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New England: Greatest Hits Live
 New England's Greatest Hits Live is like a trip down memory lane, when pomp rock was in abundance. Yes folks, we are talking about the period from the late 70's to about 1984, when you had bands like Ambrosia, Styx, Aviary, Journey, Angel, Sparks, and of course New England, all who took the theatrical, glitzy, symphonic, and commercial appeal of bands like Queen, The Beatles, David Bowie, and ELO, to new levels. After three studio albums, New England, Explorer Suite, and Walking Wild, the band called it a day and moved on to other projects (bassist Gary Shea and keyboard player Jimmy Waldo joined Graham Bonnet and Yngwie Malmsteen in the much heralded Alcatrazz). Greatest Hits Live is a recently discovered live show from the band from the early 80's, delivered in raw, unedited format. While it's not the best sounding live recording you will ever hear, the talent of the band shines through, and it's great to hear how well they recreated the orchestral yet hard rocking sound perfected in the studio, live on stage.
Labeling this as a "greatest hits in a live format" is right on the money. Many of the bands best songs are included here. From the catchy crooning of "Alone Tonight", featuring a hot guitar solo from John Fannon, the hard rock stomp of "Shoot", which sees some muscular guitar work from Fannon and Waldo's thick organ, to the soaring "Hello Hello Hello", one of my personal favorites from the band. This one has a very strong ELO feel to it, with loads of lush vocal harmonies and plenty of symphonic keyboards. In fact, Jimmy Waldo is a pretty underappreciated talent, as he whisps plenty of wild synth leads in this set as well as searing organ and waves of Mellotron. Other highlights include the catchy glam rock of "Encore" (complete with an unacompanied guitar solo from Fannon), the poignant balled "Shall I Run Away", the driving synth & Mellotron laden rocker "Nothing to Fear", the unforgettable single "Don't Ever Wanna' Lose Ya", and the progressive rock gem "Explorer Suite".
New England's time in the spotlight was pretty brief when you look back on their short career. Many might have remembered seeing them open for bands like Kiss, AC/DC, Journey, Styx, or Rush, as well as hearing them on the radio when "Don't Ever Wanna' Lose Ya" cracked the US Top 50. With Greatest Hits Live, those new to the band's appealing sound can revel in some of their best material, filled with catchy & melodic vocal hooks, tasty guitar licks, and plenty of symphonic progressive rock styled keyboard work.
Track Listing
1. Alone Tonight
2. Shoot
3. Hello Hello Hello
4. Last Show, The
5. Encore
6. Hey You're On The Run
7. Shall I Run Away
8. Nothing To Fear
9. Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya
10. Explorer Suite
11. P.U.N.K.
12. You'll Be Born Again
Added: September 25th 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score: 
Related Link: More Information
Hits: 3378
Language: english
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New England: Greatest Hits Live
Posted by Michael Popke, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-09-25 23:16:38
My Score: 
The "Greatest Hits" part of the title might be a misnomer -- hardcore fans are the only ones likely to rattle off a string of New England songs, let alone hits -- but GB Records sure got the "Live" part right. This raw recording from a 1979 San Francisco gig captures the energy and imperfection of the era. With audio quality fluctuating and some of the vocals getting lost in the mix, Greatest Hits Live sounds more authentic than practically any live recording released today. As a result, the band's shiny studio sound lost some of its luster (but none of its energy) on stage. In fact, many of today's younger bands could learn a thing or two from this quartet, which relied on a game plan that included stellar musicianship and a worthy goal. "We built our show to play Madison Square Garden from day one," drummer/vocalist Hirsh Gardner says in the liner notes. "We were concentrating on what we would look and sound like in front of 20,000 people."
I have no idea where in San Fran this performance was recorded or how many people witnessed it, but it stands today as a time-capsule recording of sorts -- one that recalls a simpler time when bands worked hard to often achieve little success, even with Paul Stanley of KISS in the producer's chair. Originally released in 2003 and recently reissued, Greatest Hits Live may not matter much to the general public. But to music fans of a certain age -- and ones who wished they hadn't missed everything the first time around -- this album seems almost magical.
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New England: Greatest Hits Live
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-07-19 08:47:44
My Score:
Fans of Melodic Rock will definitely enjoy this gem from over twenty five years ago as the band New England is captured live in concert presenting their greatest numbers in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Their name might ring a bell to the some of the older KISS fans as back during the Dynasty tour New England was the bands sole support act and their sound seemed the perfect difference to that which KISS was delivering night after night. I admit that I was not one of their earlier followers but I enjoyed being able to hear this CD as an adult because the skillful level of musicianship and keen AOR melodies found me realizing that I was listening to something very special indeed. The band was comprised of Boston, MA residents John Fannon (guitar, vocals), Hirsh Gardner (drums, vocals), Gary Shea (bass) and Jimmy Waldo (keyboards, vocals) and together they delivered some really solid tunes and should have achieved a lot more success than they seemed to. Their main hit was "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya" and not only did it break the Billboard Top 40 when such a thing had more relevance, but it can still be heard on some classic rock stations of today. The tune was by no means their only claim to fame as they had songs like "Nothing To Fear" and "Hey You're On The Run" which also showed the signs and style that was found in late 70's Progressive Rock. I think that fans of Journey and perhaps even The Sweet would enjoy what was being done by New England very easily and if you are one of those Rock Historian folks who is looking for a worthy piece of music to help you reflect on a different decade in the genre then this one is worth your taking the time to find. As far as a live concert goes the production mix on the instruments is really done well and it's noted here that no overdubs and re-recording of parts has been done. I tend to believe this as there are a couple of rough spots that would have been edited out if they had redone anything on the concert. "Alone Tonight" seems to be another radio friendly number that keeps an energetic and uplifting pace throughout and I was also pretty sold on "Shoot" which had some cool keyboards and an overall heavy melody line happening. There are brief dum and guitar interludes to enjoy and the concert itself ends with a subtle ballad called "You'll Be Born Again" which shows that bands can leave you wanting with even the quieter tunes. Even with me being somewhat unschooled on their back catalog I found the album something that was very easy to listen to from beginning to end.
This is a solid listen for any fan of good Classic Rock from a time when the band was not considered classic at all and was still just a newcomer to the ever-growing scene. Over the years they have maintained a steady following and as you listen to this rocking concert it's easy to see why they have not lost their loyalty yet. A brief historic essay is presented in the booklet along with a number of photos that I think show very vividly the band in action. Go back in time with New England and relive "Big Rock" the way that it was meant to be appreciated the best – in concert.
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