The Expositor from Brantford, Ontario, Canada • 42

THE EXPOSITOR Saturday Nov 3 an 11 Chapin's live album exceptional 0 4 3-AV VIG offle 0 knift OP ono Lib inutiltra By MICHAEL LAWSON The Canadian Press The usual procedure for a recording act is to cut an album then take it on tour to promote IL Harry Chapin not your average performer has done exactly the opposite Chapin's newest album a two-record live set is made up largely of never-beforerecorded material And following his disappointing last studio release Living Room Suite Legends of the Lost and Fotmd is bound to be accepted among fans with a hearty thank you Harry Sound quality given some live recording standards is exceptional So is the quality of most of the 10 new offerings The rest of the album is rounded out by six Chapin favorites that were not included on his previous live set Greatest Stories Live If it seems unconventional to present an in-concert recording of virgin material at least there's a method to Chapin's madness A brilliant songwriter his performance Is at its best when it can feed off the energy of a packed hall Yet such feeding is not parasitic anyone who has attended a Chapin concert will attest to the fact that his presence becomes a personal thing with the audience Doubtless if there were room on the stage the ticket holders would- be up there singing with him The crowd's appreciation of this comes through on Legends as it did several years back on Greatest Stories Chaphes song style does not follow trends: Ever since Taxi his first bic single success Chapin has devoted a decade to writing carefully structured "story-songs" 'Y fr -Ir' i tipectiatifig irt le" c9 4131141 ss 11 1 tornu9storolL 4 3 114A03'? 1 stlio w-i01fil t-' 0 Silvtr -'44' 1 i) 60A figat IthAl til 41 '(10kt 1 klActsylrifigsr 1 4: Zo'64trh anAJ iV9 1 :1 tfret461) otilr'r" 1 te tyfr crupItting 4e--: 2 el foili-Voi 11? 'Pi tv ili 70-441 Cwe1 1cr 670 lolf1900 0 01 Si Ince WI El E01-1 soft-rock framework witness last year's hit Sing For the Sun but occasionally the band feels compelled to break loose in heavy metal work And while the musicianship on this is top quality Styx's harder numbers are not nearly as Innovative as the soft ones Styx's penchant for pleasing melodies has never been more evident than on their seventh and latest album Cornerstone As such the disc succeeds for the most part placing beautifully woven harmonies against interesting scores Especially appealing are two Dennis De Young tunes Babe a lament on leaving and First Time a poignant song about first-time love curiously dedicated "for Paul" Also good is Tommy Shaw's tune Boat On the River its Russian folksong flavor providing a showcase for Shaw's balalaika-like mandolin work and the Shaw-De Young collaboration Lights which opens the album Less appealing is their Borrowed Time a heavier number spitting out the anger of '60s youth and James Young's only offering Eddie the lyrics of which suggest cryptic warnings to Senator Edward Kennedy against entering the US presidential race On the whole Cornerstone Is lighter in tone than last year's highly successful Pieces of Eight CORNERSTONE Styx A and pi SP4711 clever little plots delivered to acoustic music The album's opener provides a prime example: Stranger With the Melodies tells of a once-great writer of music whose fortunes failed when his woman wto also was his lyricist left A love story masked in musical terms the scene has the composer playing his guitar to his own lyrics which are nothing more than a verbalization of his chord structures That song incidentally whether intentional or not underscores what must be Chapin's own musical philosophy: "You see a song don't have much meaning when it don't have nothing to say Also appealing are the tunes Copper which tells of a cop on the take who is determined to preserve his son's hero worship and Old Folkie a tribute to veteran folksinger Pete Seger Chapin wrote that tune to commemorate Seger's 50th birthday last year A highlight of Legends of the Lost and Found is an expanded version of Corey's Coming a story of "an old man with a dream and a young man who buys IL" That song as moving an it is beautiful is even better live than it was in its original version on the studio album Road To Kingdom Come LEGENDS OF THE LOST AND FOUND Harry Chapin Elektra 210311 Once again we find Styx in a quandary: What to be or what not to be that is the question The Chicago-based quintet works best within a melodic offer personal servIcer Marjorie 'McClure r- Calder Norrn I Smith-floss McMullen Betty Young zuw Ai311vi Nit if 4 -Ai: 4 Jail u1 1-- to IA -h -p-- ilar iiet 6ri ib CLrA 4 $treelt Brntroti't j-4' ii (5 4'11 4 -2 I DU -171 --0 41-: ZI: IMF St''' 'A 1' BrantrottLiPtitarift 4 'low- 'At 4 THE ART GALLERY OF BRANT -i PRESENTS THE ART GALLERY OF BRANT PRESENTS "EQUIPMENT FOR ETERNITY" NOV 8-24 1979 AN 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