Naturally there’s briefings to obtain, banked up emails to
go through and a number of meetings to attend.
None of this, understandably, brings
any joy in the immediate aftermath of a holiday. Feeling more than slightly aggrieved, I turn
to my iPod for solace and select the band who’s very name expresses my sense of
frustration:
(# 702) Rage Against
The Machine – Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium (recorded 2000/released
2003)
RATH’s studio albums have frustrated me because I can sense
that within the grooves is a seriously hard rocking band whose impact is
diluted somewhat by their production. A
monolithic wall of sound envelopes these releases denying the songs the light,
shade, space, time and hence power to truly shine through. My copy of the Sleep Now In The Fire CD
single, though, contains about 4 live renditions of the band’s finest songs
sequenced faultlessly and played with maximum passion and impact. It greatly raised my hopes for this live
document of their final shows after their initial break up. Whilst it’s still my favourite album of
theirs (it’s effectively a greatest hits album of their original tunes) and
showcases the formidable band’s live power, I still get irked by the track
sequencing. The version of Bulls On
Parade here is the perfect opener with snatches of a low key drone before
impressively exploding into the actual track. Although there is nothing wrong
with most of the tracks that follow individually, unfortunately the audience
noise between tracks is kept for too long duration and many of the initial
tracks all come with little intros of their own preventing the momentum from
being built, let alone maintained.
Additionally, there is something wrong with the basic recording which
lacks the extreme power that was captured on the single I mentioned previously;
some of the tracks have a hollow sound where certain elements of the mix sound
louder than the other almost as though you were at a gig that took place at
Festival Hall.
(# 703) The Cruel Sea
– This Is Not The Way Home (1991)
This was the album in which the Cruel Sea hit upon the formula
that saw them become one of the most popular local acts in recent years. Originally a band that played instrumentals a
la The Dirty Three they gradually integrated the vocals and songs of Beasts Of
Bourbon front man Tex Perkins to the point that the sound expanded to include
Dale Hawkins/Creedence/Tony Joe White swamp rock, melodica flavoured reggae
Augustus Pablo like instrumentals , soul music, blues and straight out indie
rock. The opener It’s Alright (‘Cause
She Likes Me) appears to merge most of elements at once; Baby is an Hawaiian
flavoured ballad; Cry For Me sounds like a great lost Roy Orbison track taken
to a different locale by Perkin’s ragged vocals and the title track likewise
brilliantly takes surf music off the beaten track. The instruments are fun too, notably closing
track High Plains Drifter that somehow marries reggae and surf music
influences.
(# 704) The Cult –
Live Cult. London Marquee MCMXCI (recorded 1991/originally released in two
parts 1993/released into current form 2000)
This album has a bizarre history, especially for
Australians. Half of this absolutely
smoking live album was originally released with the Pure Cult compilation in 1993. Fans were then invited to buy the rest of the
show on a second disk by mail order. At
this point, I was not a Cult fan. A few
years later, I heard a BBC recording of an absolutely ferocious show from the
same era that I fortunately taped. By
the time I got Pure Cult the window for buying the second part had closed but
fortunately, the band’s Australian record company released a cut down version
of the total show, with an emphasis on tracks from the second half, with The
Cult’s self titled album. Once I got
access to a CD burner, I was able to assemble the track listing from the show
which a decade later I imported into my iPod.
Although, I would love a digital copy of the BBC performance I have on
tape, this is the ultimate Cult album with their best tracks , up to but not
including the Sonic Temple album, played at maximum volumes. The opening trio of tracks Nirvana, Lil’
Devil and Spiritwalker sees the band takes charge from the start and barely let
up. Subsequent tracks include a raging Zap City, Revolution,
Love, Rain and the killer finish of She Sells Sanctuary, Love Removal Machine,
Earth Mofo and Fire Woman. I suspect
that had the band released this instead of the compilation in 1993, things might
very much had turned out differently.
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