Young Band, John - Live At The Classic Rock Society 2003

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Heritage Records
Catalog Number: HR007
Format: CD
Total Time: 56:28:00

If you'd visit John Young's website, do take a look at the no less than impressive discography and see with whom he has played and what he released by himself. His life in music started [in the] mid-70s and along the way he worked with people like John Wetton, Paul Rodgers (ex Free, Bad Company), Uli John Roth (ex Scorpions), Bonnie Tyler and Fish. In 1999 John Young released his first solo album, but has played on numerous albums since. Last year he released Significance (see the review of on this website) and toured to promote the release of the album.

His performance at the renowned Classic Rock Society was recorded and is now available. Besides Young on keys and lead vocals, the line up consist of Robin Boult (guitars), Dave Stewart (drums an vocals), both from the band of Fish and John Jowitt (bass and vocals, IQ, Jadis, ex-Arena). I'd say this is a pretty good line up and the live drums sure sound good! Besides songs from Significance, the set also included the three songs from the mini album The Shape Of Things To Come, more progressive work compared to Significance, and one older song, "All Grown Up." Absolute highlight of the album is "Childhood's End" (no, not a cover from the Marillion song!), with great guitar work from Robin Boult and the familiar proggy keyboard sounds. I really love Young's voice, he is a bit of a mix between Phil Collins, Peter Cetera and John Wetton. At times I miss the "live"-feel on the album, but fortunately between some songs, you hear the audience and also if you listen well to the album you can hear it played live.

To me it seems like an excellent show, he gave. Unfortunately I missed his show in The Netherlands, so I hope he will come back to play here again, so that I can see him live. Also "Unknown Soldier," nearly 15 minutes long, is an outstanding track. But besides the up-tempo songs, like "When I Was Young" and "Open Skies," I also like the more melancholic songs, like "Significance" and "Underside." John Young is a man of many talents and a great singer/songwriter and I do hope he will keep on recording solo albums, amidst of all his work for others, as he is a gem that needs to be cherished, a man who creates music from the heart, that will live on forever.

Similar artists: John Wetton, Damian Wilson

[This review originally appeared January 2004 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Significance (04:40) / When I Was Young (05:02) / Just One Day (04:41) / All Grown Up (04:26) / Underside (06:55) / Unknown Soldier (14:20) / Childhood's End (08:29) / Open Skies (04:04) / Kings (03:51)

Musicians:
John Young - keys and lead vocals
Robin Boult - guitars
John Jowitt - bass guitars and vocals
Dave Stewart - drums and vocals

Discography:
John Wetton - Battle Lines (1994)
Max Bacon - The Higher You Climb (1995)
Life - Cocoon (1997)
John Wetton - Arkangel (1997)
John Wetton - Live In Tokyo (1997)
Life Underground (1999)
Scientific Breakthrough (1999)
Youngwolf (cass only) (1999)
Qango - Live In The Hood (1999) Political Agenda (1999)
No Commercial Value (2000)
Instrumental Music (cassette only)
Greenslade - Large Afternoon (2000)
Cobra - Hungry For Vengeance (2000)
Urban Sprawl - Beyond The Bridges (2000)
John Wetton - Sinister (aka Welcome To Heaven (2000)) (2001)
Ethereal Energy (2001)
Chris Richardson - Dot.Com Explosion (CR is aka John Young) (2001)
Fish - Fellini Days (and FD bonus disk) (2001)
Greenslade - Live 2001 - The Full Edition (2002)
Fish - Fellini Nights (2002)
Ken Hensley & John Wetton - More Than Conquerors (2002)
John Wetton & Ken Hensley - One Way Or Another (2002)
Just One Day (promo EP) (2002)
Significance (2002)
John Wetton - John Wetton Fan Convention - An Evening With John Wetton (2002)
John Wetton - John Wetton Fan Convention - An Evening With John Wetton Unedited (2002)
Live! Allentown, PA July 20, 2002 (2002)
Bonnie Tyler With The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra - Heart & Soul (2002)
The Shape Of Things To Come (2003)
John Wetton - Rock of Faith (2003)
Mammoth - Larger and Live (2003)
Live At The Classic Rock Society 2003 (2003)

Live At The Whitchurch Festival 6 Aug 2000 (VID) (2000)
Ken Hensley & John Wetton - More than Conquerors (DVD) (2002)
The John Wetton Fan Convention - The Official Convention Video (DVD) (2002)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: November 26th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.reverbnation.com/johnyoungband
Hits: 2184
Language: english