Amazing disc for fans and newcomers alike.
Nowhereman | Boston, MA USA | 07/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If youre a Handsome Family fan, you'll love this disc. The live arrangements sound great (although there's a bit too much reverb on Brett's voice), and the track selection is wide and varied, doing a good job of covering the first 3 discs. If anything, the live versions of the songs sound a bit *too* much like the studio versions which is a good and bad thing, really. But the real kicker here are the tracks of banter and anecdotes between Brett and Ronnie. They run the gamut from poignant to the downright hilarious, and are almost worth the price of the disc alone.If you're new to the Handsome Family, this disc is a great introduction if you don't want to pick one particular studio album beforehand. While there's not much from their most recent album "Twilight", this live disc does a great job of cherrypicking some choice tracks from their first 3 discs that really give you a great feel for the Handsome Family sound. Lots of reverb, cheap keyboard drumlines, soft floaty organs, and deep accoustic guitar flutter along beneath Brett's sonorous voice singing backwoods death poems. There's really not much else like it today, and it only tenuously fits in the "insurgent country" movement it gets lumped into. Do yourself a favor and check it out."
Creepy country
J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 10/19/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"country-tinged minor key gothic dirges with a low baritone singer and minimal instrumentation make this an intriguing and fairly creepy listen. it's like drinking beers with johnny cash and nick cave. things are not all sad and grim though, as the quirky duo show their lighthearted humor in the onstage banter. this cd suffers from an overlong tracklist. could have packed a better punch if trimmed down to about half the length; but this live album contains some wonderful and dark tunes and is a good representation of one of america's indie country bands."
Gotta have their live show
claytonmaxwell | lexington, virginia | 07/15/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"helluva an album. we've always known the sparks were great live and it's so nice to have a clean, mastered album that captures a sort of greatest hits effort of songs as well as hilarious rennie on stage. and brett's voice is so powerful. great record, love it."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1