Looking at HALO OF ICE

[tuneylune]

Michael Bruce has always been one of my heroes as he has had a hand in composing many of my favorite songs, good guitar player and nice in a standoffish way when you meet him, but he warms up quickly. As mentioned before, his role in the ACG/BDB reminds me a lot of Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin and The Firm. Absolute majesty in the former and such potential for the second juncture that didn't last long enough and then basically re-visiting the past for the duration.
HALO OF ICE features nothing post 1973, but Mike sounds good vocally (even if he had a bad cold according to the liner notes) and his guitar playing is tight as ever. Kudos must be given to Ingo and Silli Geirdal for an excellent recording/mixing/production job and great playing by them with Ingo's guitar and Silli's bass bringing back the essence of Glen Buxton and Dennis Dunaway. And while I don't think Egill Radisson's drumming matches Neal Smith, it still is very good and considering the rush job this was, it sounds better than one might have hoped.
As you can guess, all material is from the ACG era (although, oddly, "School's Out" is absent) and a few surprises thrown into the mix like "Second Coming", "Hard Hearted Alice" (kind of odd choices as I always consider them to be more "Alice" than the band, but they sound great and good to hear them, probably not since the original tours) and "Halo of Flies" with the original lyrics. And hearing "Caught in a Dream", my all time favorite song, is always good, especially performed by the composer.
Some rocking photos in the CD booklet, a lot of classic tunes and stellar presentation makes this one to grab! ****