Whether or not Status Quo are, Francis Rossi is a ‘national treasure’. He’s put in more than sixty years at the rockface and, as one of the ‘Frantic Four’, he carved a niche deep into the rock scene which will likely never be erased or eclipsed. It’d be true to say he’s had a stellar career and, despite the sneers from critics, he’s still out there doing it, currently on a spoken-word tour, recounting his many years of experience … including some dodgy escapades and decisions made along the way … and imparting his wisdom to a new generation who’ll never get the chance to see the band he made his name in.
The Way We Were Vol. 1 was released in 2025 to commercial and critical praise, and The Way We Were Vol. 2 follows in the same vein, in that it’s a collection of 17 pieces of music and, of these, seven have appeared either on Quo albums, like the eponymous Heavy Traffic, or on Rossi solo albums, like ‘Tallulah’s Waiting‘ on One Step At A Time, or on the album he recorded with Hannah Rickard, We Talk Too Much. On both Volumes 1 and 2, Rossi has opened up the personal archives from his home studio to offer an almost unique insight into his creative process, without the benefit of studio refinements.
Songs such as ‘I Cried‘, ‘I Ain’t Ready‘, ‘Walk In The Sun‘ and ‘I’m Watching Over You‘ all revolve around basic riffs which had the makings of becoming decent Quo riffs, and it’s tempting to think what a full-on ‘Frantic Four’ at their peak might have done with them, whereas ‘Little By Little‘ is a pleasing detour into a nice chugging rockabilly tune. ‘Never Say Never‘ is far more upbeat with a driving riff Rossi and Rick Parfitt could, at one time, have knocked off in their sleep, and is a fine song. There’re also a couple of instrumentals included, though they come over as very lightweight studio jams and they don’t really add anything of substance to the mix.
Vol. 2 is a pleasant collection of tunes and the overall quality of the recordings is good. They certainly won’t be for everyone, especially the hardcore fan who simply wants ‘heads down, no-nonsense boogie’ every time, but it is what it is and Rossi has avoided turning this enterprise into a cynical late-career cash grab by releasing something which has intrinsic value attached.
