In 2015 Martin Turner released a solo album called Written In The Stars (2015, see review). An album filled with good old classic rock, thorough and dedicated, but never really able to bring back the feeling of his former band Wishbone Ash. A year later a live album was recorded, highlighting his latest release; The Beauty Of Chaos. As on previous live releases of Martin Turner, the outcome still is stunning. His voice has beautifully aged and the songs are brought alive perfectly. Another aspect of an aged rocker on stage also passes by; slouched, laid back and not really an interactive rock show to watch. As on the studio album, Martin is assisted by former Showaddywaddy guitarist Danny Wilson, second guitar player Misha Nikolic and drummer Tim Brown. As I referred to, the show was one of the tour that was to promote the Written In The Stars album, so the first section of the CD and DVD is an integral version of the 2015 album. The second part however; the whole second CD and two songs from CD1 are taking you back to Martin's days of glory and bring you immaculate versions of the best tracks of his Wishbone Ash period. Classics like The King Will Come, Warrior, a brilliant version of The Pilgrim and a solid version of the instrumental FUBB are beautiful reminders of days that passed. The whole show is recorded live and the third disc of this set is the DVD recording of that evening in 2016. Nicely filmed, but sometimes when you get the total shot of the stage you get distracted from the show by a door that constantly opens to let people go into the venue; it might be the toilet. Anyway, this is a minor point of criticism for a fine filmed show. On stage you see how Martin Turner still has the fire and still enjoying every minute in the spotlights. Both guitarists on stage have a slightly different kind of approach; guitarist Danny Wilson seems to be the intuitional player, trusting on his guts and musical feeling, Misha Nikolic is a more technical player, who seems to be more concentrated, his technical skills are impeccable, but lacks the emotions that are shown by his fellow musician. In the end The beauty In Chaos - Live At The Citadel album is a nice one to watch and listen, especially the old Wishbone Ash tracks are worthwhile to watch, and definitely bring back memories from long gone. Highly recommended for the Ash fans and fans of decent classic rock in general. ***+ Pedro Bekkers (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
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