A Ten Years After concert is so energetic and intense, that it is hard to believe that were doing the same basic show for a decade. The core songs were always the same: I`m Going Home, I Can`t Keep From Crying Sometimes, Help Me, Good Morning Little School Girl and the Hobbit. It was what they did in 1970 and what I saw them do in 1976. That took up over an hour of the show. That left time for about three other songs, which would come from the latest studio album. This album was originally released as 2 LP`s and was over 80 minutes long. When it was released as a CD, they removed one track, the Hobbit. I don`t know if you can get a complete double CD of this album. I haven`t seen one. The Hobbit is basically a drum solo with a nice guitar intro. As drum solos go, it isn`t bad. But, I am not a huge fan of drum solos.
This is a great album, but I would get Live At The Filmore East instead. It has all the core songs (including the Hobbit), plus great versions of Love Like A Man and 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain.
Recorded Live is a little more polished than Live At the Filmore East, because they have been playing the songs longer. But, there isn`t that much different between the performances. Recorded Live does have three different songs: One Of These Days, You Give Me Loving and Choo Choo Mama. One Of These Days is great, You Give Me Loving is fairly good, and Choo Choo Mama is fairly worthless.
If you already have Live At The Filmore East, should you buy this one also? It all depends on how rabid of a Ten Years After fan you are. One Of These Days almost makes this worth getting on its own. Then you get to hear slightly different versions of all the core songs, which in some cases are better here.
I`m Going Home is also available on the Woodstock soundtrack. I think that is the best version. I Can`t Keep From Crying is on the Isle Of Wight soundtrack and that is my favorite version of the song. Al Kooper, who wrote I Can`t Keep From Crying remarked that the residuals allowed him to buy a car (a VW).
Release Date: 25 October, 1990, Capitol