Scream In Blue - Live

Reviewed in Wilson and Alroys' Reviews

With explosive performances and consistently strong material, this may well be the best live album ever recorded by an 80's rock band. It's a compilation of performances from assorted concerts, mostly from 1989 - 1990, but with some material from as far back as 1982. Throughout, the band's ragged, emotional approach is thoroughly engaging and often devastatingly cathartic - no studio recording could possibly have captured their amazing intensity in live performance. Because most numbers are powered by Garrett's out-on-the-edge vocals and Moginie and Rotsey's arpeggiated, distorted, cross-talking guitars, it erases any memory of the synth and orchestra affectations that mar some of their 80's albums. None of the material is new, but a couple tunes might be relatively unfamiliar ("Progress" and "Hercules," both from Species Deceases), and the others represent their loudest and most passionate rock songs ("Read About It," "Brave Faces," "Sometimes," etc.) - even the instrumental title track is redeemed by a taut performance. And to top it all off, there's a remarkably quiet, bonus acoustic performance of "Burnie" that will pleasantly surprise you after the official track listing ends.

Rating: ****

John Alroy