1978-July-11 UK Concert Classics Paradise Theater Boston, MA Disc 1 - 48.33 1 Alaska 1.33 2 Time To Kill 7.16 3 The Only Thing She Needs * 7.21 4 Carrying No Cross 9.58 5 Thirty Years 10.03 6 In The Dead Of Night 7.49 7 Caesar's Palace Blues 4.29 * Supposedly, this song is not listed on the cd cover Bill Bruford Drums Allan Holdsworth Guitar Eddie Jobson Keyboards, Violin John Wetton Bass, Vocals Below is a review of UK and this release by Ian Oakley UK: Concert Classics Company Renaissance (RRCC00704) May 15th 1978, Rainbow Theatre, London. The lights went down. Pitch black. The hall reverberated to the deep almost subsonic bass notes. The first stark keyboard chord of Alaska echoed around the walls. Dry ice filled the stage. As the solo keyboard chords built up to a crescendo a bank of lights rose behind the band and a new dawn shone on the face of British progressive rock music. This band took no prisoners. The sound was hard and aggressive. But the playing... These were musicians at their professional peak. The ideas that Bill Bruford and John Wetton brought from the prog world of King Crimson and Yes were equalled by the "free form" solos from the experimental jazz-rock world of Allan Holdsworth. What was brought from the highly disciplined field of Bruford's percussion work was equalled by the tight Frank Zappa arranging style brought to the band by Eddie Jobson. What did the music sound like? Well, unique! I urge you to listen to the available sound-files on the UK website. However to try and convey something lets look musician by musician. Bill Bruford - ex King Crimson and Yes. Pure acoustic drum and percussion kit. In the loudest points his powerhouse playing propels the music forward in the softest provides a hypnotic backdrop for the rest of the band to improvise over. The best comment is that in this album the drums are not just the rhythm behind the songs but are played as an individual leading instrument in their own right. Allan Holdsworth - ex Soft Machine and Gong. The highlights of his work on the album is when he just seems to improvise over the rhythm and textures provided by the other band members. His playing is fast, fluid but to some people may seem a touch technical and over elaborate. Eddie Jobson - ex Curved Air and Frank Zappa. Tight keyboard playing with early use of sequenced synthesizer work which is used at times as textual background over which he plays the electronic violin. The interplay at points between Jobson's violin and Holdsworth’s guitar is sometimes breathtaking. John Wetton - ex Family and King Crimson; later to form Asia. Perhaps musically the weakest link in the band. However provides some fine lead vocals and a good solid dramatic bass. As chief songwriter his most important input is that he ensures that the strong song elements and melodies are kept at the forefront in the music. This vital job stopped UK short at becoming just a very flash Jazz-Rock outfit, very high on technical merit but appearing cold, clinical and soulless to the casual listener. If you were a lover of complex challenging rock music this was the band for you. If you were a struggling rock instrumentalist then this band either made you shut yourself in a room with theory lessons for a few years. Or just made you think, "perhaps the wonderful world of life insurance can be a really exiting long term enterprise after all..." UK released their debut album UK in May 1978. This is truly a classic album, UK was released towards the end of the punk era, it perhaps signalled the way for the future Neo Progressive movement by showing that there was life still left in thinking man's rock. In both the progressive and jazz-fusion musical worlds the first album is today rightly considered a milestone. It even has a web site devoted to it - In The Dead of Night, named after one of the track from the album. The original UK line up played one European tour, one American tour and split up. UK continued as a three-piece with Eddie Jobson, John Wetton and on drums Terry Bozzio (also from the Frank Zappa "school"). Danger Money was recorded with this new line up late 1978 and released early 1979. Let’s get to this new release Concert Classics. The most interesting thing about it is the original ensemble played live on the first and only UK tour a lot of what was to become Danger Money. The track list is Alaska, Time to Kill, The Only Thing She Needs (not credited on cover notes), Carrying No Cross, Thirty Years, In the Dead of Night and Caesar’s Palace Blues. It was recorded from a live radio broadcast in Boston, USA in the summer 1978, and released in May 1999. For a few of us lucky enough to have seen this event it remains a fond distant memory but for the many others that came to appreciate UK post demise this release is just what the fans have been waiting for. Finally people get a chance to hear what the original UK would have produced next and an idea of Danger Money as it was originally intended to sound. The CD recording is taken from a US FM radio broadcast so this is UK live and raw, warts and all. There are a few "bum" notes and missed lines. But, if anything, this just adds to the interest and shows what could be done live by a band over 20 years ago - before digital technology, CDs or drum machines and samplers. And if you haven’t actually heard of UK before please do your ears a real favour and check out the original album. Concert Classics (RRCC00704) is released on Renaissance. reviewed by Ian Oakley/BOA