In Myself: Loreena McKennitt

Finding a band which is good in the studio ain't that a hard task, but finding a band which has the ability, desire and talent to pull of a truly great live performance is a far more daunting task.

In fact, I like to believe that a great band is one who can perform just as well, if not better than a studio album in a live concert situation. It really helps define a reputation for a band; it creates standing stone if you will.

A great live performance must bring some sort of magical ambiance to the sound of the band and their respective songs. They should slightly differ performance to performance; perhaps benefiting slightly reworked guitar solo, or a different vocal performance with the possibility of reworked lyrics. That in my humble opinion is what defines a live performance. But of course, what is also largely important in any live recording is the sound quality and thus is very important in securing all musical notes at an equal volume while retaining a degree of clarity. And last, but certainly not least, the concert they were recorded in - open, closed, length, width and etc all make the difference.

Anyhoo, now that I've given a brief explanation of the my expectations, it's time to talk about a variety of live recordings from my personal favourite bands:

U2 - "Rattle & Hum"

R&H stands out as one of the finest live recording from the Irish rock band that is U2 and features a number of excellent performances and even a few new songs unheard on previous studio albums. Good sound quality too.

Loreena McKennitt - "Nights from the Alhambra"

A recently released album, "Nights from the Alhambra", is one of the great live recordings of all time. Not only because the performance is fantastic - better than the studio albums - but because the sound quality is beyond compare. Mind you, such a music style is ultimately easier to record in terms of clarity when compared to such a band like Rush or U2 which obviously belt out loud rock.

The Fixx - "React"

Unfortunately, I think "React" is one of the weaker live albums from my many favourite musicians. The vocal performance is great as Cy Curin insists on signing various songs in a different cue and while the actual instrument performances are no less impressive, a number of the songs on this record seem to lack the intensity I expect. Song such as "Stand or Fall" are brilliantly recorded and performed, but songs such as "One Thing Leads to Another" are kind of half arsed. Nevertheless, for a hardcore Fixx fan, it's most definitely an album worth owning.

Rush - "A Show of Hands"; "All the World's A Stage"; "Rush in Rio", "R30", "Grace Under Pressure Tour"; "Exit Stage Left" and "Different Stages".

Oh boy, where should I start? Well, with six different recordings to choose from, I suppose I can start by choosing a favourite. That's easier said the done though. Honestly, the first deciding factor will be what era of Rush you most prefer; after all, these recordings cover the '70's, '80's, 90's and '00's.

But you know, one problem which a great deal of live recordings from Rush have always had is weak sound quality. As a result, many of their recordings have a phased out sound where the vocals remain percise, but the drums, guitars (bass, acoustic and electric) as well as synthesizers are faded out. It leaves the recordings - despite the excellent performance - lacking intensity; almost if you're listening to the music with a pair of ear plugs. That's not to say they all have that problem though, 1984's GUP Tour soundtrack remains as the only '80's recording to not suffer from faded out instruments. Although, whilst it has a lots of intensity and great performance, the sound quality is pretty jaded when you crank it up. You can hear the speakers blaring and crackling. It doesn't ruin the entire CD, but if it were better, you'd have perfection. But then again, you can't blame 'em for something recorded in the mid '80's (lack of technology and what-not).

ASOH, ESL, ALTWAS are yet again victims of somewhat crummy recording devices. Suffice to say, the later in time one searches for live recordings the better the quality becomes and thus is the why the best live Rush recordings are the most recent three - recorded through out '94, '97, '02, and '04.

The R30 recording is, in all definition, biblical. It's clean, crisp and great, yet it's still not my favourite. "Rush in Rio" is arguably greater still as it's louder while boasting what is perhaps an even better performance. Thing is though, the sound quality is pretty choppy in certain areas. And Additionally, Geddy's vocals suffer the same fate as in areas they are almost non existent.

With that all being said, we are left with "Different Stages". And make no mistake, DS is a fantastic recording. It is worth taking note of the world class performance and superb recording quality. It truly is amazing that such clarity (and quality) has been extracted from such a music style. It's all clear - drums, bass, guitars (both electric and acoustic). And I do think that has much do with the stadium that much of the disk was recorded in: Chicago's Amphitheatre. While the third disk, recorded in '78, is quite crummy, the other two (largely recorded in '97, but with a few songs picked from the '94 "Counterparts" tour) are just perfection. All of the songs have their own magical touch and sound to them - especially "Closer to the Heart".

Is it's the best live recording I've ever heard? Close, but not quite.

It's not the immediate winner because of this...

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider - "The Symphony Sessions"

Recorded on March 17th & 18th of 1989 in the Edmonton, Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, the SS is most probably the best live recording I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. You see, this concert wasn't recorded in a typical fashion of aiming to recreate the studio albums, but add a new degree of allure to the songs. Thus was achieved by teaming up with the "Edmonton Symphony Orchestra" to add an almost classical tone to their already great songs. And as a result, much of the synthesizers found on the original recordings were replaced with the Symphony's violins and what-not.

It really does add a magical and classical tone to their music. I reckon they sound even better here than they do on the studio albums and that my friends, is the magic of live performances. "Different Stages" is undoubtedly amazing, easily one of the best live performances I've ever heard, but the SS extracted magic I had quite simply not heard from Mr. Cochrane and his band. Songs such as "Avenue A", performed mostly unplugged, approach a new level of greatness. It doesn't just sound like an unplugged song, it sounds like a masterpiece; both the guitar notes and Cochrane's vocals bounce around the Jubilee like nothing else. And then you've got such excellent performances from "Lunatic Fringe" and "Can't Turn Back", the latter of which is un-earthly. Rather the usual 3 and half minutes, Tom and Ken (Greer) extend the song to a massive 9+ minutes and load it both bass and guitar solo's. Take my word for it, It's absolutely amazing.

Everything about this recording is perfect - performance, sound quality (recorded by $10,000 German speakers), Cochrane's vocals as well as the numerous back up vocals, etc. As to this day, it remains my favourite live recording.

I have yet to mention that on the weekend, I picked up a couple of new CD's (yes, I hate Ipod). Picked up the "Platinum and Gold Collection: Thompson Twins" - who by the way, are unearthly awesome - and Loreena McKennit's "Parallel Dreams". The latter of which I had a long while back, but as far as I recall It was taken to a pawnshop in search of money to feed myself.

Anyways.. Loreena McKennit is also, well, unearthly. If there was ever an Angel put on earth by God, she would most certainly be it. Her music most always puts me to tears; there's undoubtedly a certain magic about it.

The Mystic's Dream:

And while were on the subject of great music...Rush. Before you go on, yes, I do listen to other music than Rush, but there isn't a day where I don't listen to Rush. So, pipe off! In any event, I am as of right now listening to Rush's 1982 album, "Signals". It's an album often criticized for an overuse of synthesizers and lack of guitars, but I could not disagree more; in fact, I think "Signals" is one of their greatest achievements. But what I really cannot believe is how much this band has evolved. I mean think about it, 19 studio albums in 3 decades.

They never were a conventional band. For starters, it's almost unheard for a band to stay with the exact same members for such a time, let alone the fact that there are just three of them. That always shocks me, you expect at least four, but no, here is a band with just three members who are all master of their instruments, have been around for 3 decades and have experimented with countless styles - from Led-Zeppelin inspired metal, to hard rock, to synth, to pop, to rock to..whatever the hell you want to call it.

Who ever thought that in 1982, Rush would continue to release albums through out next 2 decades? Whoever thought that all band members at the age of 54, would release an album and tour in 2007? And honestly, I never thought that when they released "Snakes & Arrows", it would be as good as it is..

I'm absolutely struck dumb that they are this committed to making music. God damn, I love this band.