℗ 1991
℗ 2012 barin.livejournal.com BR LLI 55585
Like most of the major British Invasion bands, the Yardbirds recorded many sessions for the BBC during their heyday. On Air contains 27 of these, recorded between 1965 and 1968; 21 of them feature Jeff Beck, the rest Jimmy Page (Eric Clapton is not featured on any). The BBC sessions offered listeners the opportunity to hear groups in a relatively live setting with relatively good sound quality, and that's basically what you get here. Most of their major hits - 'For Your Love,' 'Heart Full of Soul,' 'Shapes of Things,' 'Over Under Sideways Down,' 'Still I'm Sad' - are included. By and large, these versions don't differ enormously from the studio cuts, with slightly different arrangements and guitar solos. One could argue, of course, that with a band so responsible for pushing rock guitar to the stratosphere, different guitar solos are a tasty discovery. And they are interesting, but they don't outdo the stellar studio renditions. Of most interest, if not highest quality, are a few covers never waxed by the group on their official releases: 'Dust My Blues,' 'The Sun Is Shining,' Garnett Mimms' 'My Baby,' and Dylan's 'Most Likely You'll Go Your Way.' On cuts like 'I'm Not Talking' and 'Too Much Monkey Business,' Beck's pyrotechnics are truly breathtaking. But generally this release is more for Yardbirds fans than novices. |