The Halloween Reapers: The Live Radio Shows 1979-1986

Another radio broadcast release,this time tracks from 4 gigs spread over 2 discs,quality variable as usual,look away now if pristine audio is your thing,if average audio and music dripping with atmosphere and excitement whets your appetite then keep on reading,Disc 1 tracks 1-8, live 1979 palladiium New York,i dont believe for a minute this is a radio broadcast rathetr a average quality bootleg possibly from the soundboard,the sound is allover the plave Eric Bloom's guitar and voacals come and go,Buck Dharma occasionaly sounds as if he's sitting next to whilst the bass player has clearly been given the night off. However the raw excitement and class shines through and once your ears become accustomed to the quality of the audio its worth listening to.( Hot Rails To Hell and Dont Fear The Reaper' the best of the bunch)tracks 9 - 15 live Worcester 1982, sound quality improves immensley and after a short,erratic,interview,the band are up and running,opening with a excellent version of 'This Aint The Summer of Love', you also get 3 tracks from the (then) current album 'Fire Of Unknown Origin',you cant get enough live versions of 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars' whilst a thunderous 'Born To Be Wild concludes the disc.Disc 2 tracks 1 - 10 Santa Monica 1986 , this is the icing on the cake as it opens with ,in my opinion, the best version of ' R U Ready To Rock' i've heard,it has a frantic 'Dominance and Submission,however its the relatively ' rare' live versions of tracks 'Club Ninja' , all of which sound better live than on record,( i might need to dig out that album for a listen) while an extended version of 'Take Me Away' from 'Revolution By Night' is excellent and like the previous reviewer immediately reminded me of Hawkwind. Throw in the unreleased 'Wing of Mercury' a cover version i believe and its a winning disc.but there's more ,tracks 11 & 12 come from Boston 1976, and despite the audio limitations its two fine version of 'Born To Be Wild' and 'Dont Fear The Reaper' superb stuff.Like most of these releases liner notes are minimal and generally poor,this is no exception,it would have you beleive that Allen Lanier is still touring with the band,when he's sadly passed away.,so thats poor.

I had high hopes of this CD as King Biscuiteer etc have a reputation for good quality recordings. Tried Disc 2 first and was horrified at the 'shaky' quality of the recording, as if an earthquake might happen soon. This was on good quality headphones. I'm now listening to the performance acoustically in my front room and it's not too bad. The spoken intro to "Take Me Away" is a bit cheesy (if you're English as I am you remember Hawkwind and become attached to their Anglophile approach to sci-fi rock)but lends a lot to the track. On both discs you become aware of, considering the line-ups at the time of these broadcasts, how much of a crucial role Eric Bloom's rhythm guitar takes. Many's the time I've seen vids of the BOC and thought, "where is the sound?" as if he is miming...which we know he's anything but! Disc 1 starts a bit erratically with Joe Bouchard right in your left ear like an in-tune but over-excitable member of the audience while the band are a kilometre away but soon improves.

Excellent. Top quality.