| Comments: | This double disc set lists the venue as being Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, November 6th, 1970. I have a
copy of this same show on tape which is listed as "Emerson
Gym", Cleveland, Ohio, November 6th, 1971. Because the track
listing is that of the "Meddle" tour, and because the band
was touring Europe in November of 1970, I believe that the
date on my tape is correct and that this CD is in error.
Regardless, the CD presents a very good, but distant
audience recording....with little crowd interference....
This set is not the complete performance, missing "One Of
These Days". Filler material from Waterbury, Ct. March 18,
1973 has been used to fill in the second disc....
- LIVE MUSIC REVIEW
Sound is thin with virtually no bass; treble is OK, if a
little shrill in places.
The performance of "Embryo" is exceptionally long (26 min.),
and is the main selling-point of this CD. The jam which
fills out this piece is in places derivative of "Echoes",
and also features "Eugene"-style vocals by Roger.
- THE HEDONIST
This is one of the most relaxed performances that I have
ever heard. Embryo is very very long and Dave just solos
constantly (not too much keyboards, perhaps they were
waiting for it to get fixed). Echoes is only the first part
and sounds very much like the Pompeii version with Roger
soloing a lot. There is a skip or something from the
original source during Echoes and a bit is repeated. At the
beginning of AHM there are a lot of sirens noises, and I
don't think that they are real. The bonus tracks fit in
well. When You're In is very loose with some nice solos by
Dave and Rick. It is a very listenable disc although there
are much better '71 shows. However, it is a very unique
set. -ADAM
For a long time this was thought to be Cleveland 6 Nov, but
the master was found and the date and venue were
identified. A second source also surfaced which included a
full version of "Echoes" and "Blues" encore. - BD#32
The bonus tracks Obscured by Clouds and When You're In alone
make this CD worth buying. Nick's drumming is the strongest
I have ever heard, and the rest of the band are really on
the ball here as well. The only problem is that the sound
quality is a little thick. Other than that, I really love
this Roio. -PK
This is one of the strongest group performance from the Fall
1971 tour, possibly because it is the last show of the tour
(disregard the Nov 6 1970 date listed on the disc). All songs
are played aggressively. Embryo is extremely long and has a mid
section jam totally different from the standard version. This
is a siren played in the beginning of AHM that just screams when
the band kicks in. AHM has a very good vocal section. The
sound quality is not the greatest, with very little bass.
Nevertheless, this is possibly the best currently available show
from the Fall 1971 tour (I can't decide between this and Heart
of The Sun). The disc also contains 3 songs from a March 1973
show in Connecticut. This performance is very good and is
better recorded than the 1971 show. However, buy this title
mainly for the 1971 show. Contains the last know recorded
performance of Embryo, Cymbaline, and Fat Old Sun. This is also
the last known recording of the band before they brought DSOTM
into their repertoire. It was the end of an era. Rated as
essential collection material. -Scott
Using Pink Floyd: In The Flesh as an additional reference
source, it appears that Floyd did not perform any shows in
France in December 1971. That means that this show is the final
performance of Cymbaline, Embryo, and Fat Old Sun. Though the
sound is a little thin, it is a really hot performance. As I
stated above, I rate this show as essential collection
material.
- Scott
I don t really like this RoIO. The Taft show may be a historic
performance, but I don t find it a particularly inspiring one.
The Embryo jam is OK, and foreshadows Breathe/On the Run a bit,
but doesn t really go anywhere. What makes it (and the whole
set) tough to enjoy is the lackluster sound quality; the source
tape is basically free of hiss, but it s very harsh and canned
-sounding. In addition to the lack of bass, it s got a lot of
jangly upper-mid-range distortion that s rough on the ears;
this mainly comes from Dave s guitar, which is often loud
enough to drown out most of the other instruments (due to tape
compression). I m told a good EQ can improve the sound
dramatically, but as I don t have a graphic equalizer, I can t
reap its benefits. At least the pitch is OK: at the very start
the tape speed is a little fast, but by the end of Embryo it s
on the money. There re some subtle speed variations in Echoes,
but they re not a big deal. (And of course, as everyone has
written, the date listed on the set is wrong it s really
November 20, 1971.)
As for the Waterbury tracks, the recording is distinctly
better, yes...but no one seems to have noticed (probably
because these tracks are instrumental) that they re going WAY
too fast! They re off by a full 2 semitones. To put it
differently, when I speed-corrected One of These Days, it ended
up adding a full minute to the track time. Anyway, setting
aside the speed problem, the bonus tracks are OK, but there are
many 73 shows I d take any day over this one. (Tangentially,
the Waterbury tape may be misdated; many folks are calling this
one 3/17/73, Radio City Music Hall.)
Finally, the whole set is poorly edited. Fat Old Sun cuts in
very abruptly from Embryo, and there are nasty skips (material
is repeated) in Echoes and When You re In. There s also an ugly
edit in CWTAE, which also cuts out early.
All in all, I wouldn t go so far as to pan this set; it s not a
genuine turkey in the same way that Black Glass or Cracked is.
Many of its problems are more than likely due to inadequate
equipment on the part of its makers, who probably meant well.
As well, the sound isn t horrible or anything, and if you do
have a good EQ you can probably do a lot to improve it. Still,
this is one of the few RoIOs I ve ever had that I just can t
get into. My tastes seem to run opposite to Scott s: I d say
get Live in Montreux 1971 (Black Wizard/White Witch) or
Falkoner Teatret over this one anyday.
- MT
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