CHRIS DE BURGH: The River Sessions

Cover	Release	Style
	2004-11-29	symphonic pop rock
	Label
	Hypertension / River Records
	Website
	Chris de Burgh
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	76:50 / 14:21	HYP 4232
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	8,5/10
nederlands	Review
Those who know Chris de Burgh only from hits like “The Lady In Red” and “Missing You” might be surprised to find his name on this site. But if you have heard his earlier work, you’ll know better. In fact, recently, colleague Claude mentioned the fact that his epic song “Crusader” wouldn’t be out of place on any prog rock album. And he’s right of course. “Crusader” is also featured here on “The River Sessions” – the recording of a concert de Burgh did in 1981 at the Glasgow Apollo, in support of his first compilation album “Best Moves” (the one that got me hooked, by the way). From the gentle opening chords to the clever build-up, the triumphant finale and the moving epilogue, this is indeed an unequalled symphonic masterpiece about the battle for Jerusalem between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. “Spanish Train” is in the same mould, a song about God and the Devil playing cards over a bunch of souls. Definitely my favourite CdeB track. It is given a fine treatment here – on later versions, the song would start showing the signs of routine, losing a lot of the intensity. Here, it is a testament of what a fantastic songwriter and great storyteller de Burgh is. “The Traveller” and “Flying Home” are clearly influenced by Supertramp, a band that was on the same record label and with whom de Burgh had toured quite a lot. “Sailor”, “In A Country Churchyard” and “Broken Wings” are a couple of moody ballads, the kind de Burgh used to be so good at before he had that massive success with the cheesy “Lady In Red”. If you’ve seen the man live, you’ll know that a Chris de Burgh concert also involves a lot of humour, and that can be found here in the form of the very funny, jazzy “Patricia The Stripper”. “Eastern Wind” has always been another of my favourites. And who can stay unmoved when listening to “A Spaceman Came Travelling”? Only the poor “Tourist Attraction” and “The Painter” keeps this from being a perfect choice of songs. CD2 features two tracks from a radio session in 1979 and an interview. Nothing really interesting, but a nice bonus. I saw Chris de Burgh in concert last year in Dortmund (released on CD on “Live In Dortmund”) – he’s still a great entertainer, being able to keep the audience interested for over 3 hours, all on his own. But musically, I’m afraid, his best work is far behind him. Luckily there are releases like this “The River Sessions” to remind us of those glorious times.
Musicians
Chris de Burgh: Vocals, guitar, piano and his band
Tracklist
CD 1 Carry On / The Traveller Sailor Spanish Train Crusader A Spaceman Came Travelling Eastern Wind Tourist Attraction Patricia The Stripper In A Country Churchyard Broken Wings A Rainy Night In Paris Flying Home The Painter CD 2 Interview Quiet Moments Interview Broken Wings Interview
Discography
Far Beyond These Castle Walls (1975) Spanish Train And Other Stories (1975) At The End Of A Perfect Day (1977) Crusader (1979) Eastern Wind (1980) The Getaway (1982) Man On The Line (1984) Into the Light (1986) Flying Colours (1988) High On Emotion-Live from Dublin (1990) Power Of Ten (1992) This Way Up (1994) Beautiful Dreams (1995) Live in South Africa (1997 – live 1979) Love Songs Quiet Revolution (1999) Timing Is Everything (2002) The Road to Freedom (2004) The River Sessions (2004 – live 1981) Live In Dortmund (2005)


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