Wicked Minds, the Italian psychedelic hard rockers, keep the momentum going after storming Their studio albums From The Purple Skies and Witchflower with the proof that they can hack it as a live band. Recorded at the Burg Herzberg Festival in 2006, the album features four tracks from each of the studio albums and comes in at an impressive 75 Minutes (for the non-mathematicians amongst you that is an average of nearly 9.5 minutes per track!). Although the line-up of the band hasn't changed, regular drummer Andrea Concarotti was unable to make the concert but is ably replaced by guest Riccardo Lovotti, from extreme metal band Burning Tide / Edema.
As anyone who has heard the studio albums will know, Wicked Minds take a lot of their musical clues from 70s bands such as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. The Ever-present Hammond Organ of Paolo 'Apollo' Negri and the hard-riffing guitar of Lucio Calegari dominate the sound, but both are masters at what they do and combine in an inventive and complementary way. Like those greats of the 70s, the band don't just concentrate on heavy numbers, but balance things out with the odd ballad or two. The excellent Before The Morning Light is rather beefed up from the studio version, but still has its delicate moments and J.C. Cinel can certainly carry a tune.
The album begins with the title tracks from the studio albums, From The Purple Skies has possibly the greatest Hammond riff in the last 20 years or so and the live presentation of Witchflower adds a new dimension to the song. The band also demonstrate that they can improvise on stage with two of the songs, The Elephant Stone and Through My Love both extended to twice their original length. The first of these tracks has a rather spacey, echo-laden guitar over a slow groove, while the latter starts with a four and a half minute guitar solo that contains nods to the ilk of Hendrix and Blackmore and concentrates on sonic exploration rather than sheer notes per minute speeding up and down the fret board. Consequently it is much more interesting than self-indulgent.
However, it is the epic Return To Uranus that once again steals the show. In my review of the studio version of this track I compared it with Purple's Space Trucking, and this live version makes the comparison even more justified. Not that the songs are the same at all, just the way the track builds and the interplay of the guitar and Hammond hold the interest over the 20 minutes of the piece. The gentler elements of the song, the flute and acoustic guitar, are absent but the group are putting on a rock show, and they certainly do it with style!
So, conclusions. Simply, Wicked Minds are very, very good at what they do. One has to remember that it is thirty years since the heyday of the seventies and most progressive music lovers won't have seen or may not have even heard of the bands that were originally given the label of progressive. Heck I hazard a guess that most of the readers of these pages were not even a twinkle in their parents' eyes! If you want to hear a modern take on classic rock performed by excellent musicians (no joking, Paolo Negri could seriously give Jon Lord stiff competition for title of master of the Hammond Organ) then Wicked Minds are the answer. Their studio albums I love and am not in the slightest disappointed by this live release. Recommended Because I love it!
Conclusion: 8 out of 10
MARK HUGHES
As anyone who has heard the studio albums will know, Wicked Minds take a lot of their musical clues from 70s bands such as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. The Ever-present Hammond Organ of Paolo 'Apollo' Negri and the hard-riffing guitar of Lucio Calegari dominate the sound, but both are masters at what they do and combine in an inventive and complementary way. Like those greats of the 70s, the band don't just concentrate on heavy numbers, but balance things out with the odd ballad or two. The excellent Before The Morning Light is rather beefed up from the studio version, but still has its delicate moments and J.C. Cinel can certainly carry a tune.
The album begins with the title tracks from the studio albums, From The Purple Skies has possibly the greatest Hammond riff in the last 20 years or so and the live presentation of Witchflower adds a new dimension to the song. The band also demonstrate that they can improvise on stage with two of the songs, The Elephant Stone and Through My Love both extended to twice their original length. The first of these tracks has a rather spacey, echo-laden guitar over a slow groove, while the latter starts with a four and a half minute guitar solo that contains nods to the ilk of Hendrix and Blackmore and concentrates on sonic exploration rather than sheer notes per minute speeding up and down the fret board. Consequently it is much more interesting than self-indulgent.
However, it is the epic Return To Uranus that once again steals the show. In my review of the studio version of this track I compared it with Purple's Space Trucking, and this live version makes the comparison even more justified. Not that the songs are the same at all, just the way the track builds and the interplay of the guitar and Hammond hold the interest over the 20 minutes of the piece. The gentler elements of the song, the flute and acoustic guitar, are absent but the group are putting on a rock show, and they certainly do it with style!
So, conclusions. Simply, Wicked Minds are very, very good at what they do. One has to remember that it is thirty years since the heyday of the seventies and most progressive music lovers won't have seen or may not have even heard of the bands that were originally given the label of progressive. Heck I hazard a guess that most of the readers of these pages were not even a twinkle in their parents' eyes! If you want to hear a modern take on classic rock performed by excellent musicians (no joking, Paolo Negri could seriously give Jon Lord stiff competition for title of master of the Hammond Organ) then Wicked Minds are the answer. Their studio albums I love and am not in the slightest disappointed by this live release. Recommended Because I love it!
Conclusion: 8 out of 10
MARK HUGHES
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