Contributors: Lord Mokrap, T, C, Danny Martin, and Yonder Tarr
Robin Trower: Bridge of Sighs
“Bridge of Sighs” is considered by many to be Mr. Trower’s magnum opus, and it is a monster of a riff-infested, blues-injected 1970s rock album. Trower’s guitar white-knuckles the helm of this ship and steers it back and forth between mournful depths and more sunny and uplifting climes. His guitar sound is lean and muscular, delivering massive crunch just as readily as atmospheric texture. The most powerful aspect of Trower’s string-fingering is his propensity for letting his notes breath, thus giving the listener ample time to savor the flame of each lingering lick.
The ringing voice of “Bridge of Sighs” is embodied in Scotsman James Dewar. Dewar’s vocals ooze soul. They are rich, dynamic, and dexterous. At the drop of a hat he swings from mellifluous crooning to rasped cries of anguish or jubilation, as the case may be. As if such vocal prowess were not enough, the man’s basswork is thunderous and always on-point. Coupled with the excellent drumming of Reg Isidore, Dewar’s throbbing groove lays a perfect foundation for this agile beast of a trio.
Ironically, the zenith of the album can be found in its scouring of the lowest of emotional pits. The title track is like a woeful plunge into a deep wash of blue, and the seamless transition into “In This Place” grounds you in a desolate, melancholic calm. When Dewar laments that “Cold wind blows, The gods look down in anger, On this poor child,” you feel that shit. The more upbeat moments of the album are superb in their own right, but Trower and Dewar seem most in their element with the poignant expression of sorrow and pain.
In an era when many were falling all over themselves to innovate, or at least to be more ostentatious, virtuosic, or epic than the next guy, Robin Trower’s band worked within parameters that never led them far from a well-worn path of bluesy, overdriven hard rock. However, they made succinct, powerful statements within those parameters. As a music consumer, this reviewer angles most often towards the discordant, subversive, and strange. Nevertheless, I can’t help but be completely enamored by this brilliantly crafted slab of straight-forward rock n roll glory.
-Yonder Tarr
