Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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Throughout his long and winding solo career, guitarist Robin Trower has had to endure countless comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, due to his uncanny ability to channel Hendrix's bluesy/psychedelic, Fender Strat-fueled playing style. Born on March 9, 1945, in Catford, England, Trower spent the early '60s playing guitar in various London based outfits; the most successful one being the R&B group the Paramounts, who specialized mostly in covers, but managed to issue several singles between 1963 and 1965. It wasn't until 1967 that Trower received his big break however, when he joined Procol Harum. The group had just scored a worldwide smash hit with "A Whiter Shade of Pale," but the only problem was that the band's leader, singer/pianist Gary Brooker, didn't have a proper band to back him. Brooker was previously a bandmate of Trower's in the Paramounts, and offered the guitar slot in his new fast-rising project to his old friend. As a result, Trower appeared on such Procol Harum classics as 1967's Procol Harum, 1968's Shine on Brightly, 1969's A Salty Dog, 1970's Home (which spawned the popular Trower tune "Whiskey Train"), and 1971's Broken Barricades.

While Procol Harum helped launch Trower's career, the guitarist realized there was limited space for his guitar work, and eventually left for a solo career. Enlisting singer/bassist James Dewar and drummer Reg Isidore (who was soon replaced by Bill Lordan) as a backing band, Trower issued his solo debut, Twice Removed From Yesterday, in 1973. The album barely left a dent in the U.S. charts, but that would change soon enough with his next release, 1974's Bridge of Sighs. With rock fans still reeling from Hendrix's death a few years earlier, the album sounded eerily similar to the late guitarist's work with the Jimi Hendrix Experience (especially his 1968 release, Electric Ladyland), and as a result, the album sky rocketed into the U.S. Top Ten, peaking at number seven.

Although Bridge of Sighs was to be his most popular solo release, Trower's stock continued to rise throughout the mid-'70s, as he became an arena headliner on the strength of such hit albums as 1975's For Earth Below, 1976's Robin Trower Live!, and Long Misty Days, plus 1977's In City Dreams. Further releases followed, yet by the dawn of the '80s, it became quite obvious that Trower's star was rapidly fading, as each album sold less than its predecessor. A brief union with ex-Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce spawned a pair of releases, 1981's B.L.T. and 1982's Truce, before Trower returned back to his solo career.

The '80s saw Trower try and expand his audience with several releases that attempted to update his blues-rock style (such as 1987's slick produced Passion), but none returned the guitarist back to the top of the charts. During the early '90s, Trower returned back to Procol Harum for a brief reunion (1991's Prodigal Stranger), before backing ex-Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry on a few releases (1993's Taxi and 1994's Mamouna, the latter of which Trower earned a co-producer credit for). Trower continued to issue solo albums in the 21st century (2000's Go My Way), while a steady stream of live sets and compilations appeared. Trower returned to work with Ferry once more on 2002's Frantic, again earning a production credit. Reassembling most of his late-'80s band, Trower released Living Out of Time in 2004 and returned with Another Days Blues in late 2005. What Lies Beneath appeared in 2009 from V-12 Records.

Greg Prato, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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Robin Trower's debut solo album was the first evidence that the Fender Stratocaster sound of Jimi Hendrix could be effectively replicated and even refabricated. And like Hendrix, Trower had paid his dues as a more-or-less backup musician, his former band Procol Harum having emphasized stately organ and piano rather than guitar. After leaving his old group, Trower experimented with different musicians and ideas for several years, which paid off when he finally released Twice Removed From Yesterday, a record that displayed the characteristics that would make him a guitar hero and stadium attraction of the mid-'70s. He de-emphasized the Hendrix fuzz, feedback, and distortion, and let the reverb from his Strat become his dominant tonal device. He wasn't as flamboyant as Hendrix, as earthy as Eric Clapton, or as unpredictable as Jeff Beck, but he played cleanly, emphasizing singular, effective notes, and he brought a melodicism and creativity to the electric blues. His style is best suited for the slow, somber blues of songs like "Daydream" and "I Can't Wait Much Longer," where his solos are both carefully structured and melodic. The most intriguing tune on the album is the title track, a nugget of '70s-style psychedelic rock that showed Trower to be a pretty good songwriter. The best aspects of Twice Removed would come to full flowering on his next album, Bridge of Sighs, but this debut showed Trower to be an effective interpreter of the Hendrix sound, and not just what numerous others who came in his wake would prove to be: mere imitators.

Peter Kurtz, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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Guitarist Robin Trower's watershed sophomore solo disc remains his most stunning, representative, and consistent collection of tunes. Mixing obvious Hendrix influences with blues and psychedelia, then adding the immensely soulful vocals of James Dewar, Trower pushed the often limited boundaries of the power trio concept into refreshing new waters. The concept gels best in the first track, "Day of the Eagle," where the opening riff rockingly morphs into the dreamy washes of gooey guitar chords that characterize the album's distinctive title track that follows. At his best, Trower's gauzy sheets of oozing, wistful sound and subtle use of wah-wah combine with Dewar's whisky-soaked soul-drenched vocals to take a song like the wistful ballad "In This Place" into orbit. "Too Rolling Stoned," another highlight and one of the most covered tracks from this album, adds throbbing, subtle funk to the mix, changing tempos midway to a slow, forceful amble on top of which Trower lays his quicksilver guitar. One of the few Robin Trower albums without a weak cut, Bridge of Sighs holds up to repeated listenings as a timeless work, as well as the crown jewel in Trower's extensive yet inconsistent catalog.

Hal Horowitz, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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For Earth Below, Trower's third solo album, is heavily induced with a blues-rock formula that withstands the duration of the eight tracks and arrantly displays his slick guitar mastery. His subtle yet dominant fusion of blues and hard rock styles not only inflicts character throughout each song, but also demonstrates how effective an instrument the guitar can become when the proper techniques are applied. Much like Twice Removed From Yesterday but not as diverse as Bridge of Sighs, this album has Trower sounding a tad more velvety around the edges, with the blues element sometimes governing the entire piece, an asset to the album's complete texture. The opening "Shame the Devil" and "A Tale Untold" best exemplify his distilled playing style, while a song like "Gonna Be More Suspicious" represents how focused a musician he really is, making each chord pour into the next so that the sound becomes totally viscous. James Dewar, who plays bass and sings vocals, contributes aptly to the low end of the music, filling in where needed, while drummer Bill Lordan helps out on percussion. Finishing off with the sultry but dimensioned aura of "For Earth Below," the album wraps up with a wholehearted satisfactory feel. The albums that followed For Earth Below began to stray slowly from being blues-influenced to a sound that contained a mainstream feel, with fragments of bright rock adding a sheen to his raw guitar repertoire.

Mike DeGagne, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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An excellent recording of a superb 1975 stadium show in Sweden, Robin Trower's Live album is a perfect snapshot of the guitar hero in his prime. The record also gives ample evidence of why the Robin Trower Band was one of the most successful live guitar rock acts of the '70s, highlighting not only Trower's virtuoso Stratocaster licks, but the soulful vocals of bassist James Dewar and the polyrhythmic drumming of Bill Lordan. The song selection here is top-notch, the most obvious treat being the perennial Trower classic "Too Rolling Stoned," to which Lordon (who replaced Reg Isadore, drummer on the studio version of the song) contributes a somewhat funkier flavor. The same treatment is given to a blistering take on "Little Bit of Sympathy," which contains moments that recall the legendarily telepathic interplay between Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell. It's a mystery why James Dewar isn't generally recognized as one of the finest blue-eyed soul singers of the '70s, as he is easily as talented and convincing as Paul Rogers or Joe Cocker. Here, he's in excellent form and his vocals on the slow-burning "I Can't Wait Much Longer" are spine-tingling. Although none of the performances stray too far from the songs' studio versions, that fact is part of what makes this album interesting. Live shows the Robin Trower Band to be a quintessential no-frills blues-rock band, capable of kicking serious ass no matter what the setting.

Pemberton Roach, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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With the release of LONG MISTY DAYS, Robin Trower takes his first steps away from the signature sound that made his first three records so potent. There is a more conscious effort here to write more memorable & songs, since this was the primary shortcoming of his prior record (FOR EARTH BELOW). The overall sound of this record is brighter and more upbeat than the first three, but also slightly more commercial. Also, Robin's playing is much more restrained and less acrobatic than usual.

The album starts with the excellent "Same Rain Falls", an upbeat rocker that is far catchier than anything on FOR EARTH BELOW. "Long Misty Days" is an overlooked Trower classic that finds him channeling his signature "Bridge Of Sighs" vibe to nice effect. It is slow, somber and slightly heavy sounding with his guitar tuned down below standard tuning to D.

Aside from enjoyable rockers like "Caledonia" and "S.M.O.", the rest of the album is bogged down by several mediocre ballads. Robin returns to his roots with "Messin' The Blues" at the very close of the album, but even this is too little too late.

I respect the fact that Robin was trying to expand his horizons with the new directions taken here. Sometimes it works and other times not. I would still recommend buying this album for the first two songs alone.

Rob Dwyer, Allmusic.com

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Robin Trower - Original Album Series (2014) 5CD Box Set

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