9012LIVE: THE SOLOS

An incoherent, useless mess. The solos work just fine within the show itself, but what a BORE when taken on their own. Tony Kaye's piece is a worthless 2-minute rendition of "Toccata And Fugue" (and some other random wanking), Trevor Rabin's piece is pleasant but rambling, and "Soon" sounds utterly stupid in this context. Only the Squire/White showcases, the first a two- minute by-the-book rendition of "Amazing Grace" and the latter a medley of "The Fish," "Sound Chaser" and "Tempus Fugit" (with Anderson singing "Yes yes" in the right places) are at all interesting, but they're not exactly the most musically substantial thing I've ever heard.

The only saving grace of the album is that it bothers to put on a pair of actual songs from the tour, both performed adequately. "Hold On" is slightly weaker here than in the Millersville 1984 gig I have as a bootleg, but "Changes" is a bit more polished, so whatever. The album is still practically useless.