Undead (Ten Years After, 1968)

The title will make you think this is some kind of proto-shock-rock album and the cover image may lead you to believe this is wild slab of psych. Neither, however, are true. Ten Years After, known best for a madcap performance of "I'm Going Home" at Woodstock and the hit song "I'd Love to Change the World" from 1971, at this phase of their career, was a part of the British blues boom and this was a document of their feisty live show. Alvin Lee is clearly the star of the show with his wild guitar antics, though each of the middle three songs allows the others some room to express themselves.

Unlike the typical live album that functions like a "greatest hits on stage" compilation, this album was released very early in the band's career and sort of served as their second album. In fact, none of the songs (on my budget edition) appeared on the first album outside of later-released bonus tracks. Of course I got this a long time ago and since then just about every CD under the sun has been "remastered, with bonus tracks". So now the most commonly available version, which I have not heard, has nine tracks instead of five, presented in what is likely the correct running order. Time for an upgrade?

Like most bands of the British blues boom (Fleetwood Mac, the Groundhogs, etc.), if they made it into the 1970's (unlike Cream), the whole notion of playing pure blues was wearing off by decade's end. Like many of their peers, Ten Years After veered in a more progressive direction. Unlike many of their peers, they managed to keep the same lineup until their first breakup, and even formal reunions up to 2003 included all four members. Alvin Lee, always a bit on his own trajectory, eventually split permanently and left the other three with the band name and maintained a solo career until his death in 2013. The other three have had substantial success in the music business working behind the scenes, especially bassist Leo Lyons, who produced a series of albums for UFO that broke them to a larger audience. Chick Churchill and Ric Lee, still with the band, worked the music publishing side of the business following the initial demise of the band in 1974.