801 Live  801 Live (1976)
Album details

Tracks:

Running time: 56' 00"

Featured musicians:

Phil Manzanera
Brian Eno
Simon Phillips
Francis Monkman
Lloyd Watson
Bill MacCormick

 		What the critics said then (and say now...)

  • "Most live albums are of no more than token value. '801 Live' is, like Bowie's 'David Live' or Dylan's 'Before The Flood', one of the exceptions that prove the rule... Who need Roxy Music, now anyway?" (NME)
  • "With his own floating 801 entourage, Manzanera has created one of the last - and best - psychedelic bands in the world. The band emerges not only tight but spontaneous, and the ensemble texture is rich and explosive, like the finest from the Sixties groups." (Rolling Stone)
  • "It is, in my opinion, one of the best live albums ever made. 801 Live is the beginning of a great new tradition." (The Lamb)
  • "A fine performance that mixed the spontaneity of straight rock with the undeniable virtuosity in the ranks." (Melody Maker)
  • "The most exhilarating and challenging performance of the festival... they delivered some music of stunning proportions....." (Bath and West Chronicle)
  • "The most interesting and adventurous music for the day... they hit peak after peak. Bright jazzy guitar runs, jaggedly staccato or sweetly mellifluous, powerhouse drumming, dazzling individual work, overwhelming unison and really rocking harder than anyone else the whole day." (NME)
  • "The musical highpoint of the weekend." (John Peel)
  • During the concert, these people collectively reached a point where virtually anything is possible. The music seemed to me to embody all the virtues of the very early Roxy Music, with the freedom to try and the freedom to fail. Except that now they're more confident, more able, more eloquent. Manzanera, Eno, and the rest of the "school" to which they belong have, if they wish, a lengthy and increasingly fascinating creative life ahead of them. As the words of "Tomorrow Never Knows" suggest, "801 Live" may well be simply the end of the beginning." (Melody Maker)
  • "They even have the audacity to present a version of the Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' that somehow retains the mystic charm of the original yet has that additional something that is very much a part of 801. And any band that pulls off something of that nature - as 801 successfully do - goes immediately to the top of my 'bands to look out for in '77' listing. I suggest you put them on yours." (HiFi News)
  • "'Siren' pales in comparison with '801 Live', an album brimming with ideas and inspiration. One doubts the necessity and validity of so many live albums nowadays, but '801 Live' passes the test - a perfectly balanced melange of fresh compositions, classic oldies and radically reworked studio material." (Liquorice)
  • "801 are tight, responsive and as mutually sympathetic as any established gigging/ recording band. Their music's a fruitful meeting-ground between Quiet Sun's experimental free form jazz, Roxy's snazzy commercial bite, and Eno's highly personal games/adventures with words and music." (Sounds)
  • "The outfit, 801, were formed in 1976 simply to play a few gigs for fun; fortunately, they recorded a great live album en route. Eno (at the peak of his "pop" mode) handles most of the vocals, and "Tomorrow Never Knows" is pure magic." (Uncut)