HW: Live 79 (An invit

[Mark Edmonds]

From: Mark Edmonds
Date: 1999-03-22 16:30

Well, my 2 pennies worth FWIW on Live '79:

I don't think its that bad an album but I can pull it to shreds if I want
to...

Shot Down.. love it, great up-tempo opener with some really neat
gear-shifting rhythm work from Dave during the middle section.

Motorway City... a bit disappointing having heard the studio version
first. This one sort of plods with that over heavy off beat druming and
Huw's solo is a bit drab compared to the studio take. Also, Dave tends to
over-shout the lyrics.

Spirit of the Age... hits the spot very nicely thank you. Maybe it is a
bit too heavy but that was a function of the time (ahem, resisted
temptation to make a terrible pun there). Anyway, I like this take with
its good driving energy.

Side Change... Travesty!!! You get the sweeping swooping synth build up
to Urban Guerilla but they fade it out! Argghh! This is *the* killer
version ('cept from memory, Acid Daze at Finsbury Park). This version of
UG is definitely close to being my fave HW track of all time. Why on
earth did they cut it from the LP given what comes next???!

Lighthouse... Captain's Log... Stardate 456, We are now approaching craft
of extra terrestial origin.... Sheesh, who can say those lyrics with a
straight face? I think Tim was a great synth player and added a real
special touch to the sound but his singing and lyrics left a lot to be
desired. Good job they didn't include New Jerusalem as well.

Brainstorm and MotU... Instant "hit the skip button" tracks. They are
compentant versions but didn't really do anything worth while and needed
the like of Nik to be noodling in there with them.

Silver Machine... Yeah! This kicks off to a real storm and should have
been kept in its entirety. Nice explosion. Funny joke about the washing
machine eh? hoho. If they wanted to kill off Silver Machine, then what on
earth was that drab dirge we got from CyM?

OK, that's all pretty negative but I enjoy it for Shot Down and Spirit
and marvel at Urban Guerilla. The thing is that having listened to other
tapes from the same tour, they basically selected the wrong track list. I
suppose that given Levitation was the next release, it would have been a
bit strange to release Who's Gonna Win the War, Dust of Time, Levitation,
World of Tiers et all but their inclusion would have made this album
complete - especially as after Tim left, the entire soundscape of these
tracks changed radically with the arrival of Hayles. His overall style
was too heavy and that tended to slouch things out (listen to Do Not
Panic for example). - having said that, the Hayles induced version of
Urban Guerilla is still a stomper with a brilliant arpegiated keyboard
build-up.

Despite all this, I still wish Dave or someone would release the *entire*
gig, warts 'n' all (my tape copy has serious wow and flutter problems) so
there is a complete live document of the group at that point in time.

YMMV,

Mark