[redshifter]

the alice in chains "live" album is a compilation of their best performances during the 90's. if you are a fan of aic like me, you MUST own this album. although the performances span many years, the cd engineers managed to meld the songs together seamlessly. there are a few slight differences in sound quality or musician positioning, but it is a very homogenous presentation.

as to the actual performances, well they are on par with the best live albums ever. rush's "exit stage left" and the who's "live at leeds" come to mind. every song is executed to their respective studio version's standards, with the added power and personality of live music. the vocals are perfect, often better than studio versions. the guitar work, drums, bass are also top notch. perhaps because of the band's drug problems i was expecting less than perfect live versions, but i was wrong; way wrong.

the sound quality is good, despite a bit of distortion on a couple songs and some dynamic compression. overall stereo seperation is good, except for perhaps the bbc recordings. i wonder when those guys at the bbc will figure out how to record live music well. there is a little stage banter, the funniest being the intro to "queen of the rodeo" and the japan performance of "dirt" where layne the lead singer tries to remember some japanese phrases. don't pass up this live disc.

 

[acidtripwow]

Thanks Redshifter, I'm a fan of AIC also. I'll have to pick this up and take a listen. I like to listen and watch music DVDs and one of my favorites is AIC Unplugged. You should pick this up if have a DVD player.

 

[redshifter]

atw, i already have the cd of unplugged, but i'm sure the dvd is amazing. i like to plug my headphones into the dvd jack and listen to my music dvds that way. i think i'll pick up aic unplugged after work today!

 

[Brian]

Nice, didn't know that album was out!

Loved the unplugged too, always wished they'd release some live electric stuff.

Ummm...that's all.

 

[PTheD]

Looks like I am going to have to part company with the group here. I have listened to the Live album ~7 times through and I'm just not feeling it. I suppose it could be that I'm not a big enough fanatic for AIC. I like their other stuff, and respect its quality even more than I like it. But the live album just doesn't do it for me. I'm listening through a Logitech Z5300 multi-media setup and the Shure E2C right now. I think the performances need a can that helps out with live recordings more than this mid-heavy E2C. Anyway there are lots of reasons why I like the studio recordings more, mostly because the detail and melody of their music comes across much better in the studio albums, this is pretty much just alternative metal on the road in concert where their studio albums were artisticly crafted boarderline masterpieces just about every time.

 

[saturnine]

Holy crap, what we have just witnessed here today is the revival of a 4 year old thread

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturnine Holy crap, what we have just witnessed here today is the revival of a 4 year old thread

"Let's do the time warp again"

 

[PTheD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturnine Holy crap, what we have just witnessed here today is the revival of a 4 year old thread

Hehe, well its only like 3.8 years old.

 

[Enverxis]

its about the fourth AIC thread dug from its grave in the last 2 days :O

 

[redshifter]

pthed
too bad it didn't click with you. live sound is tricky, but it also has the slam of live energy, which for me aic's music really benefits from.

return of the living thread!

 

[PTheD]

I know that I listened to the Live album much too softly for any of the energy to be brought through the music. I listen at very subdued levels and I have the feeling that the Live album needs that loudness even more than a studio album, it would portray the human at the show effect of the music. That being said I like the clear defined alternative metal of the studio albums (Facelift, Dirt & Alice in Chains [Tripod]), I think it is a wonderful contrast of their acoustic work, maybe I am just biased towards liking the detailed acoustic stuff and when there "rocking stuff" is in question I just don't get it. I know that songs like Would and Man in the Box etc, have to be awesome show tracks, but I can't get over the loss of what I consider their artistic genious in the details being lost. With bands like Nirvana all their music was, was garage band rock out stizzuf, while Alice in Chains has a sence of melody and art to its music that live shows seem to makeit like trying to get kindergardeners to reproduce an Van Gogh with finger paint and have fun while doing it, sure the little kids may have fun (people may be rocking out) but all the truelly awesome and uniqueness isn't there.

Anyway, I suppose I am just being like an old person, always wanting refined when sometimes the balls out fun, play in the mud, and scream your head off is called for to.