The First Barbarians: Live From Kilburn ［CD+DVD］

Live from Kilburn, the second in what may be an ongoing series of archival releases from Ron Wood's vaults, is rawer and rougher than the first, Buried Alive: Live in Maryland. Essentially, this is an official bootleg -- containing a CD and a DVD of the entire show -- of the first solo concert Woody played in support of his first album, 1974's I've Got My Own Album to Do. When Ronnie took to the stage he was supported by his new Stones bandmate Keith Richards, his old bandmate keyboardist Ian McLagan, bassist Willie Weeks, and drummer Andy Newmark -- in other words, this is not the New Barbarians of the late '70s, but close enough that it's cleverly billed as the First Barbarians on this release. There's no getting around that the recording is as rough (it sounds just barely restored) as the performances, but keeping that in mind, Live from Kilburn is still a hell of a good time: high-spirited, boozy rock & roll whose party spirit is only enhanced by the appearance of Rod Stewart on a couple of tracks (including a very good "Take a Look at the Guy"). The raw, ragged nature of this recording makes this the exclusive province of the dedicated -- this is so messy that there may be some serious fans who will be more satisfied with Buried Alive, which is a tighter concert all around -- but the truly dedicated will still surely have a good time with this, warts 'n' all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine|