Search - Spock's Beard :: Don't Try This at Home: Live

A good disc, but it's a little limited.

Lord Chimp | Monkey World | 12/11/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Spock's Beard's bonbastic and challenging form of progressive rock translates very well to the live medium, because the band plays with incredible energy onstage. Neal Morse, the head honcho behind the band, is a brilliant entertainer, and this album ineffably captures and preserves the band's topnotch live performance. Sound quality is impeccable...about as good as a live album can get.If only the song selection weren't so limited. You get a pretty good variety, just not enough. Songs come only from the "Day for Night" and "Kindness of Strangers" albums. All the songs are good, sure, but when the album only clocks in at around 50 minutes, it leaves you wanting more. The live renditions of this disc's tracks are mostly predictable reiterations of the studio versions, but these guys put on a great show that keeps things interesting. (A lot of the vocal parts sound better with the live versions as well.) It's really something hearing "Gibberish" performed live, with those complex vocal sections.It's kind of disappointing, but all in all it's a good disc."

Hardly for Die-Hards

Zachary Hiwiller | 08/17/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had to respond to the reviewer who said that this album was for "Die Hards" and no one else.

It is just the opposite of that.

Spock's Beard wanted a live album to sell along their tour with Dream Theater that reflected what they were playing with them for new listeners to buy at the shows. That is what this album is. Primarily targeted for new listeners.

The other reviewers must be tired of Spock's Beard because I own all the studio albums but also think these live versions rock. Live at the Whiskey and NearFest was just a little shoestring operation of an album, and could hardly be sold on the tour. Plus it was a double album, and those are harder to sell."

Difficult-to-perform music live on stage

Sven B. Schreiber | Fürth (Bayern) | 11/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The highlights of this live CD are clearly "Gibberish" and the 20-minute epic "The Healing Colors Of Sound". The latter is one of my all-time favorites of Spock's Beard, so it is great to hear how the boys perform it live. "Gibberish" is one of their most difficult tracks, because it features highly polyphonic a-capella vocals in the tradition of Gentle Giant, e.g. "On Reflection". I was amazed to find out that Gentle Giant actually can perform this odd piece of music on stage, and now Spock's Beard dare to walk in their footsteps - and succeed!"