Live albums are always, at least somewhat, tailored to the "true fans" of a band. It's unlikely that anyone would start listening to a band by picking up their live album (except for, perhaps, the Dave Matthews Band or the Grateful Dead). For The Dears, who at this point had a variety of LPs and EPs released, a live album seemed like a good idea. I caught the band way, way back in 2001 or 2002 as an opening act for, I believe, The Weakerthans and Billy Bragg. I haven't had the chance to see them since, but I hear their live show is quite good and this album seems to bring that home to reflect that.
The album starts strong and carries this energy through to the double-shot of Who Are You... and 22: The Death... quite well. Including mostly songs from their (then) recently released LP, No Cities Left, the album takes a bit of a breather at track 6 before getting ready for the big finale. This is, for me at least on this listen, what kept the album from being a four-star selection: while I'm usually a fan of 10+ minute proggy- spacey- guitar jams, the 14-minute intro to (what is otherwise) a stellar version of Pinned Together, Falling Apart, seems both out of place and overly long for me. It was probably quite impressive to have seen live, but it didn't translate well to the CD for me; at least if it was a separate track, the listener could skip it when they weren't in the mood for it.
Overall, it's still a great live album. It's got that live feel, with just a bit of crowd noise at certain places to remind you that this isn't a studio album. I could always nit-pick about the track selections, especially since I believe the whole concert was longer than this, but that's always the case with live releases. If you're a fan of the band, this is certainly worth a listen; if you're new to them, then you'd be better off starting with either No Cities Left or Gang of Losers.
| Recommended track(s): | Atonomy; End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story; 22: The Death of All the Romance |
| Worth another listen? | Yes! |
| Overall rating: | Three-and-a-Half Stars |
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