Rollins Band
A Clockwork Orange Stage
2.13.61

Ol' Hank seems to have fallen out of favor with critics of late because he's still hollering about the same stuff he's been hollering about for lo the last twenty years. That being said I seriously doubt anybody has ever blown Rollins off the stage. He loves to play as much as he seems to like the sound of his own voice. His new band (a.k.a. Mother Superior) backs up Hammerin' Hank on 17 cuts of rock and roll here.

It all starts with an absolutely scorching "You Let Yourself Down" from the last Rollins Band album, Get Some Go Again. When I say scorching I mean it. It rocks. One question I had in the back of my mind was if the upstart Mother Superior guys handle the task of reproducing the mighty Rollins Band classics that the original band forged. Surprisingly yes. On "What Have I Got" from Hard Volume they show they've got it. "Hotter and Hotter" flows into "Thinking Cap" from Get Some Go Again. In fact most of the material on this CD comes from that album. It's good heavy rock and roll. The jazzy bits that most

Rollins Band fans will remember as trademarks are still there too. "Love is Heavy" is another cut that churns along like a locomotive that goes right into another Hard Volume gem, "Hard." The band tears through this like they wrote it, even though it sounds a little faster than before. Keeping with the older material they rip into "Tearing" from The End of Silence. "Monster" is another new cut and it sounds awesome live. The only cut I really didn't dig was the slow groove-oriented "Summer Nights." It just feels kind of uninspired. The same cannot be said for "Get Some Go Again." It's a tight assault on the crowd. Top notch. They throw in a few Thin Lizzy covers in "Are You Ready" and "Rocker." No, Henry's no Phil Lynott. One would be fine, but three? You can skip over that stuff. If you want live Thin Lizzy pick up their own Live and Dangerous. The Rollins Band redeem themselves quickly by jumping into "Change It Up," another song of their latest. It's classic Rollins. A new non-album song follows, "Your Number is One." A good song where the band shows itself in a slightly different light and it works for them. The most noticeable change is the effects-laded guitar. Wrapping things up is the always classic "Do It." Whew. How much fun was that?

This album was, like I said earlier, recorded without fixes. The sound quality is quite good as it was still recorded properly on a big multi-track rig. At one point during the show Rollins tells the crowd that there are two choices you make, either you do or you not do. This one does. So if you’re a Rollins fan hit the website and pick this one up. It's live and raw and it does seriously rock.

--Chadbo

Track Listing:

1. You Let Yourself Down
2. What Have I Got
3. Hotter And Hotter
4. Thinking Cap
5. Love Is So Heavy
6. Hard
7. Tearing
8. Monster
9. Summer Nights
10. Frozen Man
11. Get Some Go Again
12. Are You Ready
13. Rocker
14. Bad Reputation
15. Change It Up
16. Your Number is One
17. Do It