Link: Old 97’s
The Inside Pulse:
Sometimes a great live show makes for a not-so-great live album. The “off label” issue is the first indication, and by the third song of the second disk it’s confirmed: this is one of those occasions.
The Old 97’s make it clear with this collection of tracks that the band knows how to stir up a crowd, that the audience knows the words, that there is a deep catalog of Old 97’s fan favorites, and finally, that this album could have been much better. The song list is a fine overview of every one of the Old 97’s six studio albums, but the technical execution of the songs shows that not only is the band past their prime but that the tactics that they use get the crowdy all rowdy (loose phrasing, yelled lyrics, letting the crowd take lines) also hurt the experience for the disk-buying public. This first disk starts strong, with several cuts improving on album versions that never sounded quite right, but near the end of disk one, the band seems more concerned with creating a party atmosphere than providing a lasting document on CD. It should be so, and I’m sure the audience for these shows had a great time, but the effect doesn’t carry through your speakers.
Old fans, new converts and the just curious should all proceed with caution. This disk, unlike better live disks by other artists, is a highly uneven introduction to the catalog and the track list might have been best limited to the songs they needed to refresh due to less than perfect studio versions.
Positives:
Some tracks are well done. There’s a decent 72 minutes here and a single disk would have been a great decision that would have seriously change the tone of this review.
If you’ve looking for a “best of the Old 97’s” you’d use this track list as a starting place. You’d want to use the album cuts in most cases, but you’d use most of these titles.
Some of the cuts are more raw live than on some of the overproduced later albums. Those tracks needed this treatment.
Negatives:
Too many of other tracks are far worse than their studio versions. In those cases, this seems more like a bid to cut down on bootlegging, and releases put out with that intention are rarely winners.
This release screams “swan song,” but so did the last one, so you never know. Neither is a fitting end.
It’s really for “super fans” only. It isn’t worth the time for anyone else.
Cross-breed:
The Clash and Jimmy Buffet.
Reason to buy:
You love everything by this band and are prepared to forgive some of the nonsense to not have to listen to the cheesy intro to “Designs on You.”
