|
The main Association page is LIVE...
Death
Live Album Score: * 1/2
Who's ready for a live album from the greatest pop band of the '60s, The Association?!!! ........... (OK, try to find a soundbyte of a cricket chirping to play, and you can get the appropriate mood going.) Not only are there not enough Association fans in the world with any desire hear a live album, they go and make this a double live album (all compressed to a single compact disc). That's right, folks. This is 80 minutes worth of The Association Live! Let me ask you something: ARE YOU AS EXCITED AS I AM?????
That sarcasm comes from sitting through this monstrosity three times all the way through. Now let me go onto answer the question that's undoubtedly formulating in your brain: What's so dang awful about it?
You might be thinking that I'm just harping over the fact that these live version are nowhere near as good as the superior quality of the studio cuts. Well, that's much of it! With a band like The Association who aren't exactly known for their instrumental virtuosity, you'd expect there to be nothing special about the live versions that you couldn't pick up from the studio. The real damning factor of this album is TALKING they do in between the performances. In fact, this is attribute of this album is so dang awful that I'm going to devote the entire next paragraph to discuss it.
These guys have NO sense of humor. They think they're funny, and so they come off as horribly obnoxious. Now, I've previously stated that I like hearing the band talk to their audiences in live albums. I still hold that to be true. More than anything else, it's interesting to hear how a musician's talking voice sounds like, but I also like to get a better taste of their personality. BUT if these guys are going to make bad jokes, then I don't want to hear 'em. Shut up and sing, hippies!
That's not the only reason that Live is such a big failure. They make some pretty horrible track decisions. Who honestly wanted to hear them play bland songs like "I'll Be Your Man," "Goodbye Forever," "Blistered" and "Remember?" I couldn't even recall these songs until I pulled up the studio albums and remembered why I didn't like those songs much in the first place. At the same time, these guys don't exactly have a rich and extensive back catalogue to choose from! This was a compelling reason to just make this a single album --- if you really had to release a live album at all.
The only significant compliment I'm willing to give them is their work with Bob Dylan's folk ditty "One Too Many Mornings." That's pretty freaking awesome, and they made a very good decision by opening the album with it. Well, as long as you're willing to forget the real opening track of backstage chatter, "Dreamgirl," exists. ... While you're at it, you'd might as well this album doesn't exist. I can't say there are many more useless live albums than this...
Track Reviews
Dreamgirl D
This is the kind of nonsense studio chatter that doesn't actually have much value. The sound is canned and you can hardly hear what they're doing anyway. Just get to the concert already. Luckily they get around to it, and the audience applause...
One Too Many Mornings A
They start their concert with a great Bob Dylan cover! This was originally on his straight protest folk album The Times They Are A-Changin' and of course this version is much more lush. It might even be better, but I can't commit to that opinion right now. This is a rabble rousing concert song for such a wimpy band!
Along Comes Mary B-
Now that they acknowledged their roots, it's time for them to start playing their BIG HITS. And what better one to play than this classic? The group sounds crisp and energized live. Honestly, this is to the point where I think this is quite a bit better and more crisp than the studio version. How lovely! ... But the worst thing about this track is EASILY the chatter. What a load of ridiculous nonsense! They make their audience touch their neighbor and tell them "I love you." I always hate it when performers make me do this audience participation crap. It's one thing actually being in the audience, but it's a completely different thing having to listen to this. It's utterly pointless. This wouldn't be so bad if any of the band members were witty, but they're not. What makes it worse is they think they're witty. ... Oh, just do the freaking music.
I'll Be Your Man D+
This is their Byrdsian knock-off from their debut album. I'm not a huge fan of this, but I like hearing their vocal stylings. I didn't like the melody in the studio version, and it hasn't appreciated with time! The song was average enough, but they screw everything up at the very end by going through these awful psychedelic vocal ramblings (consisting of every member mumbling off whatever into their microphones). That was enough for this to be knocked down several points! ... Just play the hits, guys, and I'll smile politely.
Goodbye Columbus A
That great title-song from that pleasantly useless soundtrack album! This is certainly one of the group's finest songs, and they play it almost exactly like the single version. This version is slightly rawer and more energetic, but it's sloppier. There's an equal trade-off there!
Let's Get Together C+
Is their take on the Youngbloods' smash hit. It's quite a bit more slow than the original version is and it's full of their frilly vocal embellishments. These new changes, I assume, were meant to make the song sound more contemplative, but it's just annoying. Sorry...
Wasn't it Bit Like Now A-
This time, they start their track with their unwitty repetoire. They talk about the weird connections between the '20s and the '70s. Yeah, just sing the hits guys! All that said, this little bit is marginally interesting. Except they contradict themselves when they say that alcohol was illegal and marijuana was legal in the '20s and it was the opposite in the '70s. I thought they were talking about things that are different? ... OK, let's talk about the live version of that great song from Insight Out. They perform this one particularly well. They even have a great live horn player! There's a bit of sloppiness here (and a pretty bad bit of distortion), but it ain't supposeda be perfect.
Never My Love A-
For my money, this was the best song from Insight Out. The melody is completely intact here, and their vocal stylings are surprisingly fun and bold to hear them perform like this live. The original was much more touching and personable, but this seems more energetic and vibrant for some reason. (Not that the live version is actually better than the studio cut.)
Goodbye Forever D+
This is a very sloppy rendition of a song that I wasn't too hot on to begin with. Granted, I do appreciate that this is more of a heavier rock song, and these guys are (of course) more known for their soft-rock. Well, maybe that was the problem! The melody isn't that interesting to me, and their guitarists don't do much to make this sound delightful in the instrumentation sense. Hm.
Just About the Same C
This song didn't appear on any of their studio albums --- it's a highly percussive work that they did with their original producer in hopes that it would get chart success. The single verison is OK but it's trite and bland. These guys introduce the song with annoying studio chatter consisting of some members of the band saying the song title as fast as they can. They sound like they're being cute --- tell me, does anyone like hearing that??
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You B+
This is an old folk song that Joan Baez once covered. I know this, because I reviewed a bunch of Joan Baez albums for no apparent reason. Oh their corny sense of humor --- one guy says they've been performing this song for five years, and another guy responds "It's a long song." That sounded unrehearsed, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. I think the reason they had to introduce the song like that was because super-famous rock band Led Zeppelin also covered this song for their debut album. So they want to make it clear that it was their idea first! Somehow this version uses more electric guitars than the Zeppelin version throughout! Plus, there's the inclusion of jazzy horns, funny rhythm guitars --- it's very psychedelic. Zep-heads would certainly find this interesting.
Seven Man Band (A.K.A. Six Man Band) B+
Apparently one of them reproduced! Isn't it bad karma to change around the lyrics of your songs? Especially if that means adding in another syllable where it doesn't belong? Anyway, this track never appeared in a studio cut --- it was a single. This must be one of their better songs --- I like that Bealtes-esque bass-line, and the melody is quite good, I think. The studio cut is considerably more clean and well-cut. They also don't seem to be albe to adequately reproduce the original guitar solo with the same verve.
The Time is Today C-
This was the worst song from their best album. Why they chose this over any of the other songs is beyond me! It begins with some very monotonous drumming, and some guy plays a flute. Talk about snooze-fest!! ... Yeah, it's the same old boring song... You can use this three minutes to catch up on your sleep or something.
Dubuque Blues B-
Oh gosh. Quit making jokes. You're not funny. Even the audience seems to be laughing out of politeness. Some one starts off by telling us that this song is about a town in Iowa, in the United States, in the world ... That sounds like an obnoxious joke I would make! Fortunately, they start to sing. Again, this is a funny pick for the album... the melody isn't very inspiring and they just repeat the same freaking thing over and over again. Granted, this live version rocks quite a bit more than the studio version, so at least this has that going for it. The gruff vocal performance sounds pretty passionate, which is a stark contrast to the more vocal harmony oriented original. For once, this is a slight improvement.
Blistered D-
OK, this was just a BAD pick for the live album. They're playing what they think are good choices, but the original version was bland and unexciting. This version is bland and SLOPPY. To make matters even worse, they make some more horrible jokes, and the audience isn't even laughing much... Geez...
What Were the Words D-
This was their attempt at country-rock from their epyonymous 1969 album. That was a bland song anyway without much of a compelling melody. What made this turn from a mediocre to a *bad* song was a really really really really horribly played slide guitar. It grates on my ears. What were they thinking?
Remember D-
They're making such strange picks. Why this obscure song from their debut album and not one of their wonderful tracks from Birthday? Is there any reason they're doing this to me? I know it's late, but I'm not ready to go to sleep yet!! The melody is overly simple and devoid of hooks. They're keeping the instrumental quiet and calm hopefully to make this sweet and captivating, but you sort of need atmosphere and interesting chord progressions for that...
Are You Ready For That?C-
I'm not sure where this song came from --- I don't think it's very good. The melody is heavily involved but nothing catchy at all... mhmhmhmhmhmhmhm... The instrumentalists try well enough to make this hard-rocking, but there aren't exactly any Jimi Hendrixes or Jimmy Pages in this group. There's a guitar solo, but it's pretty bland and generic... Yeesh. The best thing about the song is the trumpet we hear lightly in the background. If that's any hint at all, maybe pure rock 'n' roll wasn't your real specialty.
CherishB
OK here's the proof! Remember their big old, beautiful hit from the debut album? Yeah, that's here in all its glory! As you might have guessed, the only reason this particular track doesn't get a higher score is because of the long-winded introduction. They're telling us that it's a "beautiful love song." Thanks --- I never heard this song before, so I really needed you to tell me that. It's also not too modest to compliment your own song before you sing it, but whatever... Anyway, the studio version is so much more superior. The most compelling aspect of the original was the thick atmosphere, so this live version is that much less compelling.
Requiem for the Masses C+
This isn't one of their best songs either, but it's kind of fun to hear them sing that Medieval chorus bit live. They do vocals much better than they usually do their instrumentals. It was an interesting song that was featured at the end of Insight Out. It's another questionable choice, but at least I don't feel the need to complain about it much here. It gets pretty boring at the end, and it sounds much more prententious hearing them do this live...
Windy B
At least this was one of their big hits. I just happen to have the opinion that this wasn't a great song for them either. Certainly much more appropriate for this album than "Requiem for the Masses" and "Remember" for example. So, I'll give them a mild thumb's up here.
Enter the YoungB+
This is one of the group's best songs, but this isn't nearly as invigorating as the studio cut. They don't do anything differently except this is much sloppier and the instruementation sounds less compelling.
If you've ever actually heard this album, then I think you'd better send your thoughts about it here.
|
