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Trapeze

You are the Music, We're Just the Band (Deluxe Edition)

Review by Gary Hill

I am putting this under progressive rock for a couple reasons. For one thing, this band often lands there. For another, there are some songs that lean in that direction. Personally, I'm not convinced that it's a good fit, though. This new edition of the 1972 Trapeze album is pretty cool. The first disc is made up of the album itself. The other two CDs include bonus tracks, the majority of which are live recordings. I like this set a lot, no matter whether it's prog or not.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2020  Volume 6. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review
Disc 1
                    
Keepin' Time

This is a hard rocking, riff based rocker. There are some dropped back moments in the tune that lean toward a jazz rock kind of sound. The up-tempo instrumental movement has some almost country-oriented guitar soloing. The closing jam is on fire.

Coast to Coast
This comes in with something not far removed from Pink Floyd trippiness. The cut works out from there with a mellow, balladic approach that has a dreamy element to it. There are hints of country in the guitar sound here, too. The tune has a soulful, jazzy vibe as it continues. The guitar solo is tasty.
What Is a Woman's Role
Soulful and jazzy both apply as this opens with a cool dramatic bit. The cut works out from there to a cool jazz-rock groove. The extended blues rocking guitar solo on this is purely on fire. About three-quarters of the way through a new guitar riff based movement joins up. For some reason, this makes me think of Jethro Tull just a bit, but Trapeze bring some jazz and real soul to the proceedings, too.
Way Back to the Bone
This is a bit funky with a hard rocking sound. It has some intriguing twists and some jazzy vibes, but overall is a blues rocker. It has some proggy moments, too, though.
Feelin' So Much Better Now
I dig the tasty blues rocking texture of this thing. It makes me think of the band Mountain to some degree. This is a killer rocker that gets pretty powerful.
Will Our Love End
We get some serious soulful jazz rock on this tune. The horn really adds to that jazz aspect. This is a powerful tune with some intriguing twists and turns. This is a cool tune and that horn really wails.
Loser
This rocker makes me think of a proggy version of the band Free. It's still very much a blues rocker, but there are proggy parts to it. It has a great sound and style.
You Are the Music
They saved the best for last. This is still a blues rocking piece, but it's also decidedly proggy. This powerhouse has great hooks, killer jamming and a lot of style and groove.
Disc 2
         
Bonus Tracks
      
Coast to Coast (mono version)
Truth in advertising is on display here. The cut does seem a bit more direct in the mono mix.
Good Love
Now, the proggy jazz rock elements are really at the core of this cool tune. I love the classy retro groove of this number. The guitar solo is meaty and quite tasty, too.
Dat's It
I dig the cool guitar sound that opens this. The cut shifts to a killer, almost playful, fusion-like jam from there. There are some cool twists and turns along the road on this tasty instrumental.
RADIO ONE IN CONCERT (1973)
                
Off Air Recording
                         
You Are the Music
This is a bit more of a straight-ahead rocker in this live performance. It's on fire, really.
What Is A Woman's Role
There is almost more of a blues rock aspect to this tune here.
Way Back to the Bone
Bluesy guitar rocking is on the menu here. This gets into some screaming hot rocking territory before it's over.
Your Love Is Alright
Here we have another cool guitar rocking groove. It is a solid live recording. There is a killer instrumental jam later in the track, too. The recording cuts off as the band is still playing.
Black Cloud (Dallas 1972)

Another hard rocking tune, this has plenty of that blues rock edge. It has plenty of shifts and changes and really rocks.

HOUSTON (1972) Part 1
                       
Way Back to the Bone

I dig this killer rocker. This live performance is on fire. There are some killer jams built into this thing.

You Are The Music
I dig this live recording. It's another strong showing of the song that is essentially the title track of the main album.
Disc 3
                        
HOUSTON (1972) Part 2
              
Jury

This starts mellow and dramatic. The cut works through like that for the first vocal movement. Then it powers out to a heavy movement that's part psychedelic rock and part heavy blues rock from there. This is a powerhouse tune. The cut shifts gear further down the road to a screaming (at times literally) hot rocking jam that has some hints of prog in the mix. They take this out into almost jam band zones as it continues. It drops to just percussion and vocals for a time. Then the guitar gives the impression that it's going to fire out into a hard rocking, furious jam. Instead, we are brought back to the opening mellower movement to continue. Eventually it works back out to a heavy and yet rather proggy and dramatic jam.

Seafull
This has such a cool blues rock meets proggy jam band sound as it gets going. It drops back to a mellower, nearly psychedelic movement after the introduction. This really covers a lot of ground and gets rather proggy along the road. It's one of my favorites here, really.
Your Love is Alright
Another bluesy hard rocker is on display here. This live rendition is a solid one. I love the up-tempo jam later in the track. They have a lot of jamming built into this thing here. It works through a number of shifts and turns along the road.
Medusa
This cut is just such a cool powerhouse. It has hard rocking sounds merged with proggy shifts and changes. It drives along the road in some serious style. There are some powerful moments.
Black Cloud
There is some killer jamming built into this tune further down the road. They turn a pretty standard hard rocker into something really special.
Touch My Life
Here we get another hard-edged rocker. I really dig the rhythm section on this tune so much.
Keepin' Time
Here we get a live performance of the first track on the album proper. This is a powerhouse rocker with a lot of energy and style. The jamming mid-track is quite strong.
 
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