1985 Soundboard 9.3 Nice to hear this period of Trower with a good, punchy board tape that does present a minimal amount of hiss (evident between songs) but other than that not much to complain about.

W. Hollywood 1990 Soundboard 9.2 Technically speaking this would rate much higher as it is what one would call a “pristine” board tape. Yes it sounds crystal clear and Robin is literally singing in your ear (a bit much perhaps), but the rating reflects what I personally consider to be a downside of board tapes…the lack of atmosphere and reliance on perfect mix. This was probably mixed for the benefit of what was coming from the stage and not for the sake of the recording being made. It’s a reference tape is what it is. Contrast this to the next show in the set and you’ll begin to understand why I always say a great audience tape beats a board tape.

Karlsruhe 2009 Audience 9.5 This show gets a stellar rating because while it is not technically a superior recording (mainly due to the very slight amount of overdrive) it represents most of what I love about great audience recordings. This recording captures the lightning into a bottle so to speak. The fact that there is just a slight bit of overdriven energy (for lack of a more technical term) or lets call it “saturation” for the sake of the audiophiles out there – either way the point is that this recording will get more repeat plays than the board tapes in this set.

Robin Trower
Three Decades 1985-2009

Disc 1

The Stone Balloon
Newark,Delaware,U.S.A.
1985-07-24

01 -Too Rolling Stoned
02 -Into Money
03 -Keeping A Secret
04 -Day Of The Eagle
05 -Bridge Of Sighs
06 -None But The Brave

Musicians
Robin Trower – Guitar
Dave Bronze – Bass & Vocals
Martin Clapson – Drums

Disc 2

The Roxy
West Hollywood CA.
March 25th 1990

01 -Intro
02 -Too Rolling Stoned
03 -Rock Me Baby
04 -Sea Of Love
05 -Day Of The Eagle
06 -Bridge Of Sighs
07 -Turn The Volume Up

Disc 3

08 -No Time
09 -Ev’ry Body’s Watching You
10 -Daydream
11 -Tear It Up
12 -Natural Fact
13 -Little Bit Of Sympathy
14 -The Ring
15 -Extermination Blues

THE BAND
Robin Trower guitar
Davey Pattison vocals
Glenn Letsch bass
Dee Johnson drums

Disc 4

Jack Bruce & Robin Trower
Karlsruhe (GER)
Tollhaus
2009-02-25

01 – Seven Moons
02 – Lives Of Clay
03 – Distant Places Of The Heart
04 – Sunshine Of Your Love
05 – Carmen (New song, unreleased)
06 – She’s The One
07 – We’re Going Wrong
08 – So Far To Yesterday

Disc 5

09 – Just Another Day
10 – Perfect Place
11 – Bad Case Of Celebrity
12 – The Last Door
13 – Come To Me
14 – I’m Home
15 – White Room
16 – Politician

Musicians:
Jack Bruce: b, v
Robin Trower: g
Gary Husband: dr