Live - Friday 13th product reviews

After hearing some of their songs on the TV music shows, I thought I liked their music. After playing these discs... I think I was wrong...

I LOVE THIER MUSIC!

The songs are still the chart-toppers we know and love, but seeing them performed live, with minimal 'studio tweaking', really shows the extra dimension that makes or breaks a band... that audience interaction, the personality of the band itself as a whole, that 'X factor' that makes all the difference between one-hit wonders and chart-topping music legends.

Even though I really enjoyed "This Love" when I first heard it, the live version carried something deeper, a feeling that gets weeded out, over equalised and drowned by studio mixing... it's the raw emotion of the human voice unmasked and bared to the listener, with all the subtle tones that speak volumes... You just can't beat a live performance, and short of attending a concert in the flesh, this is the best you will get... and it's pretty darned good indeed.

I loved the extra features on the DVD, such as the photo gallery, mainly because of the human factor it gave to the band. 6 guys full of personality, rich in real texture and expression, coming together to form a strange 6-part beast, with a single soul, one that brings music from inside each of them and blends it into a song that speaks as one. A hydra of music from the soul.

Overall, if you like real music, music that talks to the you inside you, that talks about real things in life, you should check this album out. This is not a band that just plays for the money, they play for the music, the song... they play because it's what they do and what they need to do, must do... and their music prospers because of it... and for that they have my total respect and admiration. And besides which, the music is just great in it's own right. If nothing else, it's good to play when you are alone at night, with the lights off, and just dance to it.