801 LIVE

Excellent live album by this one shot project led by legendary prog icon Brina Eno. I was caught by surprise when I saw it being released in Brazil: I could not believe so many stars in the cast! Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), Francis Monkman (Curved Air) and Bill McCorminck (Quiet Sun) in the same line up? Wow! And the music inside does justice to their fame! Also I must note that although drummer extraordinaire Simon Philips was not very well known at the time (he was only 18), he was already one of a hell fine prog drummer (any doubts just listen to the wonderous East Of Asteroid and see how few drummers could actually pull off the kind of drumming this song demands).

801 live may not be perfect and I think the CD version would benefit with some extra tracks (I believe they played more than the 10 songs included on the original vinyl release). But it´s great! There are many highlights: their interpretation of the Beatles Tomorrow Never Knows is absolote awesome, one of the best Beatles covers I heard. Sombre Reptiles is better thean the studio version and I onlyt wished they played a little longer (I loved the way is started from merging at the end of the previous track, Rongwrong). Diamond Head and Third Uncle are other ones that I like the live renditions here more than the original ones.

The only real downside of this album is their version of the classic Kink´s track You Really Got Me. But stil I think it´s allright, it doesn´t bother me since it´s a short one. 9 out of 10 is an excellent score anyway! The album may be a little short for taday´s standards, but it is worth every note in it.

Very well done, played and produced. What a night for the fortunate ones who were there! Highly recommended