Yardbirds
Birdland

THE REVIEW

Yeah, the "Yardbirds" the English blues rock group that nurtured three guitar heroes: Eric Clapton; Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.

The first "embryo" from '63 to '65 had Clapton on lead guitar and a strictly blues repertoire. Clapton left to follow his blues love and Jeff Beck joined the lineup, revolutionizing the compositions with his Telecaster; he managed to shine even more than Clapton and his style coined a certain trend towards stage rock guitar playing. Soon, his Indian riffs gave way to a second lead: Jimmy Page.
Two geniuses, indeed, cannot survive under the same roof. Jeff left for a solo career, and Jimmy, with an eye on rock blues experimentation, and (a little dishonestly) on Beck's new works (Truth & BeckOla), transformed the group into the "New Yardbirds" and then into Led Zeppelin...

This work is a reunion of the two survivors, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja (respectively drums and guitar) accompanied by the good guitarist Gypie Mayo who approaches Beck's thicker style and Page's picking. Guest stars at the helm of the lead guitars like Joe Satriani on "Train kept a rollin'" who manages to literally derail the "train" with a hypnotic solo, S. Vai (producer) dealing with "Shapes of Thing" with a fluttering solo, rather than Brian May in "Mr you're a better man than I" or Slash and Lukather.

A not-to-be-missed treat is the guest of honor: "JEFF BECK" in "My Blind Life" where his guitar blends (or is it himself?) with the group's blues harmonica for an honest and sincere solo (complete with a final bottleneck). Among the fifteen tracks, there are new compositions by the group, like "Crying out for love", the only one, in my opinion, worth inserting into the rest of the "Yardbirds" backyard series!