Paul Rodgers reviewed
Paul Rodgers
Live In Glasgow
(Eagle)
Riding the wave Queen unexpectedly put him on when they tapped him for their reunion tour, Paul Rodgers takes advantage with Live In Glasgow.
Unlike a fair number of power vocalists from his era, Rodgers — originally considered by Jimmy Page to front Led Zeppelin — is alive (e.g. Brad Delp) and can still sing (ahem, Roger Daltrey). While “Ride On A Pony” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love” are maybe too creepy to be sung by a man his age (57), as a vocalist, he’s still a powerhouse. Unfortunately Rodgers has shed interpretive candor for plain showmanship, at least he did when this was recorded. Granted, tracks like “Bad Company” will never require nuance, but his mini solos at the ends of “Be My Friend” and “Makin’ Love,” for example, aren’t only awful Christina Aguilera when is doing the embellishing. “All Right Now” will always be his, however, and nothing he does to it on Glasgow can diminish that. (Someone should have told guitarists Howard Leese and Kurtis Dengler, however, no one came to hear them.)
— Steve Forstneger
