Customer Reviews

Dr Stan's Prescription 1

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start by saying if you are not very familiar with moe. or with the "wart's and all" series of live shows by this new york based jam band
you should NOT start with this record. There are many better examples of
this fantastic band, both live and studio.
Dr. Stans Vol. 1 is the first of the second series of uncut/as it happened live shows from the band, replacing the popular "warts and all" series. In the spirit of the famous "dick's pick's"(grateful dead) these albums re-create the live experiance by giving you the band mistakes/banter/feedback and all.
This particular show from the moe. archive features a 2004 performance from a caribbean cruise ship, which adds a decidedly pary-like vibe to the bands sound and set-list. Although nothing stands out as premiere example of what this band can do, there are some rarities and covers here that make this worth purchasing for the dedicated moe. fan. Of particualr instrest the appearance of "armageddon jig", "lost pirate jam", "interstellar overdrive"(pink floyd), "the weight"(the band), and a fantastic "turn on your lovelight"(grateful dead) right in the middle of a blazing "recreational chemistry". I think this interesting set list is probably the main reason "dr. Stan" selected this show for our listening pleasure.
Also included to fill the rest of this 3 cd volume is a set dating back to 1995 as the band opens for "Leftover Salmon". Sort of a neat "then and now" for harcore fans but nothing stunning here.
Overall a great addition to the complete moe. collection, but im giving it 3 starts because having been to alot of moe. shows i happen to know that Dr. Stan is holding back alot of what these boys can do. Of course maybe he likes it that way.

This set of jams did not do as much for me as other live Moe. Dr. Stan put together a solid set of Moe Jams. This lacked the true energy of Moe when they are 100% on. Warts and All Vol. 6 really rocks. I gave this one 3 stars as it will most likely be a while before I play it again. I love Moe and really dig the long live jams. There is a lot of Moe out there. This show was just not one of the better ones. Dr. Stan, please try again.

Dr. Phil.

I complain and complain that all the previous moe. live albums sounded alike and I complain that I want something new. Well, now that I got something new, I am going to complain.

THIS IS BY FAR THE WORST moe. LIVE ALBUM. It still isn't terrible, but I would highly recommend getting any of the others before this one. There are so many things wrong with this one.

According to the cover, this was recorded during a Carribean cruise in 2004. I don't know if they were actually on a ship at the time, but from the banter during the show, I am guessing they were. That may be why this is so strangely off.

So here are the things I don't like about this one:

-the sound quality is not as good as other moe. live albums

-the audience noise is cranked up so you can hear annoying audience cheering and whistling during some good musical interludes

-there must be 30 minutes of talking to the audience. Both CD 1 and 2 start out with 5 minutes of banter.

-there is filler at the end of CD2. I appreciate moe. trying to fill every minute of the CD. But, if you are going to do whole concert albums, you shouldn't add in music from another concert in the middle of it. It is OK to have the filler at the end of CD3, but not in the middle of the concert.

-the band's singing is really off. There is very little harmony. And the band just mumbles through some songs (even more than usual).

-the performance is not that stellar throughout the whole concert.

-song selection is poor and some songs are just boring. Lost Along the Way is not a very interesting song, and it features a very boring 7 minute jam at the end (as if moe. could do a boring jam).

-I bought this, because Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd instrumental) was listed as one of the tracks. But, they only play it for about 1 minute. They actually play David Bowie's Fame for a lot longer (and it is quite interesting) but do not credit it.

-The other covers they do are rather pointless (Turn on Your Lovelight and a boring The Weight).

-Yet another version of Buster. Buster must be on 75% of the live moe. releases. It is a good song with great musical interludes. But, over the last 15 years, moe. really hasn't changed how they played the song. It sounds pretty much the same in 1994 as it does in 2004. Note, the last 6 minutes of the song sound like it was ripped off of Journey's Midnight Dreamer from the Look Into the Future album (which was before Steve Perry joined and ruined the band).

The filler on this CD comes from 1995. The filler is much better than most the featured 2004 concert. It has better sound quality, more energetic performance and decent vocals.

But, this is moe. and there are still some very good moments on this CD. I like the jazz instrumental tacked on to the end of Spine of the Dog, and a spacy Recreational Chemistry. This version of Recreational Chemistry sounds very much like something the Grateful Dead would have done, and maybe that is why they stuck Turn on Your Loverlight in the middle of it because this is a song the Dead used to cover back in the Pigpen days.

so, this is one moe. live CD that I will burn and edit down into about one CD worth of great material. I will be editing Turn on Your Lovelight out of the middle of Recreational Chemistry. I will also being editing out all the banter and many, many minutes of uninteblligible singing.

You know, if this was the first live moe. CD I every heard, I may not have been so rough on it.

After listening to the Warts series, I have to say that this is not the best recording. Save your money and time.