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Colosseum

From page 89 of Classic Rock Magazine March 2004

Cover of March 2004 issue.

‘Tomorrow’s Blues’

(Q-rious Music) Jazz-rock enthusiasts might get a little misty-eyed about the regrouping of this British combo. At their peak in the early 1970s they were quite the match for US counterparts such as Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears; unfortunately Colosseum albums like ‘Valentyne Suite’ failed to match the sales figures of those two US stalwarts.

In those days, though, Colosseum’s weak link was the vocals; that issue is now resolved with the addition of Chris Farlowe. Guitarist Clem Clempson (who also played in Humble Pie) reminds of Carlos Santana on ‘Tomorrow’s Blues’ and Quincy Jones’s ‘In The Heat Of The Night’, yet he is distinctive enough to rise above such comparisons. Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophone is the model of economy but his solo on ‘Hard Times Rising’ shows that he has lost none of his attack or phrasing. Although Dave Greenslade (keyboards and piano) composed most of the material he doesn’t get much of a look-in until the instrumental ‘Temple In The Sun’. As for the rhythm section of Mark Clarke (bass) and Jon Hiseman (drums), it is a measure of their efficiency that they’re never really stretched.

★★★★★ Hugh Gregory