After the release of 'Louder now' which ended up convincing me that Taking Back Sunday was forever buried in my record collection, I wasn't very excited to hear the band's live recording of their set at the Bamboozle performed earlier this year in New Jersey. Their previous live release, 'Louder now: part two' only consisted of tracks from the latter studio album whereas this iTunes and Amazon exclusive is actually quite a good mix of their four full-lengths. Three songs from each album are being played, except for 'Louder now', again, which has four.
It's honestly a pleasure to start listening to this by hearing 'You know how I do'. 'Tell all your friends' 's perfect opener really is a great way to begin their set. Indeed, each "old" song is a good live moment. Guitars sound just like the studio recordings, drums sound much better than on the last record and Adam Lazzara's performance is almost flawless if you override his annoying singing on 'Error: operator'. Other good surprise, new addition to the band Matthew Fazzi does a great job on vocals. His voice tone is quite similar to former guitarist Fred Mascherino so it's not that shocking to hear him actually singing (and not only doing back vocals as he does on 'New again') and he deals with his solo parts quite well. The sound quality is great, you can hear both vocals and instruments perfectly well and the crowd is not muted during the songs. It may be a fest audience, but it's obvious the great majority of it are fans of the band and they make themselves heard all along the recording. The "Why can't I feel anything from anyone other than you?" on 'Cute without the "E" ' sing-along is just amazing. The subpar parts are the two poppy songs from 'New again', less energetic and featuring unsurprising handclaps and already heard "Hey! Hey!" sing-alongs. 'Liar (It take one to know one)' is a little boring too.
Their new material being far less interesting than their previous one, it's a good thing this live was recorded before the release of 'New again', as their setlist now includes more songs off the record. This performance is not a Taking Back Sunday best-of, but it's a fair, well-executed mix of the band's discography.
3.5/5
Recommanded if you like:
The All-American Rejects, Armor For Sleep, My Chemical Romance
Check also:
The Color Fred, Northstar, Smudge
www.myspace.com/takingbacksunday
(iTunes & Amazon, 2009)
The All-American Rejects, Armor For Sleep, My Chemical Romance
Check also:
The Color Fred, Northstar, Smudge
www.myspace.com/takingbacksunday
(iTunes & Amazon, 2009)
I discovered I already had a google account, my name now appears =)
ReplyDeleteI like pretty much TBS, as I'm big fan of groups with two voices. I never heard them playing live, Adam's voice appeared deeper to me than on their studio records.
This live performing enforced my position concerning TBS which is :
- one of my favourite albums & their best, from far : 'tell all your friends'
- still good album : 'where you want to be'
- a distraction : 'louder now'
- hope is back : 'new again'
As you said it, Matt Fazzi has easily found his place in the group, as his vocals are perfectly done.
I really appreciate the drums sound, notably on TAYF songs. They didn't interpret 'There's no I in team' too bad ^^
However, this live is not a must-have, it is a really basic one.
Anyway, even if 'new again' is not their best album, it gives me hope for the future (contrary to 'louder now' which was soooo dissapointing) !
I'll check Northstar and Smudge, as I don't know them.
Franchement, j'ai été agréablement surpris par ce live. Matt Fazzi s'en sort très très bien au niveau chant sur des chansons comme Make Damn Sure ou Cute Without The E. J'espère qu'on l'entendra plus sur leur prochain album.
ReplyDeleteSinon, j'ai bien aimé aussi la setlist. Beaucoup de chansons de leurs précédents efforts. C'est un plaisir de les entendre en live.
@Ben: Northstar are very good, check them out. Smudge's first EP ('StayFeelRegret') was very promising but the last one was very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI listened quickly to Smudge, nice but that's it.
ReplyDeleteI also listened to 'Broken Parachute' from Northstar. Well i have to say that i'm not a big fan after a first listening, it's kind of dashboard confessional, not my preferred band... but i'll listen one or two times more, as one listening isn't sufficient to make my mind.
Also, i'd like to talk quickly about Holding Onto Hope. It's a bit like Blessthefall (not talking of their last record) or Underoath. I discovered them on 'I am living' compilation (which is very good by the way) and I really appreciate them. their first album is avaiable at any price on myspace so check them out if u like this kind of emo...