THE REAL GREAT ESCAPE

2.5 stars really!!

After three fantastic albums such as LaVG, BB & Offering, would LC manage to get one more under his belt? Unchanged line-up, still the usual Danny Weiss on the production stool, the main ingredients changing here would seem to be the return of wife Julie and the return of frequent singing from both spouses. Oh yeah, we get to see the ARP synth's first appearance, toyed by both LC and Mandel. Taking its name on a track from Barefoot Boy, and sporting an appropriate artwork, the album fails to pay homage to the BB track.

Indeed, TRGE is a sub-par album that ranges from almost country rock with brass/horns arrangements ala BS&T as in the closing PF Sloan or semi Savoy Brown boogie of the title track, the only long song that allows a bit of an escape from basic song structures. Wife Julie signs two tracks, while hubby Larry signs four, the rest being covers, two of them from Jim Webb. The Scotland II track might just be the album's only "highlight" (if we can call it that), with the presence of the afore-mentioned ARP synth, but one can't say it is used that wisely, but at least it allows the track to blow over the tight structures of the songs present on this album, and give LC a bit of space to expand. But the break is not big enough to allow the escape.

Don't get me wrong, not everything is bad on this album, there are moments of brilliance, the thing being that they are much fewer and farther apart. But overall this album is best fleed away from, partly because of the frequent vocals, but also from under-average songwriting. TRGE is really not recommended unless you're a die-hard fan

This is a real escape but not so great. Coryell perhaps wanted to revive the psychedelic late 60's spirit and give more space to his vocals, after all, the first album handled them well. The result is a mediocre and forgettable blend of rock, blues-rock and jazz-rock that is very different from the splendid "Offering". The only things which save from being a complete disaster is guitar and saxophone playing. There aren't any memorable tracks although a couple of sections fare well. I for one prefer the mellow moments on the album like the second and third track. It is also one of the least ambitious Coryell albums of the 70's. Only for completionists.