The Raspberries. Four solid records from 1972-1974, one great "Best Of" in 1976, not long after they called it quits. Over the years they gained respect and admiration as one of the original purveyors of the Power Pop genre, along with Big Star, Badfinger, and a few others.
Eric Carmen went on to a successful, albeit schmaltzy, solo career, and had hits with All By Myself and several big movie soundtrack songs.
And then, thirty years after the break-up, they reformed in 2004 and continued for a brief tour in 2005. Live On Sunset Strip from 2007 documents that tour's Los Angeles shows, and was released as a single CD with 13 tracks as well as a 21 track 2 CD plus DVD version. It's a solid show, and if you have it, you might not need Pop Art. It's the same tour.
The first night of the reunion was in November 2004 at the opening of the House of Blues Cleveland, and it is that show in front of a rabid hometown crowd that Pop Art documents. Available as a 2 CD, 28 track version and a 3 LP, 30 track (Record Store Day) version that includes two encores, it holds some material not captured at the Sunset Strip shows. There's two songs from the pre-Raspberries band The Choir, including regional hit It's Cold Outside. There's also three well-chosen Beatles covers: Baby's In Black, Ticket To Ride, and No Reply. Of course all the hits are here, but the show also reminds you how many good album tracks filled out their records.
The band is super tight, and augmented by three guitarists/keyboardists/singers, they can do it all to perfection. Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson are in good voice, and the harmonies are spot on. Special mention to Jim Bonfanti, a killer drummer that lights up the set. The recording is good, and there's not too much crowd noise. I'm not a huge fan of band reunions, and many times they can be downright embarrassing, but not this one. They were always an excellent live band, and three decades after their heyday, they were still on top of their game.
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