I am a big fan of Strike Anywhere, so I quickly jumped at the opportunity to review this product. But what should I say about this release?
An unplugged live album featuring the well-known songs is a great idea in itself. However, in my opinion, the execution also needs to be right. The album was recorded at two different unplugged concerts, which already creates a noticeable difference between the various sets on the album. Overall, though, the sound quality is absolutely terrible, so it’s not too tragic that the second part of the album has even worse quality than the first. The rating can't really get any worse anyway.
Thomas Barnett's vocals are strong on a regular album, but in these recordings, he is sometimes drowned out by the audience, varies in volume, etc.
Additionally, you can clearly hear so many guitar flubs, the background vocals are often terribly off, and Thomas Barnett's voice sometimes cracks significantly.
Sure, some people might say that this is all somehow punk: bad recordings / emotions that are transmitted in the vocals and instruments / fans singing louder than the main performers...
The songs are also acoustically anthemic and captivating, but at least they should be played correctly. I (as a fan of the band) had to struggle through the album to listen to it until the end! Who on earth is supposed to buy this thing?
It seems to me that a release had to happen quickly, and they wanted to include everything without cutting any songs. However, you can't do that with such obvious mistakes from the instrumentalists. It also doesn’t sound well-mastered at all. And I’m not used to such half-baked products being released by a label like Bridge 9.
It could be that I received an absolute rough version; I only got the tracks as mp3s, so I can't say 100% if the physical copies turned out just as amateurish. But if the quality is the same, I strongly advise against purchasing it! This album isn’t even worth it for fans! Maybe for the somewhat deaf... Sorry guys!
