Reviewed by Steve Lane

When 'One Rule' landed on my desk for review I was over the moon. Of the two bands on this live album, I have listened to and followed After The Fire (from now on abbreviated to ATF) since their very early days in the '70s. This is a double CD of a live concert intended to raise funds for the Life Association charity, one disc devoted to ATF and the second to those pioneers of British punk rock largely re-formed for this initiative, the Bill Mason Band. For the ATF fan I guess their will be some split over the tracks on the album depending on when you found ATF and which era of their music you prefer. The album delivers a great mix of their songs across the two decades ('70s and '80s) and demonstrates the energy they have when they play live. If you haven't heard them for a while this is a great trip down memory lane. The Bill Mason Band offer something quite different from the prog-tinged keyboard-driven effervescence of ATF with a raw sound you could describe as cross over between new wave, punk and heavy rock. The BMB deliver a high energy performance with some great guitar breaks and clearly have fun when they play.

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