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Rosette Sulima says...

This is a wonderful effort by Alvin. Gone are all the pyrotechnic solos (which I love by the way) and the result is a superb, consistent set of songs with a very tight rhythm section. This is one of my most played albums by Alvin. It has sax and Neil Hubbard who is a highly respected session musion on guitar. Add the female backing and it becomes an Alvin solo album, not a continuation of TYA.

Posted on April 21, 2011

Kasandra Parshotam says...

I lived in London in 1974. I got up on a Saturday morning and saw that a concert had taken place the night before with the fabulous Alvin Lee performing. I cursed that I didn't know of the concert before hand.

Twoyears or so later, I was wandering in a used record store back here in thestates and saw this album, a two-record set (pre-CD). I read that it was ofthe concert I'd missed! Needless to say I got the album.

Since CDs havebecome the norm, I searched for--and finally found on Amazon.com--the CD ofshow, with some added tunes. Thank you Amazon.com!

It's sort of a rockand roll/soul combination, what with the backing voices along with Alvin'sgreat fingerwork. And, as a previous reviewer pointed out, he does a fewElvis tunes.

If you know Lee's history, he's always claimed to have beenfond of Elvis, the "ethnic stuff, before he got into movies," orsomething like that. His singing voice, the way he does these tunes, is farbetter than any Elvis impersonator I'd ever heard.

Buy this one, andenjoy it. It's hard to beat a performer like Alvin Lee, and he's betterlive than in the studio!

Posted on April 21, 2011

Maryetta Furuta says...

I will try not to repeat everything already said in these reviews, but the stick is an amazing value and hard not to praise.The fact that the price is so reasonable makes this an unbeatable HOTAS period!



Prior to purchasing the X52, I was using the low-end sticks like the MS Sidewinder series, and most recently the Logitech Extreme 3DPro.The problem was, as an avid flight simmer, I was wearing out the sticks every 1-2 months of heavy usage.New, out-of-the-box, the low end sticks were fine, but the potentiometers wore out and controls started spiking within weeks.After researching the alternatives thoroughly, I decided to give the X52 a try.



That was over 6 months ago now, and I have logged hundreds of hours of usage with nary a glitch.The signals are still as steady as the day I bought the system and I still do not need to use the deadzone adjustments to compensate.No buttons are loose, nothing is falling off and all the lights and led panel still work.I am amazed at the rugged reliability to date since I can be fairly hard on controllers in the heat of battle.



Of course every rose has its thorn and the X52 is no exception.With the CH products the thorn would be the cost.With the X52 its a bit more subtle.Besides MS Flight Sim 2004, I fly the IL2 Forgotten battle series and this is where the only limitation of the X52 comes into play. In a WW2 flight sim where the only air-to-air weapon is a set of fixed place machine guns, it is imperative that I get the gunsights properly and steadily placed to hit my target.The problem is X52 has a noticable built-in hardware deadzone from the center.In practical terms, what this means is I cannot make a tiny adjustment in pitch without an inordinate movement of the stick.Over time it became less problematic as I adjusted and compensated for this, but it remains an annoyance nonetheless.I feel like I have to be just "that much better" to fly in combat with this stick successfully than with another stick. It's hard to describe, but any sim pilot needing small precision movements or corrections from center will know exactly what I mean.If you fly jets with lock-on style ordinance, you will notice no drawbacks.



Overall, I could not be more hearty in my recommendation of this HOTAS.It's value is unchallenged to date and its reliability is a refreshing change from the low end sticks I was use to. Ironically, in the long run, this stick has actually saved me money over the low-end sticks I used to have to replace every couple months at $25 a pop.

Posted on April 22, 2011

Julian Fern says...

It Was a Dare Concert (Made Between George Harrison And Alvin) That Turned Into A Magnifficent Performance Of Alvin And A selected Group Of Individuals Allowing Alvin To Show His True Talent In many Areas.Even TwoSongs Of The Late King "ELVIS" Which He Himself Be Honored OfAlvin Including Them In His Concert.

Posted on April 23, 2011

Lissette Frum says...

Back in 1980 (or early '81), I went to a concert at my university (W.IL Univ.) to see a group I really liked, Molly Hatchet.They were the featured band, and playing back up for them was Alvin Lee.What a phenomenal night that turned out to be!Alvin Lee blew Molly Hatchet off the stage, and gave the appreciative crowd 3 encores to boot before finally apologizing to a hungry Chicago blues audience of students who obviously wanted more.He came out after the third encore and said, "I'm sorry everybody, but we're just the back up band, and we've got to clear our equipment off the stage.Thank you and good night!"
Molly Hatchet was none too thrilled with the audience by the time they came out, and they knew full well who the night belonged to, and it wasn't them.It was just a single man named Alvin Lee.We wished he'd have played all night, and completely forgot about Molly Hatchet.

Anyway, this is a very good Alvin Lee CD which displays his versatility as a great guitarist and true original.

Posted on April 23, 2011

Yuk Benscoter says...

'In Flight' is a two-disc live recording made by 'Alving Lee & Co.' in 1974 at the Rainbow Theatre in London.It was the follow-up to 1973's 'On the Road to Freedom', Lee's first album without his Ten Years After colleagues.Alvin arrived with a cargo hold ('In Flight' analogy...) of new tunes and a supersized backing band, including horn man Mel Collins and a trio of backing singers called Kokomo.It's a lively, high-energy set, sure to please someone, but probably not the old TYA crowd.Until the second half of the second disc, Alvin's trademark lead guitar excursions are in short supply, instead being supplanted primarily by Collins' up-front and center presence.The texture of the music has changed as well.While Ten Years After segued effortlessly from blues-rock to psychedelia to folk and country-rock, this new Alvin Lee is pounding out something perhaps best described as boogie-rock.'In Flight' has it's moments, but should certainly not be confused with Lee's gritty and brusk previous work; so be forewarned.



Being different isn't necessarily a bad thing, and this music definitely possesses appeal.The compositions unquestionably announce Alvin as a matured writing talent.There is a wealth of new, well-turned tunes that Lee pulls out of his back pocket here, beginning with the "chug-along blues" (as Lee describes it in his personally scripted liner notes) opener, 'Got To Keep Moving'.Other highlights include the funky 'You Need Love Love Love' which possesses a great vocal hook, the sweet boogie of 'Let's Get Back', and the most TYA-sounding number, 'Ride My Train'.As you move deep into the second disc, Alvin moves his lead guitar heroics to the front burner, displaying his firy skills on tracks such as 'Keep a Knocking', and a Chuck Berry sound-alike 'Johnny B. Goode' rave-up on 'I've Got Eyes For You Baby'.For whatever reason, 'I'm Writing You a Letter' is offered up twice, as track number five on the first disc, and as track eleven (and the last from the Rainbow Theatre set) on the second disc.It's a decent number, but I'm unsure why Lee felt compelled to include both performances.



There are several covers that deserve mention here.Alvin's version of 'Slow Down' may best represent how 'In Flight' and Alvin Lee & Co. differ from TYA.While you might expect Alvin to go bonkers with his guitar and vocals on this potentially scintillating track, it comes across as a much more smooth and polished piece.The mid-1970's did that to a lot of psychedelic and blues-rockers from the 1960's, and Alvin seems infected (tracks 3 and 5 on disc 2 do blend a bit of wah-pedal guitar in the background, but it's a case of Johnny-come-lately).The same can be said for his covers of Elvis Presley's 'Don't Be Cruel' and 'Mystery Train' (these tracks represent The King as he was in 1974, not 1968, if you know what I mean), as well as 'Money Honey'.Each of these songs relies far too heavily on Mel Collin's sax and Kokomo's backing vocals rather than Lee's astounding guitar virtuosity, which is what made him great.



Disc one runs 40 minutes as does disc two, although disc two tacks on two worthy bonus tracks that add another 14 and 1/2 minutes of music, sporting one live track and the lone studio recording in the package.Track 12, 'Somebody Callin' Me' is another 6:25 of boogie-rock from an unidentified venue.The recording is of good quality, but because the Rainbow Theatre tracks are simply stunning in their vibrancy, this one comes off a bit bland.Lee's vocals, in particular, feel buried.The last track runs 8:06, and was recorded in 1977.'Put It In a Box' is, I would venture to say, the best track on the entire disc.It launches into a sweet funk-groove from the first strains, and features a fat, fuzzy guitar foundation, setting up Lee's exquisite leads.Kokomo is included on the track, but in this case their contribution strikes a nice balance with the other key elements of the performance.This album really needed this final touch-up.



Given the right audience, 'In Flight' could certainly bring hours of listening pleasure... I just don't happen to have an ear for much of what Alvin Lee is queing up here.It seems unfortunate to me that as the 1970's progressed, so many of the great talents from the 1960's abandoned their formula for success to adopt the restrained sound of the times.That's evident here as Alvin's guitar essentially gets mothballed.As mentioned, Lee does supply his own liner notes, but other than that, 'In Flight' is a fairly sparse package.This one's interesting to hear to bring closure to Lee's career, but I don't consider it a 'keeper'.Check out 'Cricklewood Green' to see what Alvin Lee is truly capable of.

Posted on April 24, 2011

Dessie Bonomini says...

Having been an Alvin Lee fan since the 60"s,I can say that this two disc set gives the listener a true rendition of what Alvin Lee can do with a guitar.From 50's rock,thru the "Blues",with a touch of soul and jazz,Alvin lays it out.You can feel his love of music and the guitar in every track on this set.His playing and vocal renditions make a combination that's hard to beat.

Posted on April 24, 2011

Frank Donlon says...

The X52 replaced my old X45 Saitek and I find it much better in every way from the old stick, very much more sensitive to stick input.It is one of the most versatile sticks I have ever used and lives up to the praise that has been direct its way on this forum. If it had force feed feel to it that would have been awesome, but as is it is performs very well on the various flight sims.



The hardware is very nicely done and it has hardy feel to it, the spring action of the joystick is a little too light for my preference but I was use to the hard feel of the X45 so that may account for that.



I tried it on the MS FSX beta and it was excellent.I fly on IL2 Forgotten Battles everyday and it has improved my game.With the new Saitek rudder pedals it will be one of the very best setups going. I feel it is worth the money and an well satisfied with this purchase.

Posted on April 24, 2011

Thuy Hataway says...

I've been an Alvin Lee fan since 1969.I've seen him in concert 6 times. 5 of those right here in Rochester, NY. He even signed 23 original Ten Years After albums on the hood of my car out behind the Auditorium Theater the afternoon he was playing with Johnny Winter. I was waiting for the bus for about 2 hours. I asked him to do Detroit Diesel, he said ok and it was the first song they did. Now about this live CD In Flight, buy this CD and play it a couple hundred times. You'll be glad you did. It's a very good CD with tunes you won't hear anywhere else.R. Lee,Rochester, NY

Posted on April 26, 2011

Gertie Borda says...

I have both an X-45, and now the X-52. I can honestly say, that for what I do (flight sims) the X-45 was superior. I shall explain.



The best feature of the Saitek Flight Controls (upto the X-52) was the rudder axis being intigrated into the throttle quadrant. While not as useful as full blown rudder pedals, this arrangement allowed for precise control with out inadvertant rudder inputs. A very nice feature to be sure. The X-52 got rid of this excelent feature, and replaced it with a Microsoft Sidewinder-esque rudder-in-stick control. When you are flying a combat flight sim, and lining a guy up in your sights, the last thing you want to do is have the plane yaw hard as you crank back on the stick. This is the single worst feature of this stick.



There are some ergonomic changes that I don't like also. The trim knobs on the trottle have been made "more cool" looking, and less simple to manipulate. They are too slick and stiff, and too big. The added buttons on the stick are nice, but the #2 button is not intuitive, it's just a flush black spot that doesn't look like a button unlike the rest of the buttons that glow quite brightly. The location of the saftied button is easier to reach now with out inadvertantly bumping the main view hat switch (this is about the only ergonomic improvement on the stick). The ability to program the "Mouse Hat" on the throttle as a conventional four or eight way hat swtich has been removed, and a button located on one of the trim wheels on the throttle doesn't seem to do any thing at all with out specifically programming it.



Finally, there is the issue of what the stick looks like. I guess that the flashy look is popular, and the current craze of making every thing have lights is a good marketing stratagy, but it's not really useful, and more than that, it's distracting.



The main plus to this new set up is the location of the attachment point from the throttle grip to the base. It just seems sturdier to have that point directly underneath the assembly, instead of the extreme end.



All in all, I am not happy with this product. It works, and it has some functionality, but I feel it's a step back from the previous versions, both USB and Game Port Connector versions.

Posted on April 30, 2011