5 comments about Live At The Continental And The Esplanade.

1. Paul Kelly is undoubtedly the most negligently overlooked Australian artist there is. One can argue with the song selection on his recent greatest hits compilation, but the songs chosen for this live effort all hit the mark. Alternatively acoustic and then some great guitar based interpretations of well chosen, sensational studio songs - this warrants repeated listenings. It is the Kelly album that I nominate when anybody asks where to start on this artist. Standout tracks are Dumb Things and When I First Met Your Ma. As a group of songs, this is also the best live album I own period, the closest being early Neil Young.



2. This is Paul Kelly at his very best. It captures the spirit of his live performances, at the peak of his career, and features extraordinary performances of 'Just Like Animals', 'Pouring Petrol On A Burning Man' and the heartbreaking 'Maralinga'.

   It probably helps to have heard the originals of some of the songs on this album such as 'To Her Door', as he varies them a bit in these live versions, but if you're already a P.K. fan then this is - absolutely - his best album. We have over 4,000 CDs at home, and this is easily our most-played CD.




3. Run, don't walk, and buy this CD. This is Paul at his best---funny (Dumb Things), tongue-in-cheek (God's Hotel) and socially conscious (Maralinga). Pouring Petrol on a Burning Man has a groove you won't soon forget. "Under the Sun" is my favorite Paul Kelly album, and many of its songs are reworked here to great success. Actually the best live CD I own.



4. This CD has some truly brilliant tracks. My favorites are When I first met your ma & To her door. The stories they tell and so well written they will make you laugh and cry. The music will bring a lump to your throat.

   Paul Kelly is a great singer/songwriter who has been known and respected in Australia since the early 80's. His music ranges from folk/country through blues to recent foray's into techno music. This is a great album to listen to if you're feeling down, and I recommend a walk in the park afterward to complete the sensation!




5. Paul Kelly has put out many fantastic recordings but this live CD has an appeal all it's own. Many of the older songs feature new arrangements and surprises. The intimate audience adds flavor to this performance and begs the question...."Why is Paul Kelly unknown?!?!"

2 comments about Live: In the Red.

1. Y'know how good, raw, and live rock records are hard to come by? Look no further! Great performance, great historical value, great cover photo by Michael Lavine and design by Art Chantry...what more could you want?

   Okay, maybe better sound quality. For an official live record recorded in the late eighties and released in the mid-nineties, this *could* be a bit better. I mean, gain, Pussy Galore was never a band that was known for sounding especially hi-fi, and of course there's no bass player, but hey, you just can't make out Bob Bert's great drumming all the time, and that's a ... shame, because as you may know from the later studio recordings, it's interesting stuff to hear. Why? Oh, let's see...found objects in his kit, I'd say! A gas tank, a shock absorber spring, a custom-made metal snare...you get the idea. Since the guitars take up so much of the upper frequencies, you can't hear all the great, piercing bashes and clanks that punctuate Bert's work in PG.

   But, that aside...this is a ... album. They start off with a RIPPING, INSANE cover of The Twilighter's "Nothing Can Bring Me Down". Never heard of it? Look around for an .mp3, it's pretty good in its own right. But this is a deadly arrangement...most especially the ascending/descending riff in the chorus. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. From there, it's largely a retrospective of PG's best. A lot of songs which were laughable scuzz-fuzz tracks in the studio are raw and hard hitting here..."Kill Yourself" and "Alright" couldn't be better. "Sweet Little Hi-Fi" and "Dick Johnson", while both great in the studio takes, are still great here but in a different way...in fact, that's how a lot of this breaks down. It's their *last* show, so it only makes sense that a song like "Kicked Out", originally preceded with a long intro, is a basic rock and roll song, but WHAT a rock and roll song! Same for "Understand Me", which has a quicker tempo and is all the more brutal for it. See, what's happened by this point is that Jon Spencer's learned how to sing, Neil Hagerty AND Kurt Wolfe are dividing up the guitar duties (with Spencer occasionally punctating things), and Bob Bert...well, he just ... like he always does. The ... has been cut through and it's nothing but insane, crazy, too loud rock and roll. If there's one rock live album you GOTTA have, it's Metallic KO by the Stooges, but if there's another one, get this. ... it even ends with Hagerty smashing his guitar, and let me just say, what a wonderfully disgusting sound it is. Get it!




2. Live: In the Red is a work of unquestionable genius. It pulls off the tricky feat of actually being a good rock 'n roll live album. I heard Skynryd has one, and that it sucks. All the hits are here, from "Kill Yourself" to "Dick Johnson", alive and mean and undead, ready to rip your silly little lungs out. Buy it now. Kid Rock beware!

No comments about Metallic F.O.: Live at CBGBs.

5 comments about Live at the Temple Bar and More.

1. This is essentially the last recorded material by Fishbone with half of its original lineup still intact. After this album, original member Walter Kibby II leaves, along with newer recruit Spacey T. for pastures greener. Part of the complaint may have been about lack of studio time, or effective management, or constantly touring to eek out a living. Whatever the complaint, this Live album recorded at 3 different venues debuts original material. It's sound quality is good, and the Henhouse Sessions DVD (...)documents that many of these songs did get the studio treatment. It would have made a brilliant album, with no signs of Fishbone creativity on the wane, despite their personal fortune or visibility. Word has it there will be new studio material in 2005, which is good news for many.
   
   Fishbone is really a band that needs to be witnessed live, and captured in the studio. I've seen this band many, many times, and any recording of them and the energy they produce as a live band is worthy of purchase, especially if it's new material. But I would personally love to hear studio versions of this material, as the Henhouse DVD acknowledges there is. Particularly `In The Heat of Angrrr'.
   
   The 2002 Temple Fishbone were: Angelo Moore (Vocals / Sax / Theremin), Walter Kibby II (Vocals / Trumpet), Tracey `Spacey T' Singleton (Guitar - before Fishbone he was with Sound Barrier), John Steward (Drums), and Norwood Fisher (Bass / Vocals). All songs were credited to Fishbone as a group. Singleton was the original guitarist of the first Black heavy metal band to be signed to a major label. By odd coincidence (for me as a reviewer), Neftali Santiago of MANDRILL (who a few days ago got reviewed by me for their 1973 `Composite Truth' album!) produced the 4 song demo that landed them a contract with MCA Records in 1980. Synchronicity and small circles.
   
   Skank n' Go Nutts -
   Angelo asks everyone if they're ready. Science Fiction Ska is what they're about to hear should they be ready, which switches from outer space to heavy metal thrash ground level. With the departure of guitarist John Bigham and drummer Phil `Fish' Fisher, the first concern is if Fishbone can still be `good'. By this first song, I don't hear that they've lost as much as people like to think they have. `Skank' is as good as anything that has appeared on any of their previous studio albums. The recording quality of this material is very good as stated before, especially for a live gig.
   
   Are U Wit It -
   Cool laid back funk is the style for this next song, driven by Norwood's heavily compressed slap bass, and Spacey T's wah wah pedalled guitar, which goes into a pretty incredible out of this world guitar solo. That's why I would love to have heard this guy on a studio recording of the same material. His use of effects changes nearly every section of this song. Moore uses the Theremin like a hip hop scratch record.
   
   Premadawnutt -
   The trademark Fishbone Horns dominate this song, which is very hard to describe. It comes across like a thrash metal version of Toni Basil's `Oh Mickey'. But before it can stay there long enough to be familiar, it drifts into Reggae, and then a secton that sounds like you're running and hitting a wall over and over again. This song is like Looney Tunes on Acid. It then becomes this frenetic 200 mph race back to the opening horn section, and subsequent free-form sax solo.
   
   Demon In Here -
   The story behind this one is actually true, as the Henhouse Sessions reveal. As Moore describes the protagonist, Singleton plays acoustic guitar runs. But what this song becomes is something totally different. Could be classic Fishbone if you listen to it, easily placed alongside something from `The Reality of My Surroundings' or `Give A Monkey A Brain ...'. The Theremin adds a slightly Looney Tunes quality to this song which sounds like a drummer's nightmare, but Steward handles this whole song with ease. Goes from total heavy metal crunch into Hang `Em High territory.
   
   (Burning) In The Heat of Angrrr -
   Could easily sit alongside the first Fishbone E.P.(1985) or `In Your Face' (1986). Anyone who wondered what happened to `classic' Fishbone, look no further. It still exists in this song. One of the best songs of the new material, first it's rock, then quickfire, but laid back soul. The ending is like a horror movie.
   
   Last Dayz, Critical Times -
   Grunged out, severely heavy rock, which all of a sudden becomes reggae. The warnings of Armageddon set to music. The Theremin, heavily echoed, practically screams. This song makes me lament the loss of Walter Kibby II, he adds so much to their songs.
   
   Git Out Of The City -
   Swing it. Which then swings right into Reggae. Which then jumps into the deranged Delta Blues. Passes from one musical genre to the next like it's the easiest thing to do.
   
   Down Boy -
   Quick Ska which turns into some sort of easy breezy psychedelic song, back into ska, then into Hendrix territory for a bar or two. Then into heavy metal Jazz. The album closes with fans singing over and over again, `Fishbone is Red Hot'.
   
   
   All of this material is easily some of Fishbone's best. I see no signs that this band should stop, because creatively they still have it, and sound like no other band out there. This album stands as a document and diary of one of America's most important bands, who mixed almost 100 years of African-American musical culture into one form, called Fishbone. Purchase the album just to say `I own a Fishbone album'.



2. With the departure of several of the original band members, the bright future of this legendary band is firmly placed well behind them. To borrow one of their song titles, 'Those Days Are Gone'. However, there's certainly enough here in this latest brew for the diehard Fishbone soldier to sip on. For the Fishneophyte, the first four or five albums are listening prerequisites to appreciate the mozaical musical style, frenetic energy and good wholesome humor of this album. 'Live at the Temple Bar' also makes up for the lackluster 2000 release, 'Fishbone and Friends' which contained no Fishbone and no Friends with it suppressive corporate production sound.

   Like each one of their previous albums 'Temple Bar' requires several listens then you're hopelessly hooked. Without the mellifluous influence of some of the departed band members, at times some of the songs are a bit too discordant and because it's a live production, are a bit too gritty, but it's still Fishbone. Encapsulating the band in their natural element, the live show, each song is an awe-inspiring example of magisterial musical artistry and showmanship

   What's also remarkable about this collection of songs is that once you get past the wrinkles and tattoo (which suspiciously appears to be covering a bald spot) in the picture on the backside of the CD of the lead singer's devilishly grinning visage, you realize that this 20+ year old rock band is creating new music that is as youthful as ever. With time, bands tend to produce a more contemplative sound in contrast from their earlier work, however, with song titles like 'Skank 'N Go Nutts', Fishbone thankfully shows no signs of growing up.

   A poignant moment on the CD comes at the very end of the last song when the audience fades off chanting in unison, 'Fishbone is Red Hot'. This not only reveals the love and admiration fans have for this talented group but also the signature of a band whose audience is hungrily caught in the afterglow of a magical and intimate moment.

   'Live at the Temple Bar and More' with Fishbone's typical rockjazzfunkpunksoulthrashskaetc sound, is only for the adventurous music listener. Tap into it and enjoy a band doing what they were meant to do. Have fun!




3. Sknk n go nutts! If you like fishbone and don't have this cd, go get it! It is my favorite cd i've listened to this month! I can't wait to hear their next cd. Personally like it better than any of their other cds (I HAVE ALL OF THEM)! It reminds me of bad brains and (classic)red hot chili peppers mixed together. with reggae/ska/thrash/and funk mixed in. 'There is a demon in me & he smiles at me' is my favorite track, hopefully a studio version is also in the works of all these songs!



4. I'm not joking or being sarcastic. I don't work for the band or the label. I love a wide variety of music, from Bach to Bebop to Beatles to Bad Brains. I have no personal gain here. But all things considered: all-new material which is as strong (or stronger) than anything they've done in the past, outstanding (even stunning) production quality, and nailed-to-the-floor performances all the way around by each band member (especially the new guys) -- this album just leaves every other live album in its wake/dust. PERIOD.



5. I'm glad Norwood, Angelo and Walter are still playing live shows. They are fun to watch and are truly talented. Unfortunately, without the rest of the original line-up, they don't really compare to the Fishbone I once knew and loved. It's sad that they are playing at heavy metal dives nowadays but go check them out if you want to have fun. Or just buy their first four albums and listen to them at home.

3 comments about Pissed Tae Th' Gills: A Drunken Live Tribute to Robbie Burns.

1. For the first time I feel ripped off by this band and since I love what they do and what they stand for (HARDCORE pride in heritage & their punk attitude) that makes the feeling even more painful. Let's start with the content. Considering that this is the same group that put out "Loch'd & Loaded" last year (one of THE best CD's that I've bought in the last 5 years) I just have one question... Where are those songs? Not one of those kicking tunes has a live counterpart here. Second, the sound quality and production is terrible!! It's song continuity seems spliced, the audience sounds like they're asleep and , let's be honest, Paul's voice was not in the best shape that night. Still, there are highlights; "Stompin' Intro" & "Will Ye Be Proud" are good (not great). I don't understand why other people have given this such high marks?
   Don't get me wrong.. I will still where their t-shirts (w/ my kilt no less) and will eagerly await the next studio outing from them (I still expect great things someday), but to be honest I must recommend you avoid this recording (especially if you are new to the McKenzie's fold). Get the afore mentioned "Loch'd & Loaded" or "Clash of the Tartans" (See my reviews on each} instead. Oh, and for God's sake... GO SEE THEM LIVE when they come to town. I had to miss the time they came to Charlotte because it was the day after my last chemotherapy treatment (Buy them a drink for me please).
   Take heart though... If you still want punk rock & bagpipes live I recommend you get "Live on St. Patrick's Day" by the McKenzie's good friends and bothers in arms... the Dropkick Murphys.



2. The Real McKenzies are an excellent live band, and this collection does good justice to the energy and spontaneity of their live shows. "Pissed Tae Th' Gills" is a great mix of songs from their previous albums, along with some new tunes not released elsewhere.

   As it is a Robbie Burns show, they do their Burns repertoire with "Scots Wa Hae" and "Auld Lang Syne." It would have been nice to have heard a few more Burns songs. Perhaps they could have learned "Ye Jacobites By Name" or written something for "Address to a Haggis."

   There is a good collection of their own tunes, and some of my favorites. "Bastards" is a great song. Plenty of old Scottish hits in terms of "Loch Lomond" and "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean." Live I have heard them do a medley of these two tunes. "The Real McKenzies Stompin Intro" is worth the price of the CD alone. "Haggises" is the reason why live CDs are so much fun.

   A great CD for any fan of the Real McKenzies. Gotta have it.




3. More than Braveheart, Scottish Games or Johnnie Walker Black OR Red, the Real McKenzies make me prood tae be Highland. Why? Because they give We Proud Scots a voice and the voice rocks like crazy. This live record of a Robert "Robbie" Burns (1759-1796) memorial show is a roaring tribute to Scot pride and history. All your McKenzie favorites of whiskey and combat are here. I would've MAYBE traded "Stone of Kings" for "Ballad of John Silver" but it wasn't my show, and besides this version of "Stone" kicks kilted [bottom]. Robbie is represented well throughout from "My Bonnie" to "Auld Lang Syne". Be the first on your block to get an awesome live version of this venerable, international Scot classic and crank it up at midnight on 1/1/03. Oh yeah, and a track called "Haggises" that paraphrases "Nemesis" by '80s wierdos Shriekback. There's a DVD and VHS version of this I gotta track down now. Buy this and Ye WILL Be Proud! Fac et Spera!

4 comments about Beyond Warped Live Music Series.

1. Not the greatest release by guttermouth. The DVD does not have any video if you try to play it in a DVD player, you have to use the computer to watch it. Theres no bonus new studio tracks either. I'll give it 3 stars.



2. I am completely dissappointed with this release because it is a joke. I have never been ripped off so badly before in my life. I am a huge Guttermouth fan but no matter how big a fan you are of them... please i advise you to save your money. The two reasons i bought this were 1. to be able to watch guttermouth live any time because they are one of my favorite bands to see live. I have seen them twice at their shows and once on the same Warped tour as this... and they are absolutely amazing live. Believe me, this does no justice. It is like 10 minute dvd which shows only one warped performance... (they were kicked off the tour that year anyway) and doesnt shoe mark do any ad libbing in between songs which is the funniest. The second reason i bought this was because i thought that the songs "skater's anthem" and "mom" were new. Whoever made this dvd doesnt know much about this band because those songs are "do the hustle" and "lipstick" both off of Musical Monkey. I do not think Mark or any of Guttermout had anything to do with this release because they would not let something like this be relased and they would know the names of their songs. The only reason i am giving this 3 stars is because it does offer (10 minutes) of halfway decent footage and also because i would feel weird giving anything by guttermouth anything less. Nonetheless i would refrain from throwing 10-15 dollars on this when any other guttermouth would be a million times better and for the same price



3. Old and new without Gusto and Covered with Ants. When Guttermouth is on there is not a more entertaining show. Check it out and see that there is still "real" punk attitude and songs without all the gay makeup and goth boy-band look.



4. With the camera angles and sound, this dvd could have been great. The people that made this and the other beyond warped cds have purposely made the worst thing they could. They cut the songs short, there is no banter in between songs, and there is no extras. The audio cd isn't even live. Don't waste your money on this crap, even if you are a die hard fan.

5 comments about Live in a Dive.

1. Unlike a lot of people, I prefer studio music over live music when it comes to recordings, but this is my fav NUFAN album ever. These guys are totally awesome live, and it translates remarkably well onto the CD. The song selection is great as well, and I simply can't get enough of this album.



2. Surely this is the best nufan cd... Lately they have been making slower songs (but it doesn't mean they are bad), but in this cd they show how hardcore they were...
   This cd brought me to nufan, and it's a good choice if you're curious about this band.



3. In terms of technical ability you can't knock NUFAN at the time they made this live record. Despite changing lineups after every album they've ever made, the people on this record know the songs well and play them perfectly. Some real NUFAN classics are present and correct; Soulmate, On the Outside, Feeding the Fire and Justified Black Eye are all just as you'd want to hear them. The main flaws with this record are more down to the changing musical tastes of the band themselves. There are too many slow ones! When you're playing live everyone expects to hear the up-tempo danceable numbers, not the tearful slow stuff! Growing Down or Revenge would have been welcome instead of Chasing Rainbows etc. But I guess there's always songs you wish a band had played live.

   Pretty good all round. If you like rock ('cos let's be honest, they're not really punk are they?) you'll like this.




4. This was a great CD, however it wasn't a great live CD. For one, inbetween some songs they make conversation with the audience. I'm not sure wether they're trying to be funny or to just talk but they dont do a very good job. And also thier live music is exatly like thier CD music. I thought because its live there should be some change, some alteration of thier songs in some way. To me it was just a compilation. A compilation by a fantastic, amazing band but still nothing special.



5. I really like no use, I have two of there other albums (Making Friends and More Betterness), but IMO, this one is the best. It has a really good mix of songs (Soulmate, Straight from the Jacket, Room 19...), and they all sound as good as the actual recordings they were on. I think that the live version of "Soulmate" on this cd is better than the studio one, and that doesnt happen very often. Not all of the songs are Great, But Most of them are.

5 comments about Live at the Hardback.

1. Q: How do you get the energy and excitement of a HWM live show in your living room?
   A: Get them to play there.
   Can't get them to play at your house? This album is the next best thing. Standouts include killer renditions of "Us & Chuck", "Turnstile", "Moments Pass", "Better Sense", "Manual".



2. If you've ever wished you could have gone to that concert last week, than this cd will make you feel like that. If you've ever herd any of the bad-[...]songs that were recorded on this album than you know how pumped this concert was. Every song is twice as fast if not faster than the originals. Comming from a drummer: if you love kick-[...] beats and alsome drumming, than pick this up. I would pay [$] for this if it cost it. So get one for a friend. ~Brent



3. My friend jersey dave and I got to the show 4 hours early becouse we were bored. what we found was the sun center filled with hundreds of kids . Some of them were from as far way as germany. The show was insane. If you can imagine getting chills in a room that was that small and like 120 degrees, that was how increadible it was. and being arm in arm with people from 1000 miles away was nothing short of mindblowing. this record is phenomenal. one of the 2 greatest live records I have ever heard (right up there w/ kiss alive). buy this record, put it on and go nuts



4. This is actually my favorite HWM recording. You can feel the intensity and sense the love affair between fan and band. This captures everything that is HWM, the sincerity, the positivity, the love. Everytime the crowd chimes in is a moving experience to itself. If you love HWM, and you don't have this you are seriously missing out.



5. To call this record live almost feels like a lie. To most of us the idea of a live record brings doubts about the sound quality. This record has some of the best live sound quality that I have ever heard. You should already know what to expect from Hot Water Music. Good hard rocking music. Heartfelt emotional lyrics and amazing subtle harmonies. This is a great record. Next best thing to seeing them live. Go out and get it.

No comments about The French et Encore du Pain: The Complete 1995 Paris Live.

2 comments about Live! Alone in America.

1. Having made yet ANOTHER major label switch to RCA, the modestly successful The Mona Lisa's Sister found Graham Parker touring solo. On a stop at Philadelphia's TLA venue, a stripped down Parker revisited a batch of his 70's material for a surprisingly affecting live CD, his second after The Parkerilla.
   
   Parker is loose and jocular, letting a few between-song zingers loose. These include the infamous Cheese-steak comments, which I've now heard him have to live down twice in other Philadelphia shows. If anything, the looser setting makes songs like "White Honey" and "Hotel Chambermaid" sound more human than the manic energy of Parker's Mercury days. "Protection" and "You Can't Be Too Strong" put in an appearance from Squeezing Out Sparks, and shades of the old Angry Young Man appear on "Soul Corruption" (which includes a racial epithet that may make the squeamish squirm).
   
   Given that Parker acoustic and solo pretty much distilled his songs to their essence, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the next albums were almost blissful in the folkish sensibilities (Human Soul and Struck by Lightning.) Ending the disc on a soulful note with Sam Cooke's call for harmony, "A Change is Gonna Come," is just icing on the cake. "Live Alone" may not be for many outside Parker's fan club, but it's a good reminder about why he generated such a songwriter's buzz in his early days.



2. I saw the tour from which this album was drawn. Just Gram and his guitar. He was charming and rocking. The CD brings back great memories of a great show for me. Being objective, most of the covers of his earlier work are spendid with one or two exceptions. The reason to own this one, however, is for the three songs that, so far as I know, do not appear on any other Parker release. The stand-out is "The Three Martini Lunch:" a sad but - oh so true - look at Hollywood in the 1980's and beyond.