Trapeze were contemporary with band such as Nazareth and Free although without the soul of Nazareth or the Blues of Free – more a bunch of straight rockers.
The package includes the last three studio albums and three live albums with a variety of lineups and it is fascinating to see just how well the songs hold up when performed by three, four and five piece bands.
The three studio albums are compressed into 2 CDs with ‘Hot Wire’ & ‘Trapeze’ – often called ‘Trapeze 1975’ as their first album was also called ‘Trapeze’ – which both feature the lineup of Mel Galley on vocals & lead guitar, Pete Wright on bass, Rob Kendrick on guitar and drummer Dave Holland, together on 1 CD and ‘Hold On’ which added Pete Goalby on lead vocals on its own.
‘Live At The Boat Club’ was recorded in Nottingham in 1975 and added Terry Rowley on synthesiser to the same lineup as on ‘Trapeze’. This was a return to the sort of venues where the band were happiest – small and vibrant and the recording shows the band on sparkling form.
‘Live At Arlington’ sees the band as a power trio – Mell Galley on guitar, Dave Hollands on drums and Glenn Hughes returning to play bass & vocals – headlining a show over Lesley West and bringing back some of the classic Trapeze numbers from the early days, a great version of ‘Medusa’ for instance.
‘Live in Texas : Dead Armadillos’ was recorded after Dave Hollands had left to join Judas Priest and adds Steve Bray on drums.
It is very much a set for Trapeze completists and staunch fans of the band. There is a lot of good material on the studio albums and the three live albums show just why they were such a strong live draw.
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