LIVE 05

Colosseum were one of the acts that turned me into a prog-fan when I was still in my formative years. Most of their works are still much cherished and stood the test of times well. Indeed, most of their previous works prior to this release are considered a Prog masterpieces. Band leader Jon Hiseman remains one of the finest British drummers.

But he made two mistakes. Firstly, on the disbanding of Colosseum, he established an overly ambitious project Colosseum II. Fast burning delivery with Gary Moore on guitars that in reality was going nowhere, but trying to imitate Return To Forever and even "remaking" the odd Stanley Clarke tune in a sneaky way - without giving credit.

Hiseman's other mistake was that on the passing of the one and only Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxes), he didn't call it a day for Colosseum. Instead, he installed his sax playing wife Barbara Thompson to fill shoes that just can't be filled. Thompson is a well recognized Jazz musician/composer, but her style would suit Jewish Kletzmer (anything goes with any instruments present) more than this fantastic band. I saw Thompson perform live with her (then) band BT's Paraphernalia in the 80's. I left the venue somewhat underwhealmed.

But what of this album? A very good performance by all, no doubt, but in comparison with their other live recordings, it remains my least favourite. Not bad at all, but I've only heard better than this before.