By Jim Rowland
Polish prog lords Riverside have released seven highly impressive studio albums since they burst onto the scene in the early Noughties, but live albums have been fairly thin on the ground. So this new revamped release of ‘Lost’n’Found – Live In Tilburg’, previously only available as limited self-released fan club/tour-edition album, is a welcome addition to the Riverside catalogue.
The album re-visits a performance at one of the biggest shows during Riverside’s European tour in 2015 for their acclaimed ‘Love, Fear and the Time Machine’ album and also documents the group’s last tour with original guitarist and founding member Piotr Grudzinski who sadly passed away in 2016. So this is the first time this recording has been made widely available to fans worldwide, and this time round includes the concert on DVD for the first time if you plump for the limited mediabook 2CD/DVD edition. It’s also available in a fine 3LP/2CD edition on black or orange vinyl.
Clocking in at over 90 minutes of music, it’s a feast for Riverside fans that spans the band’s entire recorded career up until that point, with at least one track from each studio album featuring in the set. Sandwiched between the opening ‘Lost’ and the closing ‘Found’, the album takes the listener through a journey of Riverside’s different flavours and textures. ‘Hyperactive’ and ‘Egoist Hedonist’ illustrate the heavy, fast and complex side to Riverside’s brand of progressive rock, whilst the likes of ‘The Same River’ and ‘Panic Room’ retain the heaviness and complexity while injecting some infectious groove into the mix.
Riverside are not just about being heavy though, and the likes of ‘Conceiving You’, ‘We Got Used To Us’ and ‘Depth Of Self-Delusion’ show the Marillion-inspired lush, uplifting and melodic side to the band, with the latter illustrating the exceptional vocal melodies that vocalist Mariusz Duda can conjure up. ‘Escalator Shrine’ gets expanded to a full-on 20 minute epic and a set centre-piece, and the Rush-flavoured ‘Feel Like Falling’ illustrates Riverside’s skill in fusing power with melody.
Finally getting the full release this recording deserves, ‘Lost’n’Found – Live In Tilburg’ could be considered a turbo-charged ‘best of’, capturing the essence of the band’s live energy, with superb sound quality. A definite must have for any Riverside fan, and also a great place to start for any new recruits.
- ‘Lost’n’Found – Live In Tilburg’ is released on Friday (11 December). You can get your copy HERE.
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