ROBIN TROWER - Bridge Of Sighs (50th Anniversary Edition)
June 10, 2024, 5 months ago
(Chrysalis)
After Jimi Hendrix's tragic death in 1970, several guitarists arrived on the scene that had obviously been influenced or affected by Hendrix's guitar style in some shape or form. And certainly one gentleman was ex-Procol Harum six-stringer Robin Trower – and especially evidenced with his second solo set overall, 1974's Bridge Of Sighs.
The album was an unexpected hit upon release, peaking at #7 in the US on the Billboard 200 – on the strength of such rock radio hits as “Day Of The Eagle,” the title track, and “The Fool And Me” – and thanks to Trower's outstanding guitar work and the exceptional/soulful lead vocals of bassist James Dewar.
And as the album is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, two different "deluxe editions" have been issued – one being a 2 LP version that contains a stereo mix of the album and Live at The Record Plant, Sausalito, 29th May 1974, and the other a 4 CD/DVD edition, which includes a remaster, the 2024 remix, the Record Plant performance, and a Blu-ray of the aforementioned items and more.
Musically, Bridge Of Sighs holds up wonderfully all these years later both production and performance-wise (which rock album from the '70s doesn't?) and the newly added odds and ends only confirm further why it is largely considered to be one of the truly outstanding rock guitar albums of the decade.