|
VARIOUS ARTISTS : NO NUKES |
|
Disc One (60:17)
Disc Two (55:34)
Label : Asylum Venue : Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA Recording Date : September 19 - 23, 1979 Release Date : November 1979 Review (AllMusic) : The No Nukes protest concert in 1979 was one of the defining '70s events for aging '60s hippies, a way to prove that they held political and social power. In many ways, the concert worked - by the end of the '80s, nuclear weapons and power eventually faded away - but that doesn't mean that the double-disc memento of the concert has aged gracefully. The concert was top-loaded with folk-rockers and laid-back California pop stars just past their prime. By this point, Crosby, Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Poco, Nicolette Larson and Jesse Colin Young had all reached their peak, while the Doobie Brothers and Jackson Browne were still at the crest of their popularity. Out of all the performers, only Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen were young, fresh and vital; not coincidentally, their tracks are the ones that rock the hardest and have aged the best. The remainder of No Nukes functions as an artifact, complete with dated music (the smooth folk-rock sounds slick and self-satisfied), forgotten names (the name John Hall will be unfamiliar to anyone who didn't live through this, and "Plutonium Is Forever" won't make anyone want to learn about his past), and a certain self-satisfied smugness that was the signature of the narcissistic late '70s. On that level, No Nukes is fascinating, but the music on the record fails to stand the test of time. Review (Wikipedia) : No Nukes: The Muse Concerts For a Non-Nuclear Future was a 1979 triple live album that contained selections from the September 1979 Madison Square Garden concerts by the Musicians United for Safe Energy collective. Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and John Hall were the key organizers of the event and guiding forces behind the album. This was the first official appearance of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's live act on record, and their "Detroit Medley", a staple of the encores of their regular shows, achieved considerable album-oriented rock airplay. Otherwise the album did not get much radio attention, as many of the artists held back their best-known material from appearing on it or emphasized collaborative performances. The album was certified a gold record by the RIAA in September 1980. It was reissued as a two-CD set by Elektra Records in October 1997. The No Nukes film was also released in May 1980 from this event, although it contained somewhat varying contents from this album. |