LIVE

Golden Earring was a beat group in the mid-sixties, a psychedelic proto-prog group around the turn of the decade and a more regular rockgroup with some Americana flair in the mid-seventies. To me it sounds like the band's sound was heavily influenced by Quicksilver Messenger Service's 'Happy Trails' record. The band was particularly good on stage and stayed that way well into the 21th century. It is strange then that there are so few live albums of the band playing at full force. 'Live' in 1977 features some of the band's stronger cuts and material from their by that time latest record 'Contraband'. The band is supported by Eelco Gelling (of Cuby and The Blizzards fame), one of the best Dutch guitarist of his generation. The band has a nice rhythm and blues rock vibe and the guitars sounds great here. Golden Earring was one of those bands that fluently improvised within its song formats and allowed the songs to grow on stage.

The first record opens with the wild and urgent 'Candy's Going Bad', what a way to get a rock party started. Especially the inciting pre-chorus gets me going. 'She Flies on Strange Wings' needs little introduction. It is a classic rock favorite. The version of 'Mad Love's Coming' is simply one of the best recordings of the bands career. A stellar tight opening section with the slightly overdrive twin guitars, the bluesy and expressive vocals of Barry Hay (as magical here as Jim Morrison was a decade earlier) and a great instrumental ending sections with great solo's and a thick hardrock sound. On their famous cover of The Byrds' 'Eight Miles High' the band also shows its instrumental prowess and quite frankly kills the album version of 1969. 'The Vanilla Queen' has some symphonic rock elements and is treated with some more extended soloing. The second vinyl is quite the opposite. To my ears all songs sound very dull, excluding the extended version of 'Radar Love' - which the band plays slightly more psychedelic and lively than the original.

The first record of this 2lp deserves a four star rating and I don't think the weaker second record should prevent you from picking up this still widely available lp. Just make sure you hear this version of 'Mad Love's Coming' at least once before you die.