Album review : STATUS QUO – SQ (Official Archive Series Vol1 – 2CDs)

earMUSIC [Release date 11.08.23]

For SQ’s new live album it all began with the ‘Beginning Of The End’.

That single, released in 2007, sparked an idea that has only now seen the bright light of day.

It was a foretaste of this 2CD Official Archive Series Volume 1 – Live In Amsterdam, released 11 August.

The gig, recorded on The Netherlands leg of the band’s 2010 “Pictures Exposed World Tour” has been remixed and remastered by the label’s Go To Guy, Eike Freese (sometime guitarist with Kai Hansen’s bands). Freese’s reputation goes far and wide, recording and producing artists as Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Helloween and Lynyrd Skynyrd at his Chamelon Studios in Hamburg.

The reissue / remaster story belongs to Quo more than any other UK rock band, essentially the story of post-2010 Quo. Recognition that there was and still is a growing appetite among a more affluent demographic for seeing the band live. And that has switched the focus away from your old fashioned album/single toward your actual rock concert.

And the only way to remind you of how great the gig was… buy the Live album.

This one is worth shelling out for whether you were there or not. 21 tracks across 2 CDs, and every one deserves to be here, and while each may not be a killer cut, this collection is chocka with truly outstanding compositions.

So while we luxuriate in electric and electrifying live renditions of ‘Something ‘Bout You Baby’ and ‘Roll Over Lay Down’, not forgetting a jaw-dropping version of ‘Mean Girl’, we also get the opportunity to devote more of our attention to the perfect pop-boogie of ‘Caroline’ and of course to the late Rick Parfitt’s major songwriting contributions to the Quo cannon, ‘Living On An Island’ and ‘Rain’.

No question, Quo clearly found its groove that night in The Netherlands, confirmation – if any were needed – that this band gains in stature in the live arena, delivering often underrated rock’n’roll. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
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14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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