Scott Ward recently reviewed the DVD equivalent of this 1980 Rockpalast concert on SoT, so I won't repeat the relevant biographical notes. Compared to the DVD, the CD has two tracks fewer; "Unvicious Circle" and "Trust Me" are both missing.
Compared with another recent review - this time my review of the Rockpalast show featuring Jorma Kaukonen – the sound quality throughout this show, recorded at the same venue the day before – is excellent, no problems there!
So, what you get is a good live recording of blues rock from the early period of Cipollina and Gravenites's group venture, which yielded a couple of studio albums early in the decade (although the first, Blue Star just carries Gravenites's name on the sleeve), together with another live recording from 1987/1988 New Year's Eve. As such, it's an important recording from a historical context, for those interested in such things.
The concert sounds to have been a good one, though if you can afford it and have the capability to view a DVD, that may be the better bet. On the CD, the long instrumental "Small Walking Box" doesn't really work and the final number, "Who Do You Love", has long lapses of near-silence that, without visuals, don't really work either, it almost sounds as though the band has walked off at one point. Maybe they have; perhaps this is the crowd calling for eh encore! It doesn't really work on disc - perhaps the guys in the cutting room left off the wrong two tracks!
Nevertheless, an enjoyable album overall.
Track Listing:-
1) Rockpalast Caption
2) Southside
3) Junkyard in Malibu
4) Signs of Life
5) My Party
6) Small Walking Box
7) Pride of Man
8) Bad Luck Baby
9) Hot Rods and Cool Women
10) I'll Pull the Trigger
11) Keep on Running
12) Buried Alive in the Blues
13) Who Do You Love
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