SHADOWS FROM THE SUN

This live album was recorded at the Agora Ballroom, in Cleveland, in 1-September-1978, by the first line-up of the band (Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson and John Wetton) during their 1978 tour. The recording and mixing are good (being from 1978), and this live recording shows the band sounding very well, performing some songs from their first studio album (and the only album recorded by this line-up), plus two songs which were going to be recorded with Terry Bozzio for their second album titled "Danger Money" in late 1978 ("The Only Thing She Needs" and "Carrying No Cross"; during that tour they also played "Caesar`s Palace Blues", a song which was also to be recorded with Bozzio for their "Danger Money" album, but it was not included in this live album), plus "Forever Till Sunday", composed by Bruford, a song which Bruford and Holdsworth (with Jobson on uncredited violin) were going to record for Bruford`s album titled "One of a Kind" in 1979 (U.K. also played during that tour a song called "The Shara of Snow", which was not inclued in this live album, composed by Bruford and Jobson and also recorded for the "One of a Kind" album, but without Jobson`s contribution). The songs from their "Danger Money" album are played somewhat different with different arrangements more influenced by Bruford and Holdsworth`s Jazz-Rock Fusion style and with more improvisation. The rest of the songs are played very well, but again, Bruford and Holdsworth`s tendency for improvisation made them sound somewhat different to the studio versions from their first album. So, with this live album one can see why this line-up didn`t stay together for more time, because Jobson and Wetton maybe had a more "fixed" Prog Rock musical style which clashed a bit with Bruford and Holdsworth`s tendency for Jazz-Rock Fusion improvisation. Anyway, the combination of both styles sounds very well. Bruford in particular tended to play the songs somewhat differently in concerts, something which he liked to do a lot during the seventies, but if in his playing with Genesis during their 1976 tour sometimes this tendency didn`t sound very well , with U.K., King Crimson and with his own bands Bruford found the best bands to do this kind of playing, which is very good to listen to as it gives some variety to the sound of the songs. The same can be said about Holdsworth`s playing. In conclusion, this is a very good live album by a very good band which unfortunately did not last for a very long time.