Skid Row - Live And On Song (2006)

With both sides of their very obscure two non-LP, pre-first-LP 1969 singles (originally issued on the small Dublin label Song), as well as three tracks from a 1971 BBC session, this CD rounds up the most interesting Skid Row recordings not to appear on their albums. That doesn't mean, however, that these tracks are too impressive in their own right. The first of the singles, "New Places, Old Faces"/"Misdemeanour Dream Felicity," are primarily of interest for being the first official release to feature future Thin Lizzy mainstay Phil Lynott (who sings on the A-side, Gary Moore taking the lead on the flip). Lynott was out of the band by the time of the second 45, "Saturday Morning Man"/"Mervyn Aldridge," which like the first single was an unfocused mix of trendy late-'60s folk-rock, blues, and psychedelic influences. Moore does manage to sound quite a bit like Stevie Winwood on "Saturday Morning Man," the best of the four cuts. The band had become quite a bit heavier by the time of the 1971 BBC recordings, which (though only three in number) add up to more than half an hour, as both "Christian Blues Brother" and "Felicity" hover around the 15-minute mark. Following the late-'60s blues-rock model of artists like Cream and Taste (with some slightly jazzy influences), the material is certainly less impressive than the level of instrumental skill. "Christian Blues Brother" is disgraced by a ten-minute drum solo, and there's way too much soloing on "Felicity" as well. Colin Harper's thorough liner notes shed much interesting light on the early days of this obscure group, but the impression is one of talented musicians in need of both direction and stronger songs.