Twin Peaks

Now this is more like it! Recorded in Osaka, Japan, in 1973, was 's second consecutive live album (with compilation between them), albeit featuring the re-formed, somewhat reconfigured version of the group, consisting of (guitar, vocals), (bass, vocals), (guitar, keyboards), and (drums). It overlaps with its predecessor, on only two cuts, and and the latter is stretched out even further here than it was on the earlier album, to 32 minutes. The content ends up showing off the best and the worst attributes of -- the best being such staples as while the worst is But even the latter, at over half-an-hour, was precisely what audiences of the period were paying to see and hear, and captures the band's music in all of its excessive glory. Additionally, doesn't seem that long in the actual listening, mostly because it's difficult not to be impressed with the playing, especially the guitar dialogue between . A worthy document of a concert at their summit, this album has appeared on CD from both . The latter version, remastered in 2006, offers superior sound and packaging. ~ James Chrispell & Bruce Eder