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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

STEEL PANTHER "Balls Out"




(c) 2011 Universal Records

  1. In The Future (featuring Dane Cook)
  2. Supersonic Sex Machine
  3. Just Like Tiger Woods
  4. 17 Girls In A Row
  5. If You Really, Really Love Me
  6. It Won't Suck Itself (featuring Nuno Bettancourt and Chad Kroeger)
  7. Tomorrow Night
  8. Why Can't You Trust Me
  9. That's What Girls Are For
  10. Gold Digging Whore
  11. I Like Drugs
  12. Critter
  13. Let Me Cum In
  14. Weenie Ride
Japanese Bonus Tracks
  15.  Do Ya Wanna Do Me
  16.  Handicapped Slut

Michael Starr  (Ralph Saenz)--Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Satchel (Russ Parrish)--Rhythm, Lead, Acoustic Guitar, Background Vocals
Lexxi Foxxx (Travis Haley)--Bass, Background Vocals
Stix Zadinia (Darren Leader)--Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals

Well, ready or not, Steel Panther is back with more KILLER hair metal songs and HORRIBLE lyrics.  You loved Feel The Steel?  You're likely to love this one also.  Embarrassed to admit you listened to Feel The Steel all the way through before turning it off?  You're not even going to want to open the wrapper on this one! 

I'm not going to waste the time going through each and every one of these songs, as you either love the porno-set-to-hair metal lyrics and humor of this band or you don't, so there is no sense in breaking each of these juvenile tracks down on an individual basis.  The titles are pretty much self-explanatory, anyway.  As such, I can review this entire album in just a couple of paragraphs.  This is easily one of the best hair metal albums to come out in decades...no, seriously...as far as the music goes.  Musically, there is not a single weak song here (minus the non-song intro), with huge solos (including one from Mr. Nuno Bettancourt), thunderous drums, throbbing bass (oops...now I sound like the band's lyrics!), and excellent backing vocals.  The production is top-notch, the mix is perfect...everything about this album is phenomonal...except the lyrics.

I am NOT a prude by any stretch of the imagination.  I loved W.A.S.P. back in the day and I've sung along to the worst that Motley Crue, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, or anyone else ever put out on vinyl, tape, or CD.  But NOTHING, not even W.A.S.P.'s "Animal" comes close to the utter trash and filth these guys have recorded here.  And yes, I get it, it's a joke.  It's just that it's the same joke done fourteen times to different tunes and slightly different tempos and rhythms with different (albeit GREAT) guitar solos wrapped around it.  It gets old...fast.  If Steel Panther wanted to keep three or four of these songs and also mix in six or seven REAL songs, I could even manage to consider the album something other than a XXX comedy album.  Sadly they don't, and I can't.

Folks, I want to LOVE this record.  As good as Feel The Steel was musically, this one is even better.  But as bad as the last one was lyrically, this one may actually be even worse.  So...as I stated in the opening paragraph, if you liked the first album, you will most likely love this one.  However, if you want to be able to listen to an album at full volume without worrying about the police being called and you being charged with public indecency, this album is one best left unopened...or unpurchased!

Rating:  Once again, musically, I would LOVE to crank this album to 9 but lyrically, I have to recommend just turning it off.

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Monday, October 24, 2011

HEARTLESS "Five Bullets In Your Heart"



(c) 2011 Independent 
 
  1. Baby Maybe Someday'
  2. Heartless
  3. Stolen By Summer
  4. The End Of Summer
  5. Rock N Roll Dirty Dream   
Alpha--Bass
Rob--Vocals
Simo--Guitars
Ste--Drums

Hailing from Italy, the four guys in Heartless claim a rather odd mixture of musical influences, especially when the sound they come up with is considered.  While they claim such artists as Bryan Adams, Motley Crue, Kiss, Chuck Berry, Poison and The Beatles as some of their influences, virtually NONE of these can be heard in the music they have created on their debut EP, Five Bullets In Your Heart.  What the listener is given is a pop-punk/sleaze amalgamation that while energetic and up-beat, does not do a whole lot as far as forging new ground musically.  It's not a bad effort, just not overly memorable, in my opinion.

The EP starts off with the frantically rocking "Baby Maybe Someday", which is the band's first single which, according to their MySpace page, was first released in January of 2010.  The mix on this song, and on the entire album, is very bass heavy and rather muddy.  I don't know if this is intentional or not, but it is somewhat distracting to have the bass buzzing so loudly that I actually turned off the sub-woofer on my computer's sound system so I could more clearly hear the guitar solos.  This was a good move on my part as the guitar player, Simo, is one of the true highlights of this band.  His solo on "Baby Maybe Someday" is the best part about the song but it is absolutely buried with the full bass included.  

The follow-up track, "Heartless", is another pop-punk anthem that really sounds like it would have been at home in the punk clubs of the early 80's, complete with mohawked-and-safety-pin-pierced punks slam dancing in a pit in front of the stage.  This is a truly bizarre song, as musical pace of this song has to be described as breakneck early on before taking an odd down-tempo turn at about 2:40 into the song that, quite frankly reminds me of a 1970's kind of jam-band going off on some weird musical tangent.  Once again, Simo's guitar solo on this piece is strong and his instrument carries a really nice tone, but yet again it is buried by the bass which is the driving force on this track.  The track kicks back into gear at about 4:30 with the previously mentioned solo by Simo, but by this point, honestly, I have lost interest in the song and had to go back for a couple of extra listens to get a feel for the song.  I'm really beginning to get the feeling that Alpha is not only the bass player but perhaps the founding member of this band, which would explain why his instrument is so out front in all of these songs (and why his name is listed first in the credits, which is a bit odd....).      


Back-to-back "summer" songs follow, with "Stolen By Summer" and "The End Of Summer", which made me think this might be some kind of concept thing (it's not, at least as far as I can tell).  "Stolen..." starts off with an acoustic guitar intro and a quieter vocal moment which shows Rob actually singing rather than using the punkish "Geddy Lee meets Sid Vicious" nasal vocals and screams he employs throughout the rest of the album.  The track is a rather airy-70's feeling track with an odd guitar solo that has an almost flamenco feel to it and sounds eerily similar to the Eagles' "Hotel California" at times.  In fact, that song is a good idea of what I think Heartless was aiming for with "Stolen By Summer", and they may have been able to pull it off (or at least come a bit closer) had the bass not destroyed the emotion of the track.  "The End Of Summer", it turns out, is a nearly five minute long instrumental that starts off with a guitar intro that appears to be an exercise in showing Simo's talent and actually reminds me of something Tesla might use.  At the 1:10 mark, however, the band kicks into a punkish-pace once again but keeps a 70's influenced guitar tone throughout.  Simo gets the chance to really shine on this track, and it is actually the high point of this effort for me, which is really saying something as I usually consider instrumental tracks on an otherwise vocal album to be filler.  Not the case here.


The closer is another up-tempo rocker, this time giving the drummer, Ste, a chance to put his talent on display for a considerably long solo stretch.  Once again, the guy has talent, there is no doubt, but this constant changing of tempos and employment of multiple solos and musical styles inserted into otherwise punkish songs is distracting at best and generally is just annoying.


I wish I could find something to say about the band as a unit that is more positive, but it is difficult to do with the way this project is put together.  Like I mentioned, this has the feeling of a jam band kind of setting, like the band went into the studio with no real idea of how the songs were going to turn out until they heard the final recorded output.  The bass is just overpowering throughout this EP and the lack of any kind of structure to the songs really damages what I think could be some interesting, if not amazing songs.  I hope the fact that this band is getting some exposure with Atomic Stuff Promotions will give them the opportunity to better record their next effort, with an actual producer giving some direction to the music these guys make.


Rating:  Turn this down to a 4.5, with the instrumental track really being the defining cut here.


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Friday, October 21, 2011

ETERNAL RYTE "Anthology"





(c)2007 Roxx Productions
Disc 1

  1. Tightrope Dancer
  2. Requiem
  3. Someone To Love
  4. Say Hello
  5. The Killer
  6. Surrender
  7. On The Line
  8. You And Me
  9. The King
  10. No More Lies
  11. Forever Free *
  12. He's A Killer (Version 2) *
  13. No More Lies *
  14. No Place To Hide *
  15. Stand Up *
  16. King Of Kings *
(* 1987 Anthem demo)

Disc 2

  1. Intro **
  2. Armed For Action **
  3. Fight For The Light **
  4. He's A Killer (Version 1) **
  5. Quiet Times **
  6. Run For Your Life **
  7. Winners Take All **
  8. On The Line (live) ***
  9. Fight For The Light (live) ***
  10. Someone (live) ****
  11. Requiem (live) ****
  12. No More Lies (live) +
  13. King Of Kings (live) +
  14. Tightrope Dancer (live) +
(** 1986 unreleased demo, *** Live Metal Mardi Gras, **** Live 10/28/89, +Live Metal Meltdown)

Limited Edition DVD (only 100 copies made)

  1. Fight For the Light (live)
  2. King Of Kings (live)
  3. No More Lies (live)
  4. On The Line (live)
  5. World Requiem (live)
  6. Someone (live)
  7. Tight Rope Dancer (live)
Phil St. Vincent--Vocals
Bobby Smith--Guitars
Fred Gustavson--Bass
Scott Ernest--Drums

Wow.... If there is ANYTHING out there from this band that is not included on this extremely comprehensive collection, I have no idea what it could be, as here we are treated to the band's 1988 full-length album, World Requiem (remastered, no less!), two different demos, and three sets of live material. Oh...and if you pre-ordered the set, you also got a limited edition DVD called A Long Time Comin'... that was limited to just the first 100 pre-orders! That is a lot of material to sort through, but it is a treasure trove for fans of this gone-too-soon Heavenly hair metal band from Southern California!

Musically, disc one is by far the superior disc of the two, which is understandable since it contains the band's only fully produced release in 1988's World Requiem. However, people who have the original Pure Metal release would likely tell you the production on that effort is very bad, even borderline terrible in places, as it is extremely thin sounding with virtually no bottom end. That problem has been rectified here, as this version has been remastered, giving the songs a much fuller, more complete sound. As a result, songs like "Tightrope Dancer", "The Killer", and "On The Line" are really given a chance to shine like they should have originally, and they rival the quality of much of what was coming out of the Sunset Strip scene at the time. "Surrender" is another top-notch rocker, and "You And Me" sounds somewhat Stryper-esque, especially in their Yellow And Black Attack era style. One of my favorite songs by the band, "Someone To Love", comes off even more powerfully now that the mix has been beefed up, and the gang vocals have even more punch to them. Of course, the fact that Bobby Smith is a top-notch guitar hero stands out even more now that the production and mastering has been cleaned up, and I dare say he was every bit as good as his secular contemporaries on the Strip at this time. St. Vincent's lower-tenor register is strong, but I do wish he had a bit more upper range at times, as some of the songs would have benefitted from some upper range vocals. Do not mistake this for me saying that St. Vincent couldn't scream, however, as that is definitely not the case.

As far as the demo material goes, both demos are of above-average quality for demos. I already owned the Anthem demo, but the source tape for this one was of somewhat better quality than my played-to-death copy, and it is nice to have these songs in a cleaner sounding form. There is not a ton of difference between the demo version of these songs and those that made it onto the World Requiem album, but there are subtle differences. One of the most noticable things is that St. Vincent has a grittier, harsher vocal approach, which I think really works well. "He's A Killer", which of course morphed into "The Killer", is a prime example of where St. Vincent's vocals are actually superior in demo form. There is a bit of a tape problem on "No More Lies" on the demo, but this is the only real demo issue here. On the unreleased demo, the songs are again fairly similar, if a bit crunchier. I had a bootleg version of this demo and it was not in very good shape, but I listened to it because it contained a couple of songs not found elsewhere. "Armed For Action" is my favorite of these, but "Quiet Times" and "Fight For The Light" are pretty good, as is "Run For Your Life", although all are a bit predictable in lyrical content.

The live material is a bit hit-or-miss, basically due to the quality of the source tapes. All show the skill and tightness of the band, but I'll let you sort out your favorites from the seven live cuts here.

As you can see from the picture, my copy is autographed as I had pre-ordered this album from Roxx when it was first being discussed. Additionally, I also received the limited edition DVD (#65/100), which features seven songs taken from a show the band did. The production on the DVD is excellent and the video quality is actually very good considering its age. While I generally am not a huge fan of "watching my music", this was a nice touch, especially for the collectors.

The only thing missing from this collection is the lyrics to the songs, which would have been a nice touch but would have also increased the size of the already-6-page insert considerably. As it stands now, numerous promo photos and poster pictures are included here, as are band thank-you's, a band history, and a write-up from Heaven's Metal writer, Jonathan Swank.

Roxx Productions really outdid themselves here and, in my opinion, set the standard for what a career retrospective should look like. Hopefully other labels that attempt to release smaller bands' material will take note and follow suit, as this is just an awesome collection to have.

Rating: I think it's unfair to rate an entire collection like this based just on sound quality, production, etc., as the history is a huge part of this package. As such, this collector's set is definitely a crankable 10, even if the music contained ranges from a 6 to an 8.5...

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

DUFF McKAGAN "It's So Easy (And Other Lies)"--BOOK REVIEW



(c) 2011 Touchstone Books

McKagan is the third Guns member to publish his memoirs, along with Slash and Steven Adler, and it is by far the best read of the three.  McKagan and his co-writer Tim Mohr, have put together a comprehensive, very reader-friendly history of the Guns N' Roses bass player's life from before, during, and after the GnR experience.  His life as a drug addict, and as a recovering addict, is well chronicled, as are his exploits with what many consider to have been the most dangerous band in the world during the height of the Gunner's run.  Duff's views on the rise, the peak, and the collapse of the band is entertaining and informative without an overly inordinate amount of finger pointing, although his frustration and anger with Axl's behavior at the time is not hidden.  The Velvet Revolver years are also given the autobiographical treatment, but not nearly to the extent the GnR years are covered, although the on-again/off-again struggles with Scott Weiland are given a good dose of coverage here.  Additionally, McKagan talks about his Seattle punk roots (such fabulously named bands such as The Fartz and the Fastbacks), his new band, Loaded, and even his stint with the re-formed Alice In Chains is also touched upon briefly.  He also discusses his solo record, his unreleased solo record (some bitterness there!), and his one-off project called the Neurotic Outsiders with Steve Jones, Matt Sorum, and Johnathan Taylor. 

People not familiar with McKagan's story are likely to find themselves intrigued about Duff's forays into mountain biking, the martial arts, mountain climbing, marathon running, a return to college, and ventures in the business and writing worlds...all of which he found himself successful at to one degree or another.  Marriage, however, was something McKagan required multiple tries at before finding success and, as is made obvious in the book, he has finally found his soul-mate and his missing half and has become a happy, successful family man.

All three of the Gunner's books so far share similar stories and really don't diverge too much on the rise and fall of GnR, which is nice because it adds a lot of credibility to everyone's story that they remember things pretty much the same way.  (Obviously Adler doesn't have the information about the Illusions years that Slash and Duff have...).   It is obvious that McKagan is far more able to reconcile his feelings about Axl and the way things went down, and McKagan still considers the moody lead singer a friend to this day. 

There are a few pages of color photos from various points in McKagan's life, which I think are always a good inclusion.  These range from band photos to family photos and really help to shine a light on the man in the various worlds he has been a part of in his life.

I devoured the 350+ page book in less than 3 days and consider it an excellent read that any fan of Guns N Roses, or likely even Velvet Revolver, will want to have in their collection.

Rating:  A page turner, for sure....

Sunday, October 16, 2011

JEFF JONES "Spaced"



2010 XXX Records

  1. Queen Of Hollywood
  2. No Satisfaction Blues
  3. Hell To Pay
  4. Addiction
  5. Resurrecting
  6. Control
  7. Not Your Love
  8. Hate Me
  9. Miss Tragedy
  10. Bad Motor Girl
  11. Bad Love
  12. Underground
Jeff Jones--Everything

To the uninitiated, Jeff Jones was the driving force behind the late 1970's through mind-1980's hard rock group St. Elmo's Fire, and also part of the excellent underground sleaze act, Vamp LeSatat.  While neither one was exactly what would be referred to as a household name, both were top-notch bands as far as talent goes, and Jones' guitar playing was definitely head-and-shoulders above that of most players in the Hollywood scene, especially as far as playing the more melodic, often blues-influenced style that so many glam and hair bands abandoned in the early-to-mid 80's. 

Stylistically, Jones' the songs here run the range from Page or Blackmore-styled riffing to AC/DC or even early Priest-styled metal.  While this may seem a bit of an odd combination of styles and sounds, it is not entirely unexpected from a compilation album or older material, and it actually serves to keep the listener's interest piqued for what may come up next. 

My copy is an odd combination of a slip-sleeve/digipack thing, so there are no credits here and I have no idea who is playing on the rest of these songs if it is not Jeff all on his own.  This is a bit of a shame, to be honest, because the rhythm section on many of these songs deserves mention as they are a tight unit, especially on songs like "No Satisfaction Blues", where the driving rhythm is a huge part of the song for me.  If Jones is truly doing everything, as I am guessing he is, then it adds all the more to the talent level the guy obviously possesses and makes this stuff all the more impressive.  The vocals are generally performed in a gritty style, typically in a mid-to-lower register with a bluesy, sometimes sleazy feel to them, such as on "Queen Of Hollywood" or my personal favorites, the short, buzzing rocker "Bad Motor Girl" and the classic-Def Leppard sounding (musically, anyway) "Miss Tragedy".  "Hell To Pay" has a definite Bon Scott-era AC/DC feel from the guitar tones to the production style, while "Resurrection" again reminds me of High And Dry-era Leppard.


Nothing here is likely to blow you away as overly original, as most of this older material is very reminiscent of the sounds of the time.  However, fans of the late 1970's and early 1980's more melodic classic rock sound are likely to find a LOT to like on this disc.  As with all of the material Jones' XXX Records has been reissuing and releasing, the production is very solid and cleans up very well, making even these older songs an enjoyable listen.  I do wish the backing vocals were a bit higher in the mix on some songs, but I think this issue may be a result of some limitations in transferring this older material to CD from the original source tapes. This is a minor issue, however, and does not ruin any of the songs by any means.  I'm anxious for the next batch of songs from the Jones' vault to be released for me to get to take a trip back down musical memory lane with...

Rating:  Rock this at a solid 6.5

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

EXIT STATE "Black Veins"




(c) 2011 King Prawn Records/Rock Sector Records

  1. Enough Already
  2. In That Place
  3. Tonight Be Free
  4. Check Out The Crazy
  5. Circles
  6. Ten Years Later
  7. Stay
  8. Black Veins
  9. Wasted
  10. Out In The Rain
  11. All For You
  12. This Life
Roy Bright--Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Phil Ireland--Bass, Backing Vocals
"Texas" Peat Hicks--Drums
Adam Stephenson--Lead Guitars

Exit State is a band that I knew virtually nothing about upon receiving this disc in the mail.  After doing a bit of research, it appears this is the band's second release and that they achieved at least moderate popularity with their debut album, Death Of A Rockstar.  While this is not normally the type of band that I would seek out on my own, Exit State is not a bad band by any means, nor is this a terrible album.  It has some very strong moments, to be honest, but it suffers from a couple of things, which I will touch on shortly.

First the good.  Exit State plays a catchy brand of alternative-influenced hard rock with some punkish overtones.  Sounds like an odd mix, I know, but it works for the most part, especially on the up-tempo numbers where the band's energy really comes through.  The guitar tandem on this album of Bright and Stephenson is particularly adept at playing this style of music and seem to feed off of each other.  Unfortunately, according to the band's bio page on the Rock Sector website, Stephenson has left the band for personal reasons and a permanent replacement has not yet been found.  Hopefully a new member won't disrupt the creative balance of this band because when they are on, they are definitely a solid band.  Ireland's bass is also strong, especially evidenced on songs like "Stay" where his lines are right out in front, driving the tempo of the track, which I think is one of the strongest on the disc.  "Out In The Rain" is another song where the bass can really be felt.

"Raw" is a good term to describe the sound of much of this album, but not in a negative way at all.  There is no feeling of overproduction here, yet all of the instruments are easily heard in the mix most of the time.  There are a couple of songs that come across as a bit muddy, such as the album closer, "This Life", but this is the exception rather than the rule.  Most of the songs are not overly complex, but I think that also adds to the emotion and grit of the disc in general, and it makes for some catchy moments. 

As far as stand out cuts go, the ballad, "All For You" is easily the best track here and is one of those emotional moments where, despite the fact that Bright's vocals are not overly polished, the power of the lyrics and his delivery comes through very well.  The solo on this song, which is one of the real highlights of the album, is provided by guest axe-slinger Gizz Butt from Prodigy.  Not being a fan of Prodigy in even the smallest way, I was surprised to hear something like this solo coming from his guitar, and I would have loved to have heard more songs like this.  Other good songs include the title track, "Enough Already", and the really catchy "Check Out The Crazy".

At 12 songs, I feel the album is about three tracks too long.  There is definitely a small handful of lesser songs here (dare I say "filler"), and I think that if the album was pared back to 9, or maybe 10, songs it would stay fresher.  As it is, there are a couple of tunes, that kind of get lost in the wash and sound too samey with the rest of the album.  In fact, it took me four or five spins through before I could even really recall hearing a couple of the songs, which is not really a good sign.  Still, this is a worthwhile effort and the high points, such as "All For You" do a good job of making up for some of the lesser moments.

Rating:  Rock this at 6

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

CINDERELLA "Caught In The Act"




(c) 2011 Mausoleum Records

  1. The More Things Change
  2. Push, Push
  3. Hot And Bothered
  4. Shelter Me
  5. Night Songs
  6. Somebody Save Me
  7. Heartbreak Station
  8. Last Mile
  9. Coming Home
  10. Fallin' Apart At The Seams
  11. Don't Know What You've Got
  12. Nobody's Fool
  13. Gypsy Road
  14. Shake Me
DVD Tracklisting
  1. More Things Change
  2. Push Push
  3. Sick For The Cure
  4. Make Your Own Way
  5. Night Songs
  6. Back Home Again
  7. Somebody Save Me
  8. Heartbreak Station
  9. Coming Home
  10. Fallin' Apart At The Seams
  11. Love's Got Me Doin' Time
  12. Drum Solo
  13. Love Gone Bad
  14. Don't Know What You've Got
  15. Nobody's Fool
  16. Gypsy Road
  17. Shake Me
  18. Shelter Me
Tom Keifer--Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Jeff Labar--Guitars
Eric Brittingham--Bass, Vocals
Fred Coury--Drums, Violin


Perhaps one of the cruelest stories of the 1980's hard rock/hair metal era is the sad situation Cinderella finds themself in today. As the story goes, Cinderella was pretty much roped into a brutal contract when they first signed and, more than 25 years later, the band finds themselves still trying to find a way out of it without having to give the label what could end up being the band's last chance for new material.  As a result, we are constantly fed (and in this case, re-fed) a steady stream of greatest hits and live compilations from one of the VERY few bands who has not changed line-ups, still tours on a regular basis, and still maintains a solid fanbase.  Despite Tom Keifer's on-again/off-again vocal problems and the occasional side-project from the members, Cinderella is still Cinderella and they are still one of the best (in my opinion) bands of the genre or that generation. 

While Cinderella is unable to record for anyone else, apparently other labels do not have the same problem releasing Cinderella's stuff, as it seems a different label pops up with a new Cinderella release every year or two.  Now it is Mausoleum's turn.  The sad thing is that Caught In The Act is simply a repackaging of Live At The Key Club that was released on Dead Line Records back in 1999.  That's right...it's the same show, recorded originally in 1998, so if you already own the Dead Line version, the only possible reason to pick up Caught In The Act is the bonus DVD.

Now, the DVD itself is really nothing all that special as far as the quality of the performance, unless you have not been fortunate enough to see Cinderella live.  The DVD is well-enough recorded, I guess, but it is pretty much what you would expect...Cinderella performing live at the Key Club.  What makes this DVD special is the tracklisting, as the band performs some very obscure songs that I have not found on any other live recordings anywhere else.  "Sick For The Cure", "Make Your Own Way", "Love's Got Me Doing Time", "Love Gone Bad", and one of my all-time Cinderella faves, "Back Home Again" all find their way onto the DVD of this set.  These songs are the ONLY reason I would buy this package, and even then it stinks that I have to WATCH them, rather than listening to them.  Had the label transferred the audio from the DVD and made a full two-disc live album, I would have been ecstatic, as we would at least be getting some new audio material that hasn't been packaged and re-packaged a thousand and one times.  Sadly, it was not to be....

The sound quality is pretty good overall, and Tom's voice was still fairly strong at this time...not yet having gone through the problems the early 2000's would bring...so it is a pretty good live CD, just not anything that you probably don't already own.  If you don't have either version, go ahead and snap this one up for the DVD if for no other reason.  However, as I stated earlier, if you already have Live At The Key Club, unless you are a person who likes to watch their music instead of listening to it, I wouldn't bother to replace it.

Rating:  Rock the CD at 5.5 simply because it is a rehash. The DVD gets a crank-worthy 7 due to the rare songs contained.

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