Alex Harvey

When the Sensational Alex Harvey Band first set out without Harvey back in 1977, few people paid them much heed -- the ensuing album was little more than a restatement of the basic rock & rollisms that hallmarked their pre-Harvey days as Tear Gas, and even the die-hard fans passed on SAHB Without Alex. The band couldn't have advertised the album's failings any louder if they'd just called it "boring." So the idea that, with Harvey now long gone, the same concept could be revived for a newer age initially felt ridiculous. But the new SAHB have lasted almost three times as long as the old one, and a live set that unashamedly re-creates the classic band for an audience who might not even have been born when Harvey died is now so solid that -- what the hell? This is a great album! Not "great" as in better than any of the Harvey era's live recordings; listen closely, and you could still mistake it for an earnest tribute album, by a group who just happen to be great musicians. But a set that echoes every great Harvey concert of the '70s, from the opening thrum of "Faith Healer" through live favorites "Next" and "Isabel Goudie," "Boston Tea Party" and "Swampsnake," is nothing if not inspired and, while we could probably live more happily if "Framed" had been omitted (Harvey's original shtick was too personal to bear repeating by somebody else), "Vambo" works surprisingly well, and "Delilah" is as triumphant as it ought to be. Zalvation is not the album that will bring original fans pouring back to the fold, if they've not seen the live act who accompanies it. But anyone who has seen the current band's show is going to lap it up as hungrily as veterans ever fell to their knees before Live. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide