Live albums are often seen as contract fillers, either by the band itching to move to another record company, or by the record company looking to flog the same hits twice. So you might raise a cynical eyebrow on learning that jazz-rockers Colosseum broke up shortly after this album came out in 1971.
But the tracklisting tells a different story. Only one of the tracks on this double album comes from their three earlier studio albums, because that’s how Colosseum operated. Led by drummer Jon Hiseman with wily sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith, Hammond organ maestro Dave Greenslade, and various guitarists and bassists, the band honed their material on stage rather than in the studio. The bonus CD proves the point, consisting largely of the same songs recorded at different venues.
At this point the line-up included guitarist Clem Clempson, en route to Humble Pie, and he gives the band a harder edge. There was also singer Chris Farlowe, whose soulful interjections can sometimes be jarring, but that’s probably deliberate.
They show off their style best on Skellington and their version of Jack Bruce’s Rope Ladder To The Moon. It’s as good as they were going to get and they were probably right to quit while they were ahead.
