801 Live

Following `Siren' and live album `Viva!', Roxy Music went on hiatus for a few years, leaving guitarist Phil Manzanera to pursue other directions - these included a solo album, an album recorded at the same time under the name `Quiet Sun' (who were in fact Manzanera's pre-Roxy outfit), and two phases as `801' (the second phase didn't involve Eno and has been forgotten about). 801 take their name from an Eno track found on early solo album `Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)' , `The True Wheel' which had a line, "we are the 801/we are the central shaft" - this song turned up on the Duran-compilation `Only After Dark' a year or so ago. The band featured Eno (keyboards, synthesiser, guitar & vocals) and Manzanera (guitar) alongside Lloyd Watson (slide guitar/vocals), Francis Monkman (Fender Rhodes & Clavinet), Bill MacCormick (bass and vocals), & Simon Phillips (drums and rhythm generator). They only played three gigs in this incarnation and `801 Live' stems from their final performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.The album opens with Manzanera's `Lagrima' from solo album `Diamond Head', a track up there with any instrumental on `Another Green World' - like all of the tracks here (brilliantly and revolution ally recorded) it appears to seague effortlessly into the next track. `T.N.K.' was one of the reasons I bought this album, having appeared on a free cd with a music magazine - that and the presence of the three Eno-tracks on the 1999 reissue not found on the original 1976 album. `T.N.K.' is 801's version of The Beatles' `Tomorrow Never Knows' , the opening keyboard part sounds like early Gary Numan and the song is delivered in a superbly tight style (which may be a tad muso for some?). `East of Asteroid' and `Rongwrong' stem from Manzanera's solo album and Quiet Sun-project - the latter is written by Charles Hayward, who would go on to work with forward thinking post punk outfit This Heat. On the strength of these tracks, I'd definitely track down both those albums...`Sombre Reptiles' (from Eno's 1975 album `Another Green World') opens with a sound somewhere between Martin Denny and Denny-inspired Throbbing Gristle, before shifting into a jazzy take that makes me think of certain Miles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, & Weather Report. The album remains thoroughly Eno-tastic with a trio of songs not featured on the original live album - AGW's `Golden Hours', `TTM(BS)'s `Fat Lady of Limbourg' & `Here Come the Warm Jet's `Baby's on Fire.' `Golden Hours' is as gorgeous as the studio version that featured John Cale and Robert Fripp, Manzanera's countryish guitar recalls something like `Prairie Rose', while the latter section veers off into more jazzy noodling (the kind of thing Eno wouldn't do when he came more Krautrock inspired over the next few years). `Fat Lady...' has a rhythm generated in a similar style to Robert Wyatt's `Sea Song', the funky bass part anticipates stuff like Mackenzie-Rankine-Associates, `Low' , `Q We Are Devo...' & `Fear of Music' - as well as more recent folk like Franz Ferdinand. The trio ends with a manic take on Warm Jets' `Baby's on Fire', which is probably what the third Roxy album would have sounded like had Eno not left? This song sounds like an anticipation of Japan and many other acts of the post punk/new wave era - like the closing `Third Uncle' it sounds years, if not decades, ahead of the pack.The rest of the album is as fine, epic Floydian instrumental `Diamond Head' (it makes sense that Manzanera has recorded recently with half of Pink Floyd), and the Eno/Manzanera-composition `Miss Shapiro' which segues wonderfully into a fairly straight version of The Kinks' You Really Got Me. Just a shame `Third Uncle' fades out at the end, oh, and that I always think of Pink Floyd's `One of These Days...' when I hear the intro!!!`801 Live' is one of many great Eno-related works that seems a bit forgotten these days, perhaps as it came at a point between prog and post-punk? I think it's one of the great live albums, one to file alongside Bowie's `Stage', Magazine's `Play', The Ramones' `It's Alive', `Kick Out the Jams', `Damage' etc. A budget priced joy that really warrants more of an audience...

For most people the question with this package is, "Do I need to buy this album again?". For a 34 year old album, most people who will ever buy it already have. So, do you need this "Collector's Edition" in your life?I was sceptical for a long time. This package was almost £30 on release and considering I already had the Aus LP, the Japanese LP, the original CD, the 1999 re-release and my own "Ultimate Version" cobbled together from these sources, the Collector's edition looked more OCD than even I could justify.But then the price came down and in a moment of impetuousness I pressed "buy". And now I've had a chance to take it all in, this truly is worth donating more to Manzanera et Co.The main release is the same as the 1999 re-issue but without the startlingly annoying master fade at the end of Third Uncle. I have some reservations about the way in which the extra tracks (Golden Hours and Fat Lady...) have been inserted and mixed, but overall it's easily the best commercial release of this material.The first surprise is the extra CD. I was steeled for a sonic cassette catastrophe á la King Crimson's Earthbound - but this sounds good. For a 34 year old cassette recording in fact it sounds bloody fantastic! Think top-notch mixer-board boot. Hiss is negligible, there is almost no wow & flutter, no disturbing distortion and the gain is nicely controlled.The next surprise is the performance captured here. It's got tons of energy. Sure there are mistakes. In fact in some cases it's a minor miracle that they could transform some dodgy ideas into something so good at the QE Hall only 10 days later. But overall it works really, really well. So well you get sucked fully into the playing and it's wonderful to hear this material with a twist after all these years.Finally there's the packaging. This is a very substantial hard cover book. There are 54 pages of commentary, photos, sketches, notes and lyrics. The pages are quite large too, so this is a LOT of content. Every member of the band gives his reflection on 801. All yield new insights into the moment and give a far greater sense and understanding of the circumstances that led to 801 and this recording than I have ever read before. MacCormick for example explains for the first time I've come across why they only played 3 times (their planned European tour came undone due to a sudden ban on rock festivals in France following a riot there).The Collector's Edition of 801 is absolutely worth buying; even if you already own "801 Live" multiple times over.

A surprisingly good album, that manages to convey the excitement of a live gig while benefitting from much better sound quality than other live albums of the time. Alledgedly it was one of the first albums to be recorded via a direct feed from the mixing-desk, instead of using microphones to pick up the venue's live PA system.The key artists are Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno, at the time both recently departed from Roxy Music and ably supported by musicians with whom they were already collaborating (Bill MacCormack, Francis Monkman etc.). The songs are a mixture of Eno's "pre-ambient" early solo material and Manzanera's more rock-infused work, together with excellent renditions of a couple of Beatles and Kinks numbers. Your humble scribe found the segue of "Miss Shapiro" and "You Really Got Me" to be a particular highlight.In the world of great live albums "801 Live" might not quite scale the dizzy heights of "The Last Waltz", "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" or "The Who Live at Leeds", but it's thoroughly enjoyable and well worth a listen.

Had forgot about this project by some Roxy Music members and whilst browsing different artists on Amazon music pages was really pleased to see that it was available on CD. Bought a copy and hadn’t heard any tracks for quite some time I wondered if it would be something I’d just add to a collection after one play or because it’s such a good album I’d play regularly. Have to say it’s tha latter. It’s still great music played by great musicians who were founding fathers in experimenting with the advancing technology . An obsolete must for any fan of this music genre. If you’ve heard it before or it’s something new to any one new to music give it a try

all good

great band...need more...

CD bien emballé livré avant la date prévue, CD impeccable comme d'habitude chez RAREWAVES-FR

Un live del 76 che non può mancare nello scaffale! Un rock prog psichedelico sperimentale suonato da grandi musicisti, da sottolineare anche l'ottima qualità del suono di questo cd! 😊

このバンドを知り合いに教えてもらって買いました。

Legendäres Konzert vom September 1976 um die beiden (Ex- Roxy Music) Heroes Phil Manzanera und Brian Eno.Erweitert wurde dieses von Manzanera ins Leben gerufene Projekt "801" von Simon Phillips(drums), Billy Mac Cormick (ex-"Curved Air") Bass, Francis Monkmann( Keyboards) und dem Eno-Intimus Llyod Watson( steel guitar).Der erste Auftritt war das Highlight des "Reading Festivals" und diese Aufnahme aus der "Queen Elisabeth Hall, London", soll noch besser sein. Die Superband spielt hauptsächlich Brian Eno und Phil Manzanera Kompositionen. Als Bonus tracks sind hier von Eno "Golden Hours" von "Another Green World" ,"Fat Lady of Limbourg" von "Taking tiger Mountain" und "Baby`s On fire" von "Here come the warm jets" enthalten.Diese Brian Eno-Liveaufnahmen schlagen die BBC Sessions mit den "Winkies" und die Show 1974 mit Nico,John Cale und Kevin Ayers um Längen.Die Coverversionen der Show von "T.N.K." "The Beatles" und "You really got me" von den "Kinks" sind frisch, fast wie Neuerfindungen der Klassiker. "Diamond Head", "Lagrima", "East of Asteriod" und "Miss Shapiro" sind dem Bandgründer Phil Manzanera zuzuordnen.Wie ich sehe gibt es jetzt noch eine DoppelCD mit einer weiteren Show der Band und sogar eine Buch CD Ausgabe. Also viel neues Material für den Sammler. Aber ich denke diese CD erfüllt für den "Normalen Kunden" alle Bedürfnisse, was diese legendäre Show angeht.