Braid
Lucky To Be Alive
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Braid
Lucky To Be Alive
Glue Factory, 2000
RiYL: The Promise Ring, Get Up Kids, Weezer |
Lucky To Be Alive is a pleasant but profoundly unnecessary document of one of the Chicago shows from Braid's last tour. While it does make me wish I had gotten to go to one of these shows -- I only saw Braid once, and before I was really familiar with their stuff -- it doesn't exactly make me want to listen to it more than just the once. Braid don't really play their songs any differently here than they do on the studio records, and since you obviously can't see them playing while listening to a record, there's no additional magic captured here.
And if you're going to release a live album, it could sound better than this. The bass and vocals are extremely muddy throughout Lucky To Alive, and the drums sound distant and muffled. The guitars are loud but trebly, and the crowd is unable to shut up during songs. I know you were excited for the last shows, kids, but some people paid to hear the band sing, thank you very much. Why it's necessary for the band to drop out and let the audience sing every memorable line from its best songs beats the hell out of me.
Song selection-wise, there's not much to complain about -- the vast majority of Lucky is drawn from Frame And Canvas and contemporaneous singles like "Forever Got Shorter" and "Please Drive Faster." "First Day Back" is here, and "What A Wonderful Puddle" -- the hits, basically. Nearly nothing from albums numbers one and two. And barely any Chris Broach songs, either, although I seem to be the only person in the world who actually likes Chris's singing.
As Lucky To Be Alive can't really acquit itself in musical terms, one would hope it served as more of an emotional souveneir, but Bob Nanna's dedicating a song "to all the Capricorns in the audience -- 'cause it's called 'Capricorn'" and saying "thank you very much" a whole lot doesn't move me at all. Or at least not my heart. The fans will probably want this record, but if the question is whether Braid is really justified in doubling their number of available full lengths (from three to six) in less than a month, the answer is no.
Oh, wait, forgot one at the beginning there. The Who's Live At Leeds. Now there's a live album. Lucky To Be Alive is lucky to even be named in the same review.
WESTERN HOMES |