“Ride the Tiger” (Manticore MR002, 2015)
Greg Lake and Geoff Downes, two very familiar names to the progressive rock community and AOR music fans, got together between September 1989 and April 1990 to record a series of songs at Greg Lake’s studio in Putney Bridge (London).
Progressive rock fans shouldn’t rejoice much. This set of recordings represents the most commercial era for Greg Lake and Geoff Downes. Some of the songs from these sessions were later used by AOR band Asia and post-progressive era ELP.
Most of the pieces are short radio friendly songs with pop hooks, power pop heavy drums full of reverb, and modern keyboards that will appeal to fans of Asia, Saga, Boston and similar acts.
The best moments are Greg Lake’s vocal performances. Lake has one of the best voices in rock music and his recordings are always enjoyable. The album artwork is also quite good.
The lineup on “Ride the Tiger” includes Greg Lake on vocals, guitars and basses; Geoff Downes on keyboards and programming; and Michael Giles on drums and percussion.
Buy Ride the Tiger in North America
Buy Ride the Tiger in Europe