Customer Reviews

Live At 25

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

 

 

Most of Steppenwolf's best material is contained in this album, which is considerably better than their previous live efforts. John Kay has put together the most proficient (and most stable) Steppenwolf lineup ever, and the superior musicianship shows on every cut. The legendary John is also in fine voice, reaffirming his place in rock history as the man who coined the phrase "heavy metal" and created a whole new rock genre. Well done!

This album shows why Steppenwolf is called "the thinking man's rock band". The artistry and talent really shine through in virtually every track. It took me back to when I saw the Wolf back in the mid-seventies and it's especially nice to hear a live version of 'Magic Carpet Ride' that sounds like 'Magic Carpet Ride'.

The only problem I have with this album is that the guitar is so mixed down that it is sometimes hard to hear, especially on 'Born to be Wild'.

I heartily recommend this to any Wolf fan. It is far superior to the first live album.

A generous 2-disc set taken from Steppenwolf's 25th anniversary shows at a nice price. If anything, John Kay and company became a tighter unit as the years went on, and collection documents their ability to work up a crowd with their greatest hits plus new, worthy songs. "My Snowblind Friend," "Born to Be Wild" and "Monster" are standouts.

A pretty good document of the band's 25th Anniversary USA tour. It's rather uneven, but there are some terrific highlights here. In other forums some have kvetched that the lack of a bass player is a some crippling letdown (not hiring one fits John Kay's reputation as a tight-fisted businessman), yet IMO it doesn't invalidate the band or this album at all. After all such classic rock acts as The Doors, Van Der Graaf Generator and Lee Michaels seldom used a bass player; even Traffic did without one for a short time. The rest of the band are worthy of kudos & respect even without a bass player. The opener, "Move Over", really kicks butt and compares very well to the original. And the extended Hammond intro that Michael Wilk plays for "Magic Carpet Ride" is simply great - any longtime Steppenwolf fan would love it. The addition of a small sample of the original's noise collage is very cool indeed, in no way cheapening this newer version. Lastly, John Kay's voice is in great form here, especially when you consider his age he's very well-preserved.

Those hearing latter day Steppenwolf should remember that this lineup of the band was together a whole lot longer than any other one was; they were perfectly legit and therefore qualify as "the real" Steppenwolf as much as any other one did. It's just too bad that their songwriting paled so badly next to the original 'Wolf; they should've just accepted that and stuck to playing mostly oldies in their shows. I would've loved to hear more obscure old nuggets like "Black Pit" and "Renegade", and far less of the inferior 80s stuff. Oh well.