2 comments about From Paris with L-U-V.

1. THis is a must have for any rock and roll fan. Cassual listerns will have to listen twice though to appriecate it. THe New york dolls are a lot harder on this album and a love it. This album shows how great the new york dolls and is a testament to the greatest rock and roll band ever it. It shows the beggining of punk metal new wave indy and everything in between. The reason why the new york dolls are genry less is because the started it all. New wave punk hair metal. Started a decade of big hair every thing a decade early. The thing this album does is lie to rest the rumors why the new york dolls never made it big the where to good to real for the early seventies. This album also makes every other band from that era sound like pussy's. Kiss Led Zepplin Black Sabbath does not compare to this. THis is the new York dolls the way they should have been presented to the world.
   
   P.S. When listening to this album imagine it is 1973 and this comes on the radio.



2. I wasn't expecting much, but this is good stuff. The mix is OK, and David's French is hilarious. Then again the introduction that proclaims Johnny Thunders is "back to zee fifteees" is worth the price of admission. The set is performed with elan, with such tunes as "Puss 'n Boots" and Personality Crisis" and "Stranded in the Jungle" !! belted out in the way we wanted the Dolls doing it on those live CDs we wasted money on. Between lighting cigarettes and moments of, shall we say, light stomachs, the Dolls miss cues and forget where they are and distill rock and roll to its essense, skidding along the edge of diddly/berry, stop to pose, and rock again. A great document.

5 comments about Live in Italy.

1. This is not the "best" Lou Reed-Robert Quine performance, but if you are even a casual Lou Reed fan you need to own this. The late R.Q. was credited (justifiably so) with encouraging Lou to pick up his guitar again after years of walking through his performances in a drugged, detached stupor. This was the age of "left channel, right channel" dogfights. On the "Blue Mask" album, it gets pretty terrifying. Here, Lou reinvents a few of his classics with a Neil Young & Crazy Horse kind of "Godfather of Grunge" intensity. Highlights? "Kill Your Sons," with the insane solos...and the killer, the "Some Kinda Love / Sister Ray" medley. "IIIIIIIIIIIIm...searchin' for my mainline...Woah, babe...I couldn't hit it side...woah, sideways..." The "Live In Italy" album makes "Rock & Roll Animal" sound like an Eric Carmen album, because Lou is EASILY ten times more insane than Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner will EVER be on guitar. After Quine, Lou never set the guitar down again. R.I.P., Bob...this is a great way for you to be remembered...and the high water mark of Lou's resurrected career.



2. I saw the Lou Reed concert when he was in Rome during his Italy tour and it was a concert never to forget! It was held in the ruins of Circus Maximus next to the Colosseum which is essentially a big hole in the ground. The concert was staged at the bottom of this ruin and temporary 12 foot fences were erected around the concert seating . Well you didn't have to have a ticket to see the concert because all round the concert was the former Circus Maximus seating areas which were on grassy slopes looking down into the concert area. I was part of the crowd in these free seats that sat and watched the concert has it started to begin. At first there was no opening act, just loud rock music played over the loudspeakers. During this time there was a crowd of non ticket holders who weren't content with sitting in the free seats. They decided to try and climb the fence to get into the paying seats. Security was doing the best it could to stop those persons from being successful but they soon were out numbered and they called in the riot police. The riot police formed a line on one side of the concert area and then shot tear gas into the crowd of rowdy fence climbers. Unfortunately they didn't realize they were down wind from their target so the tear gas blew right back into their faces. Embarrassed and angry they took out their batons and charged the crowd. By this time the concert had already started on schedule despite the ruckus going on and the first and only song I heard Lou Reed play was Sweet Jane. After that it wasn't safe for anyone to stay in the free seats and continue to watch the concert so we left. It was quite an incredible experience for me to be a part of that concert that day. Later I bought the album of this concert and it is great not only for the music but for the memories it brings back every time I listen to it.



3. This is, by far, the best post-VU record of Reed's career!! Lord have mercy, folks, consider only the line-up here: Lou and Robert Quine on the dual assault of white noise-drenched, growling acid guitars, Fernando Saunders on his soaring fuzz-drived bass and the outstanding Fred Maher pounding the drums with skill and fury!!! The set-list is also superb: raging, fast, punky-adrenalined renditions of VU classics like "White Light / White Heat", "Rock and Roll", "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for my Man", with also great versions of Lou's solo material, with a special remark to a feeback-drived, powerfully scary "Kill your Sons".



4. Recorded in 1983 with Lou's most critically acclaimed band since the Velvet Underground.."Live In Italy" comes with a lot of hype and promise.
   The band is far from tight and not in very fine form at all here. Reed's voice is totally shot and he compounds the problem by seemingly insisting upon shouting and screaming his way through much of the material.
   Very raw and very hard to listen to..."Live In Italy", with all it's clamor, is almost the direct opposite of "Perfect Night In London"..meaning it's the weakest of Reed's live releases.
   For hardcore Reed fanatics only.



5. Forget about 'Lou Reed Live', 'Rock'n'Roll Animal' and even 'Perfect Night in London'(All great records, by the way), Lou Reed Live in Italy is the best Lou Reed live album, bar none.

   Just look at the track list, for crying out loud. After a three seconds long introduction, you can hear Reed's guitar tears into the classic opening chords of Sweet Jane, the best riff he's ever written. This version of Sweet Jane is argueably the best version out there - Lou singing 'You know they're sayin' Jane, oh Sweet Jane' is Lou at his finest, and Robert Quine... we'll talk about Robert Quine.

   Oh, why not talk about him now. Robert Quine is the best guitar player to have ever worked with Lou Reed. He is as good as Mike Ranson who worked with Bowie and Lyle workman who played lead for Frank Black. He's quite possibly even better. Listen to the lead guitar in 'Waves of Fear', it's incredible.

   Lou's new stuff here is great - Waves of Fear and Average Guy are the stand outs, but the older Reed is what truly shines through. Sally Can't Dance no More is a vicious attack on fame, The Satellite of Love is lou's romance at it's best, and Walk on the Wild Side is, well, a walk on the wild side.

   Still, to me this will allways be memorable because of the Velvet Songs. Before and after, Reed will atmpt to make the Velvet stuff feel at home in his sets, and, with the exception of the Loaded songs, he will allways fail. This is the exception. White Light/White Heat, Waiting for the Man and of course, Heroin, Reed's finest song, shine through the able musicians.

   I'm way to young to have been alive through that Lou Reed tour, and even through I've seen Reed live, I'm still at agony for not have seen him live at those 1984 shows. This is the closest I'll ever get.

5 comments about Ballot Result.

1. This is just classic live Minutemen at their best. What makes this one special is that the tracklist was compiled by the fans' votes which truly makes it special for the Minutemen enthusiasts. Some of the live performances don't translate well on the disc only because of their "bootlegged" sound quality, but either way it's still worth a spin. Included was a fan favorite, "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" in which each member is able to show their incredible talent and they do! Recommended for the true fan. If you are new to the Minutemen catalog make sure you check out Double Nickels On The Dime.



2. If memory serves correct, The Minutemen had plans to record a live album of their fan's favorite songs entitled Ballot Result. However, due to the untimely passing of D. Boon, they were forced to assemble this collection of radio broadcasts, live and rehearsal recordings, and even some studio tracks (when live versions didn't exist). Ultimately, you have to commend Mike and George for carrying on with the project. None the less, there are some definate peaks and valleys on this collection. This record starts out strong with a decently recorded 1985 radio brodcast featuring smokin' versions of some of their best songs. These tracks alone justify purchasing this CD (preferably the LP for the extra songs). The remainder of the tracks, however, are a hodge-podge of live and rehearsal material that is either marred by poor recording quality or sub-par performances. Tracks like "Tour Spiel" and "Take Our Test", while far from unlistenable, stick out in my mind as being especially inferior to the studio versions. In addition, the remix of "No One" single-handedly demonstrates what is so horribly wrong with 80's studio production. Yes, I'm nit-picking, but these issues keep this from being a 5-star disc, in my opinion. Still, Ballot Result is well worth owning based on its obvious strengths.



3. a fitting tribute to the greatest band of any genre. listening to this album you can see where they were evolving - from a band with lightning fast short songs to a jam band. if d. boon had lived they'd be the grateful dead of their generation. as it is mike watt (the bass player) has just released his second punk rock opera. remember d boon every april fool's day - that was his birthday! (really)



4. Seeing as I am halfway (along with the Minutemen, of course) responsible for a number of songs on here (those recorded at WREK, a show I set up), it would be difficult to not recommend this or any other recording D., Watt & George did. We'll never know what they might have accomplished, but the direction they were heading was quite promising. and the CD is different from the album which is different from the cassette, so load up on all of them........



5. Being all of 10 years old when D. Boon died never really allowed me to see them live. Unfortunately, this is as close as I'll get. Fortunately, this is a great album. For those of you who don't know, SST took a poll of fans' favorite Minutemen songs and made up a live album. I assume they would have included the actual results, but fidelity they didn't have 'em all. They include the actual results in the liner notes.

   Great stuff. Has three of my favorites, Jesus and Tequila, Political Song For Micheal Jackson To Sing and If Reagan Played Disco. Also, This Ain't No Picnic. Great all around record.

2 comments about Live in the Voodoo City.

1. A great live disc from Gene Loves Jezebel! It's got versions of all their hit songs, and its good to finally hear the group live on an album. I highly recommend this one for all the GLJ fans around the world.



2. This album is very poorly recorded, and captures GLJ on a particularly bad night. It's a soundboard recording, which means that you can't hear the audience and the vocals are too far up in the mix. In fact, it doesn't sound as if this album was mixed at all. I've spoken to Jay Aston (GLJ's lead singer) about this release, and it is most definitely UNAUTHORIZED. Don't buy it!

2 comments about Live At Nottingham.

1. You can tell the excitement of the three people by the bored guy who yells because he's had too many, the drunk who throws bottlecaps at the band because they truly suck without Jay (yes, Mikey fooled Jay's fans again), and the drunk who keeps burping because his acid reflux has more range than Miss Clairol's number one fan. The bar is so empty that the reverb is laughable. It sounds like they recorded this in a haunted house. Hmm, how very appropo...



2. Very simple, if you want to hear a great live band then buy this album! GLJ does not disappoint with "Live at Nottingham"!

5 comments about Double Danger: Latin Casino/Academy of Music, Live 1973.

1. What you get with this release is yet another batch of live recordings - this time around culled from two gigs performed by Iggy and the band in Baltimore and New York in late 1973. That alone should sound the alarm with anybody who knows the career-profile of the Stooges. Here they are at the end of what can only be described as their nose-dive into disintegration from drugs, violence and booze - as the extensive liner notes calls them: "a train wreck." And both gigs are performed accordingly, with the result for a number of excellent reasons being kept un-released up to this point.
   The Baltimore gig on the first disc is by far the worst of the two, and can only be described as atrocious. The only thing worse than the bands performance is the sound quality contributing to the resulting diffeculties in recognizing the songs at all. The fact that it sounds like half the band has stolen the other half's evening fix does nothing to improve the reults. The sleeve claims that this abomination is digitally restored, edited and mastered by Arthur Alexander so what the original sounded like - God only knows.
   The New York gig sounds infinitely better - although in this context that is NOT saying much. Taped on New Years eve the band sounds in a vaguely party-like mood, but by the fifth song - Cock In My Pocket, things nevertheless start to fall apart, and some discerning members of the audience yell "Go Home!" at them - with every right I might add. Iggy & the band must have heard the heckling, because they thunder into the first memorable performance on the version of Search & Destroy that follows.
   Rather than sanctioning the release of this drivel one wishes that Iggy would "do a Zappa", and master the release of some of the memorable bootlegs floating around from the period - notably "Suck On This" for instance. releases like this will leave even diehard fans like myself feeling cheated. If you've got to have everything available spend your money, if not look elsewhere - I kind of wish I had...



2. Regarding all the various Iggy/Stooges archive live releases that have been made available in the last couple of years,this 2-CD title has to be the best.Disc one is a headlining gig the Stooges played at a club in Baltimore,MD in Nov.1973.Easy to figure the ENTIRE set,like TOTALLY rips!!Disc two is of a shorter set when the band played New York City on that New Year's Eve,while opening for Blue Oyster Cult and Kiss(apparently their first ever show).My only regret is that I wasn't there.Both shows were in fact mastered off an audience recording.Don't worry,though.The sound quality,is actually quite adequate.A must for all true fans of classic punk.



3. I LIKE THE KEYBORD like some kinda, of mozart in context to these morons,PLAYIN,[ the only album of note from these clowns,]NOTE the recording quality is awesome meant for the stooges.



4. i love the stooges/iggy but when it comes to bomp records.buyer beware.this cd sounds like a tenth generation copy.dont take the chance.rocon@nb.net.and also ,notice cant find sound samples anywhere.



5. This super pair of CDs contains Latin Casino (Baltimore MD) and Acadamy of Music NYC. Latin Casino is especially good because the audience really wanted to see them. It was during a snowstorm in Baltimore but the faithful showed up and were rewarded with a great show. The offensive comments that Iggy makes from the stage are in great Iggy style. This show was recorded off the board. It has 11 tracks 64:01 minutes for the show. The Academy of music show was a great new years eve show Iggy and the Stooges being one of 4 bands that played that night. They play fast and frantic as if they are trying to play as many of their best songs as possible before their time on stage is over. I like the keyboards. The songs are the same songs that were played at Latin Casino but only 8 songs. It was recorded from the audience. Both shows include Wet My Bed.

5 comments about Radio 1 Sessions.

1. Be careful when you order this CD as it is EXACTLY the same concert as the 4th disc of XTC's "Transistor Blast" album. If you have that collection, you don't need this!

   While it is indeed a great concert, the other material on "Transistor Blast" is worth owning, so I suggest you buy that one instead.




2. It's amazing that XTC could make such a great live album, when you recall that they had to stop touring due to Andy Partridge's overwhelming stage fright--and that led, directly, to their Beatles-like transformation from a charming and energetic live act to an ingenious and imaginitive studio group.

   Don't waste time. Get this LP. American radio ignored XTC, their American label botched their promotion, and the result was that the band, despite it's best efforts, has withered on the vine. This record is one of several highlights from a career that you shouldn't have missed.




3. With XTC's back catalogue now consisting to 99% of compilations and demo versions, it is quite clear that the band is content to pursue its relationship with its small but keen and devoted fanbase. Those of you who have not heard XTC before, would do best to check out their late 70s-early 80s output, a period when the band was a relevant, creative and era-defining musical force alongside more established artists such as Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. This kind of music is generally described sing words like "poppy", "quirky", "quintessentially English", etc. And it is. But, XTC are not really that far removed from US alternative rock acts like Toad the Wet Sprocket, Sixpence None the.....Weezer, Three O'Clock, Elliot Smith. Music that owes more to Beatles, Beach Boys and Noel Coward than Elvis Presley and Motown.
   This BBC live album a essential for lots of reasons: you get the band at its very peak (1980) and the songs are played with incredible energy but there's a still a crystal clear sound, a great atmosphere (it's like you're there) not to mention blistering live versions of Life Begins at the Hop, Making Plans for Nigel and This is Pop. As a seasoned XTC fan I love this record, but I heartily recommend it to lovers of good guitar pop in general.



4. To those who didn't catch them live . . .well, this is the best substitute. . .

   Never had so much fun seeing them live




5. Alas, I was primed to see XTC in 1982 at the Hollywood Palladium. Excitement shivering through my entire body when the show was cancelled due to Andy's illness (as we all know now was intense stage fright). Little did I know at the time that would be the end of touring for XTC, but at least this c.d makes up for never having seen them live. Great c.d!

5 comments about Seconds Before the Accident.

1. I love AOL more than any other band (I gave all their studio albums 5 stars), but I was highly disappointed by this live release. However, it is very indicative of their final tour. They seemed to be losing all their passion for the music, and on most songs sound very dull. I went to their show in Philadelphia during this tour and loved the live version of "Fashion Bleeds", but on this album (with Eric Johnson replaced by the guy from Man or Astroman) it just sounded really bad. The same goes for nearly every song on this disc. They are still great songs, but it seems like they just didn't care any more.



2. this brilliant peice is the first archers CD I bought and I love it,the inteligent lyrics and tunes continue to thrill me.from the groovy opening dead red eyes to gorgeous chumming the oceans this excellent live album never dissapionts.i noticed that some reviewers seemed dissapionted which is why i felt i needed to write this review because this is the best live album you'll hear from the chapel hill rockers so buy this,BUY THIS!a great introduction to one of my favourite bands.



3. Think of this CD as a tuneful keepsake from one of the brightest musical lights of the indie '90s.



4. Seems like many critics review albums that they either love or hate. Can't say that about this one. Its good, but seldom reflects the true raw power the Archers are capable of. I never understood comparisons to Pavement. Archers rock while Pavement merely meanders and haven't made a decent record since 1991's Slanted and Enchanted. In short, Archers blow Pavement away.

   Highlights on this live record are "Let the Loser Melt", "Lowest Part is Free" and the delicate "Chumming the Oceans." I hope we hear more from Archers because I was intrigued by their ever changing direction. Bands that stay stagnant deserve to die slow, painful deaths. That was never these guys. Sure was sweet to hear Eric B's splintered howl once again.




5. Everything about this CD is bittersweet. The moment I pulled this from the rack, 8 years of loyal decdication came to a head. I didn't have any expectations, I wasn't going to try to compare it to the likes of Icky, GOAT, Cattle, or Vee Vee, and I was going to enjoy it on the same level as I had enjoyed the 5 Archers shows I had attended. I know, I know...I have just made my bias blatently obvious; however, I am reviewing the content of this album not my love of the band.

   The sound quality is excellent with my only objection being Mark Price's snare drum on some fast/loud tracks sounding like a plastic bucket (reminiscent to the Vee Vee recording) but I guess it depends on your stereo quality too. There's not nearly enough audience noise that would help project that live feel. They should have learned to use more screaming fans as they did in Vitus Tinnitus. The only other flaw is the poor mix between songs. One of the most appealing qualities of a AOL live show is the banter between songs. There is banter, but it's often cut off abruptly.

   The songs: I couldn't have assembled a better palette. Songs spanning their entire career are included and with some surprises (eg. "You and Me"). All of the songs are well done and display the true energy of each piece. The listener can really get a feel for what excellent musicians and song writers these four guys were (and still are, in a side project sense). Some tracks are much better live then their album counter parts. For example, "White Trash Heros" is magnificant live, whereas on the album it sounds as if it's the product of a few tweeked knobs and some pushed buttons. The same can be said for "Chumming the Oceans" which has so much emotion live. For those of you looking for adreneline in hard rock form need only to listen to "Vocal Shrapnel", "Fabricoh", "Let the Loser Melt", "Wrong", and on and on... Lastly, the packaging (Luke, how vain can you possibly be?). This is just a sour note on my part. This album had been pushed back significantly, and I can say for certain that it wasn't for sake of the packing and art work. There is nothing visually gratifying about this album, no crazy liner notes, and it comes over as if the Alias staff used their days lunch money to put it together. They even printed the band and album name on the spine of the CD upside down, and I really hate when that happens.

   Overall, this live album exposes the true ability and energy of the band. It's all songs that you have heard before (maybe) played live, in front of an audience, without any do-overs or overdubs. It's great to listen to as you're getting ready to go out and party. If you have an affinity for live albums, then this is great. If you are an Archers fan, it's a must have. Most importantly, it's a mix tape for all of you who want an introduction to the band. GET IT....Thank you.

3 comments about Live at Rhino Records.

1. this album, because of its unpolished raw recording, best captures the musical power of AS. It sounds just as if you are at some back ally punk club - complete with poor, subpar sound systems. This is the result of having been unprofessionally recorded on a tape player, at such an event.
   Nothing is better then raw recordings of punk, since studio recordings only subtract from the effect that punk is supposed to create in the first place.



2. This recording is not for the audiophile, recorded on someone's tapedeck it's not crisp....but boy does it rock. This recording captures the essence of the early punk club scene and shows....awesome. Worth it alone for the Ramones cover "Commando". This is an important album, not for the pristine musicianship, but for the raw power, enthusiasm, and fun. The cd is short and sweet....well worth the purchase.



3. This was recorded in mid '79. Way ahead of it's time. If you loved Back From Samoa or any other Samoams albums then you need this. Many tracks not available from other sources makes it ideeal for the serious AS fans. Not to mentions its at a cheap price. Great fun for mom & pop...

5 comments about Document and Eyewitness.

1. Aside from Wire's John Peel sessions, this is Wire's only release that includes a large amount of unique content. The latest live albums (On The Box, etc.) are really more what you would expect from such a release: more aggressive performance to accommodate the missing use of live electronic instrumentation, poorer sound quality, and so on. Well, the live performances on D&E are no exception to poor sound quality, but this time Wire keep a fair amount of electronic influence in their work; not just guitars and percussion here, which makes this all the more valuable in my opinion. This release, to me, is more suited to be considered the 4th Wire album over Newman's A-Z (for one Newman wrote nearly all the tracks on that album on his own, so why would they be referred to as Wire songs?)
   
   I also don't understand what some people consider to be issues with this release. You do hear a lot of experimental work, which I love, and if you're a Wire fan so should you, but there are also a great deal of more conventional songs, like 'Go Ahead' and 'Relationship'. Basically, you get to hear at least a dozen tracks that haven't been recorded in the studio (some of these tracks were re-recorded by Newman for solo work, and I know that 'Underwater Experiences' was an earlier demo). One thing I don't get is why 'Heartbeat' is just thrown in with the mix, as it was from a different performance altogether; just doesn't fit well, despite its being a good track.
   
   I don't want to spoil the atmosphere of the album by explaining much of the music, but I will comment that it crosses between more aggressive Chairs Missing-era and something not quite Wire (mainly because without having come from the studio it's hard to picture what the final production qualities would be like).
   
   And yes the final two tracks are from their Our Swimmer EP (can't really call it a single because it wasn't promoting anything, it just was). These two tracks are quite different from what you hear on E&D, and for that matter, Wire's other albums. I would've really enjoyed getting to hear more than just these two songs from this new style that they developed.
   
   But this album is still valuable even for people who aren't fans of live recordings (a lot of time the audience is just too noisy and compromises the music, but in this case the audience was so baffled by what they heard you really don't hear much of them.) I did take one star off because it isn't perfect, but still great.



2. Live albums are usually nothing more than cheap giveaways that you already have heard in their studio life and are usually much better. Everybody knows that you'll get the same tracks with the crowds cheering the performer on for more more MORE. So why should you buy this? Well the fact of the matter is that it's everything a usual live album is NOT. Yes that's right - this is NOT your usual live album. First of all many of the tracks here are new. Secondly the band are practically hated mainly because there isn't 12XU which eventually comes up in fractured form ( not a bad thing ). Their MC is the one that helps the fans get what they want because it's his " request spot " despite being called a fat.....well you know - can't say it here for obvious reasons. And in the mix there's a few snippets of conversations from an interview. And at the end there's two studio tracks which are OK but dilute the whole experience of the concert(s) completely

   I guess it's one for the diehards but everyone should try this live album for the chaos within because if not you'll be missing out. Oh and you can't resist the bottle being thrown in the middle of a song with the reply " Who's a clever boy then! "




3. The single best line ever written about Wire's DOCUMENT AND EYEWITNESS comes from an article A.D. Amorosi wrote for MAGNET magazine (August/September 2000 issue): "...a violent live album that makes the Stooges' METALLIC KO seem like a Phish jam." And while one can hear the bottles being thrown on this album as well (literally: on "Instrumental (Thrown Bottle)"), unfortunately Flipper tactics had not yet come into their own so Wire chose to throw dada instead at their dense and impatient audience. Amid screams for PINK FLAG material, the audience never once allow Wire to demonstrate their amazing chameleon-like capability to never do exactly the same thing twice (like Coil and Madonna after them). Read: they never got it. This CD is split into four parts: part one is a relatively calm excerpt recorded live in London in July 1979 performing tracks from what ultimately would have been the follow-up to 154 but which never happened. The opening sonic slaughter of "Go Ahead" (which absolutely destroys the studio version) has to be heard to be believed, drumming mistakes and all. Part two is an excellent version of "Heartbeat" performed in Montreux when Wire opened for Roxy Music (sort of like when Prince opened for The Rolling Stones), much to the chagrin of Roxy's audience. Listen for the whistling. Part three is an excerpt of Wire's last concert for five years: The Electric Ballroom in London on 29/2/80, opened by D.A.F. (and documented by them on DIE KLEINEN UND DIE BOSEN, also on Mute) who were at a starvation-amphetamine meltdown peak. Wire perform an avante-garde/dada performance perfectique, goading the audience with their music and sarcasm, not really indicating if they mean any of it or not. An examination of this document by headphones reveals the absolute apall of the audience, who came to hear "12XU" (which Wire gratefully disembowel) and not the outre art-attack of such pieces as "ZEGK HOQP". By the end, the concert boils down to merely being one big pissing contest. Brilliant and exceptional. Part four is the band's last, posthumous single ("Our Swimmer" b/w the exceptional "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe") added as a bonus and near pre-cursor to what was to come in 1986 with SNAKEDRILL (see "A Serious of Snakes" for the link, "Drill" for the mood). A worthwhile purchase for the casual fan and an absolute must for the die-hard.



4. Though I appreciate all of Wire's studio-albums from the late 70's to the early 90's, I never liked their live-performances. This is because they often turned their great pop-songs into a dissonant, chaotic goulash of sound. This CD-compilation, recorded at three various locations, Notre Dome Hall, Montreux and Electric Ballroom, is completely unlistenable for "normal" people. If any unknown band had served this, nobody would have noticed, but here the critics said:"Oh Wire, this is fabulous art-school-punk!" You may call the performances on this album "experimental", but I really don't know why this gig made such waves. I only give two points, because there are two good studio-recordings thrown in at the end, they're called "Our swimmer" and "Midnight Bahnhof Cafe". But they're not worth buying this album.



5. I'd read so much about the "Electric Ballroom" gig before I ever heard it that I was very excited when I finally got this CD and popped it in my stereo. I wanted to hear what was it that made this gig really famous. I couldn't really hear anything at all, as it turns out. Seriously, I've heard 4th generation bootlegs that sound better than this, and I can't help asking myself "Why did they bother?". Not to rip on Wire or the individual members, mind you, as they are, quite simply, one the best bands that ever existed. This particular album, however, is for completists and/or masochists only.