For many people a live album is hardly worth bothering with. The performances can vary from being exact replicas of the studio recordings to blandly and barely played. However, a great live album is a thing of beauty, and any naysayers of the format are hard pressed to deny the electricity that jumps out of one’s speakers or headphones. Think of how enthralling Slipknot’s live material sounds, or how well crafted an Iron Maiden set-list can be and you’ll find the value in live recordings.Continue reading
The first thing that strikes you during the sumptuous, slow-build to opening track ‘Slip To The Void’ is how perfect the marriage of Alter Bridge and The Parallax Orchestra is; Myles Kennedy’s vulnerable, melancholic introduction is subtly embellished by the swells of strings before the dramatic introduction of the guitars and the rest of the band is powerfully bolstered for the heavy verse, with perfect accentuation following on the middle eight.