Customer Reviews

Genius of Live

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Been listening to the Tom's Tom's for decades (studio lp/cd recording's only) but never knew they could rock so hard in a live setting, expect raggae, rock & pop and alittle taste of dub. Tina Weymouth's Basslines will rattle your teeth with the right stereo set-up and the guitar(s) are amazing and yes the actual (Tom Tom) drums sound clear and very upclose & present in this live mix. Good to hear Chris Frantz again up to his old trick's with fun vocal ad libs here and there and Tina's lead vocal's still sound amazingly cute and fresh that only enhances the irresitable rhythm that this off-the-wall yet very complex band produces.

I have never heard the track (Genius Of Love) live and the Tom's Tom's do it justice and then some with a hell of alot more guitar, also (Wordy Rappinghood) vocals sound fresh & lively and there are some great guitar lick's and sustained guitar reverb efx's that really changes the sound of this track and ofcourse the Tom Tom drums/bongos and other percussion instruments just adds extra sound juice to this funky jam and that goes for all the other track's found on this set that are also sonically enhanced by the complexed percussion arrangements found all over this set.

HOWEVER with all that said, the killer track for me is by far (THE MAN WITH THE FOUR WAY HIPS), not in a million years I could ever imagine the Tom Tom Club could ever make this song sound even better than the original (Long & Dub Version's) found on the four way hips 12inch single mixed by lengendary Steven Stanley.

But the live version found here surpasses the original for me anyway's, imagine nasty slow draging heavy bass dubby kinda lost-in-the-jungle rhythm that is hughly satisfing and at a 10minute song runtime with plenty of sexy & lazy never-in-a-hurry to sing a chorus tina weymouth vocal's and very tropical sounding tom tom drum backbeats all over this live version hell what more could one ask for from the Tom's Tom's, they really outdone themselves on this track, whew.

Lastly if your like me and only experience the tom tom club by studio recording's only, than you will be pleasantly surprise by how much better they sound live (and that's a major statement not to be taken lightly) for there studio work is essential, i'm sorry it only took me almost 30 years to figure out how dam good they are live. I would have loved if they included song's from there (Close To The Bone) Lp but either way this cd smokes and I'm so glad that the Tom Tom Club are still making music, good band's and artist never die they just get better with time and time has treated them well, this is a powerfully addicting cd. Buy Now!!!

This is a 2 CD set. The first CD is a concert from 2001 and the second CD is 11 remixes of Genius of Love. My version came in a nice cardboard, fold out package with a booklet inside. I don't know if they all come that way. Eventually, these type of products get switched over to the standard plastic jewel case.

The sound quality of the concert is excellent. Also there background audience noise is kept to a minimum and is only in the right places. There is almost 70 minutes of music.

It is just a great, lively, fun concert that is full of energy and great performances. I think this is my favorite Tom Tom Club album, because they are basically a bar band and shine in this kind of setting. Wish I had been there or get the opportunity to see them play if they ever tour again.

My favorite studio album by the band is Dark Sneak Love Action. I think it is the ablum that is most like this live CD (although they don't play any of the songs from Dark Sneak Love Action). There are other Tom Tom Club albums that I don't like as much, like The Good, the Bad and the Funky, which is the least funky of all of the band's albums.

As you probably know if you are reading this, Tom Tom Club was a side project of the Talking Heads Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. The Tom Tom Club song Genius of Love is featured in the Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense (the best concert movie ever made...better than Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii).

The second CD consists mostly of boring remixes of Genius of Love. They are 3 to 6 minutes long and none of them are nearly as good as the live version here, or the one on Stop Making Sense. I found the CD a struggle to get through. It is not like the Blondie Fracture remix CD that has many different and interesting versions of the song.

having been a fan of tom tom club since they first came on the scene, i eagerly await anything new fromthis group. i was not disappointed w/ this cd, especially w/ the re-mixes of some of my fav tracks. ie; man w/ the four way hips & sub-oceana.
to any tom tom fan, i'd recommend this cd