Glenn Hughes started his career in
Trapeze and then went to join
Deep Purple playing on the "Burn" album, which is one of the best
Deep Purple releases of all time and also its successor "Stormbringer" was similarly impressive.
Hughes also maneuvered
Deep Purple into a more funky direction, which is very obvious on
Getting Tighter. Maybe this explains why Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith was hired to play on this recording and his ability to master both the funky and rockier stuff makes him a perfect skinman for
Glenn Hughes.
"Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels" is available as a double audio CD and a single-disc DVD. The album is a "live in the studio" recording and the DVD documents the concert performed in the intimate settings at Sound Image studio in North Hollywood. The band plays to a very limited audience of friends and lucky regulars at Glenn's website.
The concert/CD wisely opens with a kick ass rocker that gets everybody in the right mood for a huge dose of
Glenn Hughes. I have earlier praised
Can't Stop The Flood on previous
Glenn Hughes albums and I still stand by my words - the song is fantastic.
The highlight is the moody tribute to John Bonham
Higher Places. It certainly captures the
Led Zeppelin groove and has beautiful backing vocals from JJ Marsh and Alex Ligertwood. I love the line "I was once mistreated, but I finally hit the ground" - with the reference to
Deep Purple's
Mistreated, which of course is played at this concert as well.
Like
Higher Places, another great anthem
Written All Over your Face is taken from Glenn's latest solo album "Songs in the key of Rock".
Written All over your f
ace is with its 10 minutes very familiarize and grandiose track with Ed Roth's great Hammond upfront along with a cool signature riff from JJ Marsh.
The bombastic approach lies deeply in Glenn's roots as the
Trapeze track
Medusa continues the big bombastic arrangement.
Glenn Hughes has always been called the voice of Rock and on the beautiful ballad
Seafull, he really shows his vocals abilities and hits some high notes. Glenn's sidekick for many years, guitarist JJ Marsh, gets a breathing space on
Seafull to unfold himself on the six-string.
The concert ends with a bunch of classics from Glenn's time in various bands.
First Step of Love ranks among my favorites, since it really comes to life played in concert. A bass riff builds up to the chorus, which is very energetic and melodic with a kick ass edge. From then the classic
Deep Purple tracks takes over with highlighted by
Mistreated in a long 10 minute version and the classic
You Keep on moving.
The bonus track
The Healer is a simple acoustic song, but with a great emotion to it.
After listening to this breathtaking concert several times I had very high expectations when I popped in the DVD. However, I was quite disappointed since the excitement of watching Glenn and his band perform a live concert in a small studio quickly became boring. It's basically just the band playing in the studio with a few people sitting on blankets on floor.
Because of the sparse crowd there is minimum feedback and no live feeling even though Glenn tries to connect with the invited audience. Compared to the Audio version the few introductions between songs have been cut out.
Kevin DuBrow of
Quiet Riot fame sings backing vocals on some songs and also takes over the role as interviewer in the interview segment with Glenn. DuBrow asks some intelligent questions. However, the other interviews with DuBrow and Chad Smith etc. are done in a very amateurish way.
A funny and remarkable thing from the DVD is how JJ Marsh for the whole first song keeps eye contact with Chad Smith. Maybe JJ was afraid that Chad wasn't 100 percent confident with the material. JJ Marsh surely is the conductor and his bluesy emotional sound suits the long moving songs of
Glenn Hughes. JJ Marsh also provides the double vocal on the very
Deep Purple alike
Wherever You Go.
Chad Smith is perfect for this band and he really lays a solid foundation along with Glenn's sublime bass playing. Rhythm guitarist George Nastos isn't playing on all tracks, for example not on
Written All Over Your Face, where JJ Marsh skillfully handles all guitar parts.
And no, your TV works perfect. The picture quality is not very good and not very sharp. There is around 4 cameras filming, but the setting in the studio is so small, that it soon becomes a bit boring.
Overall this recording has very skilled musicians, excellent songs and a cool vibe to it.
Glenn Hughes contribution to Rock history is exemplified with timeless songs. The audio CD is much recommended, but the DVD is very disappointing. The intimate surrounding and atmosphere of the recording hasn't transferred to the DVD and therefore there is no need to visualize the performance in bad picture quality along with doubtful interviews.
Written by
Michael Monday, October 4, 2004
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