I've never understood heavy metal live albums. You've already seen my views on the heavy metal concert itself. But officially released live recordings aren't even live recordings. The amount of studio fix-up is appalling, yet necessary to meet "market standards." Heavy metal bands don't change the songs from the studio versions (we're not counting the retarded 'hey hey hey hey' sing-along parts, are we?). It's unheard of these days for established musicians to debut new songs on a live album. So what exactly is the point? Two million photos of musicians on stage presented in a small glossy booklet? The drum solo immortalized for all time? Background crowd noise that's been shamelessly manipulated in the studio?
Live albums have one saving grace. Musicians with substandard production on older albums can have another chance to present that material with more clarity with less hassle since live albums are widely considered more acceptable than an album of re-recorded songs.
While I'm letting out my personal opinions, may I ask what the bloody point is of a band releasing the same song on numerous live albums?
Live albums are simply excess designed to draw a few more bucks from the faithful fan base with little new effort. They give no new material, and are completely dependent on the logo on the cover instead of the music inside. It's a permanent record of a non-heavy metal ritual in the first place. Heavy metal live albums are completely against the spirit of heavy metal. Who'd have thought?
Live albums have one saving grace. Musicians with substandard production on older albums can have another chance to present that material with more clarity with less hassle since live albums are widely considered more acceptable than an album of re-recorded songs.
While I'm letting out my personal opinions, may I ask what the bloody point is of a band releasing the same song on numerous live albums?
Live albums are simply excess designed to draw a few more bucks from the faithful fan base with little new effort. They give no new material, and are completely dependent on the logo on the cover instead of the music inside. It's a permanent record of a non-heavy metal ritual in the first place. Heavy metal live albums are completely against the spirit of heavy metal. Who'd have thought?
