David Byron Band: On The Rocks
There's a certain irony in naming an album On The Rocks whose star was in the depths of alcoholism during its making and reliant on the organisational capabilities of friend, collaborator and workaholic, Robin George. Written over a year in David Byron's studio at his Surrey mansion, this album was a fraternal labour with contributions from musicians known to the songwriting pair, eventually forming the David Byron Band as heard here and the later '83 release Lost and Found. Bad Girl got its first airing among the 8 tracks of the original vinyl On The Rocks, recorded between two studios in England and Scotland and the extra 3 on this CD from the later of those sessions with drummer Stevie Bray replacing John Shearer. Once again Robin George has given it some 21st century polish at his Spanish Damage Control Music Studios. Byron's solo journey, post Uriah Heap, starts here but only reaches Lost And Found before Byron's untimely death in '85.
Sound quality avoids the excess polish of most 80s rock productions. There's an odd muted quality to the sound of Byron's voice on the opener Rebecca, however his voice still demonstrates its power, beginning to wane on his later recordings. The dynamics are all there in Bad Girl, a classic subtle rock build up to vocal and guitar (Robin George again) fireworks. There's enough 70s rock style on the whole album to keep anyone happy who enjoyed Bob Ezrin productions (70s Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Kiss etc).
The surprise that makes this a keeper is the funky feel that keeps the pace way upbeat of heavy 80s ponderosity, although the most upbeat Never Say Die is in the wrong place and doesn't fit. The following track has enough diversity of musical influence combined with adolescent lyrics to stand up with any of the rock greats and this is the perfect album for tennis racket air guitarists.
“Crying Diamonds” opens with “Learn the Dance”, which was co-written with DAVID BYRON. The album breathes gentle classic rock, not least in the contagious “Face to Face”, a song that BON JOVI would have squeezed a lot of $ from. To me, a typical ROBIN GEORGE song is like “Flying”. It´s well arranged, has a good refrain, neat guitar work, a fine chorus, but it is also a bit thin of muscle and soft. The title track off LIFE`S “Cocoon” also gets an overhaul, with a result that reminds me of THE BEATLES. “Haunted” was co-written with Daniel Boone (alias PETER GREEN), and GLENN HUGHES has covered it. You can tell that Robin´s influences range from PETER GREEN, JOHNNY WINTER, ERIC CLAPTON etc. Most of the songs have a ring of earlier decades. Robin´s era with PHIL LYNOTT is hailed with the title track (which was co-written with Phil) and Phil´s ELVIS tribute “King´s Call”. They are not ordinary rocker´s but a title track inspired by THE BEATLES and an emotional ballad. These two types of songs suit Robin best, the rock part is best represented by the solo of the title track, and mostly there. Another typical Robin track is the bluesy “Yesterday´s News”. The mix of soft rock, blues and an excellent arrangement is easily recognized. There are four bonus tracks; “Chance of a Lifetime” was co-written with ex. URIAH HEEP man Pete Goalby and oozes of the eighties. “Machine” and “Red for Danger” are quite straightforward pop, but were covered by ROBERT PLANT.
Live in 85´ was Robin with a totally different band; guitarist Huey Lucas, who later on played with Adrian Smith in UNTOUCHABLES, bassist John Camp (RENAISSANCE), keyboard player Alan Nelson (who played with the Troy brothers in STRATUS), and drummer Kex Gorin (ex. MAGNUM). It is decisively more rocking with the opening pair of “Showdown” and “Shoot on Sight”. But “Spy” was a sign of things to come as it is disguised pop. The eighties at its best is displayed in “In the Night”, complete with a keyboard frame. There are quite a few similarities with MAGNUM actually, but without copying, as the guitars are strictly THIN LIZZY. “History” follows the pattern; the opening sequence was probably brought in by Kex as it has a very distinct MAGNUM touch. Towards the end the hits pile up; “Hitlist”, “Heartline”, “Dangerous Music” and “Go Down Fighting”. I would have been in a good mood that night too! Four bonus tracks here also, recorded either at Tommy Vance´s Friday Rock Show or by the BBC at the Paris Theatre. They might not feel as personal and sweaty as the fist twelve tracks, but the sound quality is better.
All in all Robin´s guitar is ubiquitous. He sings softly and has gone softer/into pop more and more over the years. I am almost totally convinced that this will become my personal favouritestyle as the years go by.
http://www.festivalphoto.net/index.php?page=reviews&review=487
The secret weapon of British guitar army shoots with both his barrels.
Mostly known as a sidekick to the stars, it's on his own that
Robin George gets a real kick out of the music he plays; it's not
vanity, though, it's the fact that the guitarist's own voice - not
pretentious but pleasant vocals - doesn't distract from his instrument.
Here's the whole package, then, on these two discs, with 10 years
between them, the studio and concert one.
The earlier, "Dangerous Music Live", has a period charm but transcends
it thanks to the angular riffing and fiery solos, so the commerical gems
"Heartline" and "Showdown" come counterbalanced with spiky groovers such
as "Spy", which Robin would re-cut two decades later with his new band,
DAMAGE CONTROL, that picked up where DANGEROUS MUSIC left off with this
set. It rocks hard, bonus tracks underlining the power of "No News Is
Good News", where the rhythm section, RENAISSANCE's Jon Camp and
MAGNUM's Ken Gorin, propel the main man's axe to rage wildly together in
"History", with the title track and "Go Down Fighting" packing the best
punch.
"Crying Diamonds" is much more mature work, infused with a sense of
tragedy from losing two friends: URIAH HEEP's David Byron, the
guitarist's partner in shaping up the muscular bluesy funk of "Learn The
Dance", and Phil Lynott who George co-wrote the titular Beatlesque song
with and whose "King's Call" he re-imagined acoustically to make it a
valediction to the THIN LIZZY man. But the memorable chorus of "Face To
Face" bubbles with vitality, while "Cocoon", the soulful would-be axis
of Robin's next band's album, sees the master foray into the Brian May
harmonic solo territory. Unlike many other guitarists who made their
names in the '80s, Robin George, also known as a skilful producer, never
overplays, and his work is tasty on each of the 14 tracks, plus four
additional cuts including a couple recorded in his own time by Robert
Plant; yet there's no classic rock slant to the record, what with the
alternative edge of "Whatever Goes Around Comes Around" that presages
the due recognition its author is getting now. A little classic.
|
Angel Air/Border |
With an album entitled Cocoon we might have
expected the Life project
to make their first release on the Crysalis label.
"Oh no!" groan plebs, stage left,
"the old scribe's CD reviews are prompting punnilingus"
Robin George, the guitarist and driving force behind
this project, has produced or remixed many of the Angel Air releases and
notably played on the Damage Control supergroup project. A lifestyle
more workaholic than rock and roll seems to have overcome middle aged
rockers as their greater experience and increased skill makes possible
those ideas they may have carried half-formed for years. naturally the
psychological aesthetics of the middle aged writers and
performers are more likely to strike a chord with middle aged listeners
like your old scribe. This is good news for such performers as we're a
disc buying public not a file sharing public and we tend to demand the
higher quality that journeyman honed skill creates. Another winner is
Angel Air Music who are a small independent record company not a
multinational entertainment conglomerate who would be more interested in
the reality show quick buck.
In addition to being a skilled producer Robin is a
versatile first call guitarist who seems to be able to produce any style
and any tone at will. This is what has kept him earning and perhaps what
has kept him safely away from becoming public property; guitarists with
a one-trick sound often become more famous with the record buying public
who recognise the style as a brand and dislike anything new or
different. A public whose loyalty to those types of players is not
unconditional; such superstar fan loyalty is 100% dependant on the
artist sticking to familiar product, even to the extent of shouting
'Judas' in one famous Manchester Free Trade Hall incident incident
suggesting religious mania seizing those who demand the same old stuff
from performers. Robin George doesn't offer that at all; in 1988 I had
the same reaction to Jeff Healey the first time I saw him perform (at
Nottingham's Rock City) that he was too versatile to become a guitar
hero and was more a music lover's musician than the potential object of
a musical personality cult. The chameleons of sound, who can match their
playing to any material sound fresh every tune but can't be predictable
enough to inspire mindless worship. This rambling preamble is to prepare
you not to expect the same as
Damage Control or Robin's work with
David Byron (hence nor of
Uriah Heap), so what should audiophiles expect of this new CD?
Robin plays safe with the opener by using
Dangerous Music, title track of his '85 album and possibly the least
challenging track on this album, described as "a typical cheesy intro"
by my 15 year old son. The second track guitar sounds like so like
Free we have to ask what kind of deal Robin struck at the
crossroads... and if Robin George has much of the deceased Koss about
him, singer Nick tart is scarily comparable to the probably still alive
Robert Plant, emphasised by Robin's production which does at time resort
to emphasising this resemblance.
"This is a
REAL STEREO
website"
challenge plebs, stage left, "Track by track
obsessions are surely the province of
Music Nerds
and their ilk."
There are tracks equalling the best of Red hot
Chilli Peppers (comment by 17 year old son) or Alice Cooper (ditto), but
it's not that he's too generic; the opposite is true, Robin George is
almost not generic enough (the 17 year old's view again). This is an
album without fillers. While Cocoon lacks a consistent identity
(perhaps your old scribe was brought up on too many concept albums) it
also lacks fillers. Despite the handy remote control there's no
temptation to skip.
This CD holds the listener's attention with
consistent musicianship and sound quality until the closing track;
perhaps too much compression on individual instruments for audiophile
tastes, overall compression is much less than typical these days. The
final The End of the Line track is well cranked up, relying on
production skill for dynamic shading, and succeeding.
Life's Cocoon is immaculate and I'm
beginning to suspect Robin George has OCD in the control room, an
occasional mistake might roughen the texture like Viktor Schlovsky's
Ostranene.
TNT MAGAZINE
The name LIFE
Robin George, then a young guitar slinger, first used for his debut
single in 1980 and revived this four-letter word in the early '90s when,
having gained a great experience as a sidekick for THIN LIZZY's Phil
Lynott and URIAH HEEP's David Byron and a producer, he came up with a
band of his own in the company of Nick Tart on vocals. The group toured
intensively recording this album along the way, but in the times of
grunge reign this kind of melodic hard rock, fashionable half a decade
earlier, didn't find a listener, yet now, in expanded form, it proudly
stands its ground.
It's a strong
work, the George-Tart co-write "The Language Of Love" boasting a catchy
blues jive and a lot of funk, whereas the titular song is gospel-tinged
and "Oxygen" flows as a soulful ballad. Some songs on the record had
obviously been in place before the band came to be: the opener,
"Dangerous Music", riff-rich and adorned with John Young's keyboards,
originally was the title track for Robin's 1985's album, yet here it has
much more grit - which must have made a live favorite - and provides the
base for the more loose "Don't Come Crying". Still, while the leader's
guitar playing is excellent throughout, tracks like "Losing You" are
strictly of their era and today sound dated; at the same time, "Let It
Burn" and "Rush" rage very contemporarily.
Sadly, LIFE's
life wasn't long - "The End Of The Line" bids farewell on an exquisite
acoustic passage - but with George still active and Tart fronting
DIAMOND HEAD, "Cocoon" has both historic value and emotional zip to be
viable in this day and age.
***
http://dmme.net/reviews/reissues/reissues12.html#lifecoc
Life
- Cocoon (CD,
Angel Air,
Pop)
Reissue of Life's 1997 album (actually
recorded in 1995 but released in 1997) remastered...with bonus tracks.
This band was the project spearheaded by guitarist/vocalist/producer
Robin George working with vocalist Nick Tart (from Diamond Head). Cocoon
has a big, thick, arena rock sound that incorporates elements from 1970s
progressive rock with 1990s heavy metal. Plenty of big keyboard sounds
and fast noodly lead guitars here. Fifteen tracks including "Dangerous
Music," "What Goes Around Comes Around," and "The End of the Line."
Damage Control are a power trio formed by Robin George…what you get on Raw is good old fashioned blues rock. One of the joys of the album is, as the name implies, the raw sound of George’s guitar; its rough edge dominating this classic sounding album.
Classic Rock Society Magazine
Formed by Robin George, with Pete Way and Chris
Slade, this powerhouse trio rocks the blues.
Mojo
A British Rock Supergroup, Damage Control produces
an album of bluesy hard rock..although at times the sound takes on a
surprisingly grungy edge.
The three musicians involved are all undoubtedly
skilled veterans of the rock scene and Robin has plenty of nice licks up
his sleeve.
Heavy Magazine
Wow, what a line up this is! On Damage Control's second album we have
guitar hero Robin George; UFO & Waysted bass legend
Pete Way;
and former Uriah
Heep, AC/DC, Asia, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, and The Firm
drummer Chris Slade.
Together they form a self confessed "unholy trinity" brought to life by
the need to whip up some of the best, full on, "in your face",
uncomplicated rock I have heard in many a misspent night.
Putting their album Raw into your CD player is like lighting the
blue touch paper and not having the sense to retreat back to a safe
distance. This is everything the album title suggests with Damage
Control living up to their promise of serving up some “cruel, hard, and
brutal”, yet “fun” rock.
The pedigree is self evident and their instinctive understanding gels
like some dangerous concoction. It smokes, it fizzes, it smolders and
it’s in danger of setting the place alight. It’s gritty, it’s raunchy,
and it’s downright dirty. It’s full of sleazy riffs. It’s Raw,
and it’s right up my street!
Okay, let’s talk about that pedigree. In 1985 Robin George released an
excellent solo album called Dangerous Music. It fulfilled much of
that potential that would see him working with the likes of
David Byron,
Phil Lynott, and John Wetton. He even recorded separate projects with
Glenn Hughes and Robert Plant both of which were destined to remain
unreleased for many years.
Robin’s career also saw the release of the superb Rock Of Ageists
album and a growing reputation as a producer working with Diamond Head,
Witchfinder General, and (here’s the connection)
UFO bass
player Pete Way’s band Waysted.
Wayward Way was, and is once again, the mainstay bassist in UFO the band
he left to form Fastway with ex Motorhead guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke.
Then came a spell with Ozzy Osbourne before he finally reunited with
UFO.
This isn’t Damage Control’s first album. In 2006 they released their
self-titled debut which featured the
Quireboys'
own Spike on vocals. Now with Raw they set about recording something
that “did not have a single effect on the whole album, no echo, no
reverbs, no aural embellishments whatsoever”.
So Raw was born. It hits all the targets with a relentless stomp
of quality British hard rock riffs that has the vocals covered this time
by Robin and Pete. This pairing comes together brilliantly on “Bitchin’
Blues” which sees Robin take the chorus from Pete’s verses.
“Slaughtered” comes with a large slice of country blues. It's sung by
Robin and includes the great line, “I like a lot of whiskey with my
water.”
Meanwhile, the track “Damage Control” has one of those aforementioned
down and dirty riffs. The sleazy blues of “Victim”, leads nicely into
the sultry smolder that is “Seven Golden Daffodils”.
Other highlights include the seductive opener “Raw”, the infectious
pairing of “Alice” and “Savage Song.” The grinding “One Step Closer”
just demands to be replayed time and again. “Selfish” teases us down, as
does the excellent stand out “Redundant”, both of which radiate all the
raw quality that you could ever want.
This band is a three headed monster that seizes you by the throat and
throttles you into submission. With a line-up like this, and the
understanding they have, Raw just cannot fail to produce
something attention grabbing.
Jeff Perkins EuroRock
Formed in 2006, Damage Control were
put together by three veterans of the UK Hard Rock scene, namely
vocalist / guitarist Robin George (solo artist, Phil Lynott, David
Byron, Magnum), bassist Pete Way (UFO, Waysted) and drummer Chris Slade
(Asia, AC/DC, Uriah Heep). Raw
marked the trio's debut album and now receives a re-release via
specialist label Angel Air, whose catalogue boasts a treasure trove of
long forgotten gems. The songs here are slick and melodic with their
roots heavily in the blues rock scene of the 70's where all three first
plied their trade. George delivers some polished solos and riffs and his
earthy vocal delivery perfectly suits the vibe with Way and Slade laying
down a solid groove and they strike a good balance between up-tempo
rockers, ballads and moody blues tunes of which "One Step Closer"
provides a real highlight.
A second album from Damage Control remains a
possibility albeit Pete Way's recent health problems may prevent this
from happening in the near future. As it is we are left with this debut
effort to enjoy a solid blues-based hard rock album from these
illustrious musicians. This was an album that was released too little
fanfare when it first appeared but is worthy of re-appreciation and the
three really gel to give a tantalising glimpse of the potential therein.
The David Byron Band
This is enjoyable rock;
great vocals, great guitar and good keys feature…A little slice of
history.
Classic Rock Society Magazine
David Byron Band
- Lost and Found
(Double CD,
Angel Air,
Rock/pop)
Most of us only know David
Byron as the lead vocalist
in the 1970s progressive rock band
Uriah Heep...and
that is most certainly what he is universally remembered for. David's
high range wailing was one of the trademarks of the Uriah Heep
sound...along with the ultra-big keyboard sounds of
Ken Hensley.
After several years of major success with Heep, apparently Byron and
Hensley started having interpersonal problems...and David ended up
leaving the band. Sadly, in 1985 he ended up dying from what were
apparently complications related with alcohol consumption.
Lost and Found
sheds light on Byron's post-Heep music. The double disc set features
material recorded from 1980 to 1982 with
Robin George.
The tracks on this album are much more like direct shots of rock and
blues than what was offered by Uriah Heep. This is an interesting
snapshot showing what
could've been if David had
survived. In addition to studio tracks, the second CD also includes
eight cuts recorded live in Liverpool in 1980.
Baby Sue Rock Reviews
Boasts great
guitar lines from Robin George and might be today regarded as a minor
classic if only it had been released at the time. An interesting release
I certainly enjoyed listening to.
Heavy Magazine
David Byron Band – Lost And Found
- Angel
Air
The late David Byron
deserved a better lot in life, but like too many others before him he
died of a lifestyle; succumbing to his battle with
alcoholism in 1985 only a month after his thirty eighth birthday. Byron
of course made his mark as the charismatic front man for Uriah Heep who
between 1969 and 1976 churned out ten albums which included such
classics as Demons & Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday. However by
1976 his problems had escalated to the point where Heep were forced to
sack him. Without the security of Heep, and more importantly without a
strong songwriting partner like Ken Hensley or Mick Box, Byron’s various
post-Heep projects and solo career never really got off the ground.
Lost And Found is double CD re-release from
Angel Air Records that gathers together David’s demo recordings,
rehearsals, and portions of a live show recorded in Liverpool in 1980.
Disc one concentrates on original recordings from 1982 and features the
young baby faced guitarist Robin George trying his best to rev up what
unfortunately amounts to a bunch of tepid sounding rockers, although
Byron does turn in a very poignant vocal on the final track “One Minute
More”. The second disc only fairs slightly better, as it begins by
taking the listener through a rather ragged sounding London rehearsal
from 1981.The set concludes with the energetic Liverpool show, which
sees the band, which in addition to George also featured sax man Mel
Collins, concentrating primarily on new material from his then yet to be
released On The Rocks album. Songs like “Bad Girl” and “Start Believing”
definitely comes across better in the live setting, and in general the
material here has more of an edge to it than the studio versions. Byron
doesn’t abandon his past entirely either as they offer up a couple of
Heep classics in “July Morning” and “Sweet Lorraine” to keep the punters
happy. Is it enough to make this collection a worthwhile purchase? Well
I’d say if you’re a casual fan then you can probably afford to take a
pass on Lost And Found. If on the other hand you’re a diehard fan of
both Heep and David Byron’s solo work, then you’ll probably want to add
this one to your collection, even though it definitely feels like it’s
aimed at the completist.
-Ryan Sparks
Unearthed from the personal
archives of guitarist Robin George, Lost and Found
covers the era of the David Byron Band from the early 80's and is issued
as an expansive two disc set via Angel Air. Disc One offers the bands
demos from 1982 for an album that never ultimately saw the light of day;
the charismatic Byron was clearly still singing well even at this point
in his career and in Robin George he had found an ideal guitarist to
give the material a more contemporary edge. George contributes some
smooth blues based riffs and "Bad Girl" and "Fool For A Pretty Face"
would both have made ideal singles. Disc Two is split between band
rehearsals from 1981 and eight songs from a live show in Liverpool in
1980. The latter is of particular interest as an example of just how
tight the band were at the time and inevitably the Uriah Heep classics
"July Morning" and "Sweet Lorraine" are the highlights and made all the
more memorable by some sprightly sax from Mel Collins.
Detailed sleeve notes and previously unseen
photographs make this a very worthwhile package and one which hold
significant appeal for fans of the golden age of Uriah Heep and provides
an excellent reminder of what a star performer David Byron really was
and how much he is missed.
Musically we're talking blues influenced rock on this release. The album kicks off with a trio of hard rock tunes with noticeable blues influences, and then steadily evolves towards a more purified blues rock style until the album ends with the gritty, slide guitar dominated tune "Bitching Blues". People with more experience of the genre than me can probably point to influences left and right here, personally I only identified one; ZZ Top as they sounded in the early 70's. Not an all tunes, but three tunes in particular would not have been out of place on an album by Texas' finest; namely "Damage Control", "One Step Closer" and the aforementioned "Bitching Blues".
The opening hard rock tunes do set this release apart from others in the blues rock field to some extent, but more importantly the guitar sound of Robin George; highly distorted and fuzzy, still slick, distinct and very melodic, creates a trademark sound for this band. Slade is an experienced drummer, and utilizes his skill and experience cleverly here to create driving and interesting rhythms as the backbone for these tunes, and Pete Way does a swell job here too.
The songs as such are a tad varied in quality as I hear them though. Especially the more heavily blues influenced tracks to become a tad anonymous. It takes great skill to make something sounding interesting in a style that has been explored for so many years by so vast amounts of artists, and although never bad these many tunes doesn't shine very brightly either, with "Seven Golden Daffodils" and "Bitching Blues" notable exceptions.
"Alice" is my top pick from this release though, a slick tune with nice grooves and a very catchy chorus. Opening tune "Raw" and "Savage Song" are other strong tunes worth checking out.
Fans of blues based hard rock and blues rock will probably love this release, and I feel quite safe in recommending this release to fans of these types of music.
Rating: 7,5 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
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