Album of the Week: Part Deux

The album of this week is:



Rock of Ages by the Band

As I spent the week pondering what album of mine to review, I couldn't decide until the last day of the week. Throughout my new collection of cds from the past week (a grand total of 9 cds and 10 hours of music), I specifically chose Rock of Ages to help answer the question of what a live album should be.

Throughout the history of the genre known as Rock and Roll, many bands have wondered what the purpose of a live album should be, from the introduction of the first live recordings on the famous rock album by Cream, Wheels of Fire. Many bands promoted the idea that live outings, and therefore live albums, should be similiar to the structure of live Jazz. Bands such as the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers band used a Jazz-like approach by taking songs of normally three to four minutes and extending them; they took the frame of songs, using the vocals and melody line, and then extended them into spacy, instrumental jams of up to 40 minutes.

The Band, on the other hand, took a different approach. They were never for hour renditions of their classics, but rather for a revamping of material. The live record was still a new concept when this album was cut, during the days leading up to 1972, and the Band wanted to try something that no other band had really attempted.

The Band's guitarist, and de facto leader, Robbie Robertson introduces what the Band is about to do with the following words: "We're gonna try somethin tonight that we've never done before...We'd like to bring out the best horn men in New York..." all arranged by famous New Orleans arranger Allen Toussaint. Toussaint had worked with the Band before on their catchy single, Life is a Carnival. This time around, Toussaint arranged horn parts for most of the Band's material, making this the first time a band had used an alterior music source constantly on stage.

The ensuing live album does not replace the studio cuts by an means, but instead adds new variations to them. Unlike many other live albums, which either pale in comparison to the studio work or replaces such, this album gave me a new collection of songs entirely.

The album starts with a funky workout of Marvin Gaye's R&B classic (Baby) Don't (You) Do It, which the Band perform to the greatest of their ability, such that electricity practically comes out of the speakers. Throughout the rest of the disk, the Band exhibits their uncanny ability to add energy to songs (King Harvest, Caledonia Mission, Across the Great Divide, The Weight, Rag Mama Rag, Life is A Carnival), their ability to revamp unreleased material (Get Up Jake), add interesting horn parts (The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Chest Fever) and instrumental mastery (The Genetic Method).

The Genetic Method, in itself, could have its own review. Although I am biased, as Garth Hudson is my favorite keyboardist, anyone can hear his genious and mastery of (at the time) new instruments. He weaves strange organ parts, classical organ, synthesizer diddlies and famous pieces into a beautiful solo instrumental. At one part of the song, due to the date of the recording (12/31), Hudson weaves in Auld Lang Syne, to the delight of the audience, and then continues on. The album is worth the purchase for this track itself.

The album closes with a nice little Rock and Roll standard, and brings energy to the listener. Luckily, the album was remastered a few years ago, and the original 2 LP album was put on 1 disc, and Capitol added a second bonus disc. The bonus disc had some amazing pieces, from the introspective Rocking Chair (in which the way Manuel sings "I just wanna get my feet back on the ground" is worth the ticket price), to the R&B standard, Loving You (Is Sweeter Than Ever), to four songs with Bob Dylan, the best by Dylan at the time.

This album is worth every penny, from the horn charts that are so expertly arranged, to the sublime playing by the Band, and should be in every Rock fan's collection.