A joy to behold – reviews and chart action for the Concerto

Jon’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra has been out for a couple of weeks now. You can order it from JonLord.org.

This promotional video shows a collage of Jon Lord visuals from throughout his career while you listen to an excerpt of the Second Movement featuring Jon’s solo, Joe Bonamassa’s and Bruce Dickinson’s vocals.

The Concerto has entered the classic album charts in several countries. In Belgium it entered at #15 and has since climbed to #3.

Other chart positions:
Germany: 37
Austria: 44

Reviews have started to appear and here is a selection of excerpts:

Financial Times
It’s an enjoyable relic of hard rock’s golden age, interweaving bustling symphonic pastiches with galloping riffs and swirling organ.

Blogcritics
A crowning achievement to a long and rewarding musical career. Concerto for Group and Orchestra stands as the proud epitaph of a great musician. The release is available as both a regular CD, and in a CD/DVD combo pack. The DVD is an audio-only disc, with a brilliant 5.1 mix for maximum impact. There will never be anyone quite like Jon Lord, and this is a great way to hear his Concerto exactly the way he wanted it to be heard.

Seattle Pi
This is the late Deep Purple virtuoso keyboardist’s very special work and it is a joy to behold. If you don’t have this already, do yourself a favor and get it.

The Digital Fix
It seems somehow fitting that Jon Lord’s swansong is a fully furnished studio version of his opus Concerto For Group And Orchestra. The three-movement work shows off the love Jon Lord had of romantic era music, in particular Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. The crispness and sweetness of the sound ensures that this version of Concerto For Group And Orchestra is a worthy testament to the legacy of this child in time.

Open Letters Monthly, CD of the Week
It’s a classically structured work with flashes of very loud rock playing and two stretches of ballad singing that. The Hammond organ adds a unique nasal undertow and the propulsion of rhythm and ideas never flags. The recording is a precious relic of a time when music knew no barriers and the future held an infinity of hope.

Away Team
If you sit, listen, and open your ears and mind you’ll hear the unmistakable strains of Jon Lord’s Hammond B and you’ll hear wonderful performances from Bruce Dickinson that you would never have thought possible. You deserve to hear Concerto for Band and Orchestra. You need to hear Concerto for Band and Orchestra. You’ll thank me later.

Planet Mosh
The guitar contributions by Joe Bonamassa are stunning, so it was a wise choice by Jon in bringing in different guitarists for the different passages within the movements, instead of just sticking to one. This superb studio recording of Concerto For Group And Orchestra is exactly the way Jon wanted us to hear it and will now hopefully become Jon’s legacy for generations to come. Jon lord, has left us a massive legacy, a shining reminder to the great man’s work. Rating: 10/10

Rockgig
This CD was 42 years in the making. The perfect tribute to the great man. This is so much more than just a CD release but a lifetime’s work that meant so much to one man. Darin Vasilev plays some beautiful guitar in the first movement before in movement 2 we get Steve Balsamo and Kasia Laska’s vocals working well together. Shortly after Bruce Dickinson does a great Ian Gillan impersonation before Joe Bonamassa plays a stunning solo. Also some quite marvellous Hammond organ work and sound from the great man for what he will always be remembered. The third movement features a couple of solo’s from Jon’s Deep Purple band mate Steve Morse, and Jon plays what turned out to be his last ever solo so added poignancy there and the orchestra hits a peak. A perfect and fitting tribute.

Buy Concerto for Grouyp and Orchestra.