The second solo album from the former Nazareth frontman is a good follow up to his first. Filled with great songs and sung with power and passion, this album is a must have for any McCafferty fan. This gritty vocalist gained early experience as a member of the Shadettes, a mid-60s beat group based in Dunfermline, Scotland. By 1968, the act had evolved into Nazareth, which grew from provincial origins into a leading international attraction. McCafferty’s throaty rasp was an integral part of the unit’s best-known hits, notably ‘Broken Down Angel’ and ‘This Flight Tonight’ (both 1973), but he undertook a concurrent solo project in 1975. Dan McCafferty comprised several of the artist’s favourite songs, including ‘Out Of Time’, which broached the UK Top 50 as a single. The singer then resumed his commitment to the parent group, but re-embarked on an independent career in 1987 with Into The Ring.
Over the course of his career, Dan Fogelberg has become identified with a particular sort of heavily arranged soft rock. It is therefore particularly interesting to listen to his first album and hear him experimenting, seeking the balance between an overtly countrified sound and something more original and personal. Some things about Home Free show that Fogelberg had figured out his strengths well before he went near the studio. The songs here are better and more coherent than much of his later work, with a directness that makes it easy to gloss over the occasional banalities and platitudes. As always, his splendid delivery makes it easy to excuse the lyrical flaws; nobody else ever sounded this confessional and meditative while singing in front of a full orchestra. That string section appears on most tracks and sometimes verges on intrusive. Indeed, at times Norbert Putnam's production sounds so cinematic that one wonders if this is a film score, as on the opening "To the Morning." Happily, not every cut is this heavily produced, and lighter tunes like "Stars" and "Wysteria" have hints of country and bluegrass along with album-oriented rock in a style similar to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or the Eagles. Sometimes the influences are very overt; the album's closer, "The River," sounds like a Neil Young outtake, from the bleak subject matter to the spare, pounding piano arrangement. Fogelberg toyed with a variety of styles on his first release, and though things aren't completely integrated, the album is all the better for it.
"Do It Again", "FM", "Bodhisattva" are only a few of the very intriguing songs that the duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have given us through the years. After a several year absence in 1996 they hit the road on another great tour. This time with a crackerjack band that featured fusion wunderkind Wayne Krantz, they proceeded to amaze audiences in arenas all over the US, For those unfortunateones who counln't make it to one of the gigs, this document we now present to you is a fitting consolation prize. For thoes fortunate ones who were there, sitting and relieve the memories of one of those fabulous nights.
The Sultans of Swing are at it again! Fresh from the success of their Two Against Nature record, Donald Fagen & Walter Becker decided to assult nature in their own way and assembled their troops for a 3 continent world tour. Mixing several of their long standing commarades in arms, such as Cornelius Bumpus (tenor Sax), Tom Barney (Bass) and Ricky Lawson (Drums) with newcomers to the Dan world such as Jon Herrington on guitar, they dazzled audiences world wide with both old chestnuts such as "My Old School" and "FM", together with new soon-to-be-standards such as "Cousin Dupree" and "Jack Of Speed". Prepare yorself to deal with the miracle of musical virtuosity! Prepare thyself for a massive dose of live Steely Dan.
Steely Dan have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and helped define the sountrack of the 70s with hits including Rikki Dont Lose That Number, Hey Nineteen and Do It Again, culled from their seven platinum albums issued between 1972 and 1980. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. This 2CD set contains the full show, recorded on September 1st 1993. Official FM Broadcast.
These two concerts come from a period when the band were at the point of headlining their own concerts but shortly after these concerts the band decided to concentrate on studio recordings rather than concert performances.