Record Reviews

COLOSSEUM ~ RESTORATION REPERTOIRE 1430 (Barcode: 4009910143025) ~ UK ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022 The legendary British Prog / Fusion band ColosseumFind albums by this artist returns with a new album eight years after their previous studio recording. The lineup, still a sextet, includes three “founding” members: vocalist Chris FarloweFind albums by this artist, guitarist Clem ClempsonFind albums by this artist and bassist Mark ClarkeFind albums by this artist, and three new members: keyboardist Nick SteedFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Kim NishikawaraFind albums by this artist and veteran drummer Malcom MortimoreFind albums by this artist (Gentle GiantFind albums by this artist). The album presents ten songs, most written by the band members, with a couple of songs written by others. The music is mostly Blues-Rock oriented, and has less (if any) Jazz influences than the previous albums, despite the saxophone present in the lineup. The songs are all solid and highly melodic, but lack the “twist” present in the old Colosseum material. Farlowe is still a formidable vocalist and Clempson still plays some great guitar solos, but the band is but a shadow of the old Colosseum image. Of course they are better than most contemporary Rock bands, but that is hardly a challenge after all. Overall, this is a very nice Blues-Rock / melodic Rock album, perfectly executed by veteran musicians, which is a great fun to listen to, but appearing under the Colosseum name is somewhat a misappropriation IMHO. Assumably Colosseum fans will all get a copy…

Updated: 09/07/2022Posted: 09/07/2022

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