Legendary Pink Dots "Live at the Metro" SPV Poland SPV 150122 1999 (66:21)
Spike (4:39)
Aarzhklahh Olgevezh (5:17)
Green Gang 98 (8:24)
Zoo (5:40)
Saucers Over Chicago (10:08)
Fates Faithful Punchline (5:08)
Pain Bubbles (8:22)
Grain Kings 98 (9:06)
Andromeda (9:37)
Edward Ka-Spel - voice, keyboards, The Silverman - keyboards, Edwin Van Trippenhof - guitar, occasional bass, Ryan Moore - drums, occasional bass guitar, Niels Van Hoornblower - horns, flute, Live Sound - Frank Verschuuren, Paul Newman - drums on "Aarzhklahh.."
Overall impression: good. Finally ... a live record from the '90s! I believe the Pink Dots are one of those bands you have to see live to fully appreciate. As brilliant as they are on record, they're an even more fulfulling experience to take in live. Every band member is an essential part of the music and each flawlessly and effortlessly play their part to perfection. They have a unique sound that borrows in varying degrees from psychedelic, ambient, progressive rock, experimental, electronic and folk musics ... blend it all together and add Ka-Spel's *very* unique voice and you have LPD. I was fortunate enough to be at two shows about a week before this show (11/11/98 Chicago) so this cd helps bring back some fond memories. The tracklisting is a good assortment of songs spanning the various styles and history of the Dots: a new song ("Pain Bubbles"), a few from 1998's "Nemesis Online", a few from 1997's "Hallway of the Gods", and four updated classics. The real treats here for me are Aarzhklahh Olgevezh, Green Gang 98 (with extended guitar intro and chaotic "freakout" section), Saucers Over Chicago (with an always amusing spoken story from Edward, different each night), Fates Faithful Punchline (achingly beautiful horn work by Niels) and Andromeda (which is similar to the updated version on 1998's "The Pre-Millennial Single" and is what I figure will be the closest I'll ever come to seeing 60's Pink Floyd). I love this stuff. Some minor quibles that keep this disc from being perfect: "Green Gang 98" and "Zoo" have some sound issues, a clipping/skipping sort of sound that may be due to how the cd was mastered. It's annoyingly noticeable on headphones, not so much on a home stereo though. "Grain Kings 98" isn't quite as tight as it should be and Edward's vocals are muffled through much of it. And, then there's the missing songs from the set: "Princess Coldheart", Dissonance", "Cheating the Shadow", "Blacklist", "Casting the Runes" and "Hellsville" ... understandable since it would have required two discs for the entire set. The booklet is nicely done with 14 pages of color live shots of the band. "Live at the Metro" isn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it. Sing while you may ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.