801 LIVE

Phil Manzanera's project: 801 LIVE

Phil Manzanera's project: 801 LIVE

In a number of ways, 801 LIVE, a little known one-off band created by Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera for the purpose of recording this LIVE album was:

either the first English punk album or
the last Prog Rock album of any import until Discipline, King Crimson's comeback album after an 8 year break

...strange stuff, indeed, but what 801 did was show that 5 prog. rockers, all terrific musicians and Brian Eno on basic keyboards and limited vocals could make fun, inventive music that included tracks by well known acts, including:

Tomorrow Never Knows from The Beatles' Revolver album &
You Really Got Me from The Kinks

If you've never heard him sing, you may never recover from hearing Brian Eno vocalize but if you can brave that, 801 LIVE is a must-have of which the epic Miss Shapiro remains my favorite.

Phil Manzanera's 801 LIVE

"...What can I say that hasn't already been said? It's a PERFECT live album. .." Amazon reviewer rubidium84

"...For a 1-CD collection of the best work that Eno and Manzanera did during the 70's, look no further. Some of their best tracks are here and given a dynamite LIVE performance...(creating) one of the great, obscure albums of all time. The quality of musicianship on display here is fantastic and all I could wish is that there was more of it..." Amazon reviewer stuartm

"...I was about 14 when I first heard it and soon afterward discovered The Beatles - who'd've thought that...(they...had) somehow 'covered' a Brian Eno song? Seriously, to this day I hear Tomorrow Never Knows the way I heard it first - on this LP..." Amazon reviewer Max Garner "Sound Designer"

I'd love to encourage you to listen to the snippets from Amazon and make up your own mind but unfortunately this is one of one of those rare albums in which virtually every snippet doesn't seem to convey how wonderful it sounds. Me, I think 801 LIVE is glorious...and one of the few LIVE albums that I have any longstanding affection for.