Customer Reviews

Live From Dakota

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love the Stereophonics and if you love live music, then this is the album you've been waiting for. I bought it the day it came out and I haven't listened to anything else since. The whole thing, both discs, are great. They may have done a better job mixing the album, but it's a great live performance. I love Language, Sex, Violence, Other?, and this live album showcases the other. Great renditions of Dakota, Superman, and Devil are included here. But the best of the band comes out on their earlier stuff. A Thousand Trees blows the roof out of the stadium and the crowd just goes wild. I also really enjoyed their b-side Carrot Cake and Wine and their new song Jayne. But if I had to pick a highlight, it would be the stellar acoustic version of Maybe Tomorrow. All in all, Magnificent!

The Stereophonics have been around since 1997 and have had tremendous success in their native country of Wales and the rest of the UK and other countries. They have been to the U.S. on several limited tours but they have not been get their big break but this new live double CD may get them the attention they deserve in America. It is a great live album with a good mixture of old and new songs. They give each song all they have and if you are new to the music of Stereophonics you would have trouble tell the difference between the new ones and their earlier hits.
They have a great talent in Kelly Jones who writes most of their material and is the lead singer. Their earlier music may have been labeled Brit-Pop but most of the tracks from last year's "Language. Sex. Violence. Other?" shows they are going for a harder sound and proves they can rock with the best. If you want to hear a fantastic live album then buy "Live From Dakota" by Stereophonics and are sure to become a Phonics fan.

Live at Dakota is a 2CD live album by Stereophonics culled from their Language.Sex.Violence.Other? tour. Just like everything else by this Welsh rock band, it's solid, sometimes spectacular, and enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary. All of the cuts on here sound really good in a live setting, although I prefer the studio version of Maybe Tomorrow much more than this live reworking. Jayne is a newer unreleased song that is pretty good, and Carrot Cake and Wine is an older b-side that sounds like a rewrite of a song from their first album they play earlier on this set with just new lyrics (I'll let you figure out which song I'm alluding to). Still, overall, an enjoyable live set, and for 2 CDs and 20 songs, you can't beat the price!

I listened to the first disk about five times. It was so good I was almost scared to put in disk 2. It was just as good. These guys have really developed an awesome sound. This is one of the coolest albums to come along in a while.

Stereophonics were one of the more exciting bands in the late 90s coming out of the UK. The Welsh trio brought brash rock with a swagger, and I loved it. After peaking with the 1999 "Performance and Coctails" album, things slowly but surely started going downhill, and I did not like last year's "Language" album whatsoever. Now, on the 10th anniversary of the band, they finally release a live album.

"Live at Dakota" (2 CDs, 20 tracks, 92 min.) was taped during the 2005 tour for the "Language" album. CD1 (10 tracks, 42 min., 3.5 stars) focuses heavily on the newer songs, and unless you love the "Language" album, you're not really gonna get into it. It does have a blistering version of "The Bartender and the Thief", though. CD2 (10 tracks, 50 min, 4.5 stars) fares much better with the song selection, including "Hurry Up and Wait" and "Just Looking" form the Performance & Coctails album, "Vegas Two Times" from the J.E.E.P. album, "Too Many Sandwiches" and "Traffic" from the Word Gets Around album, but also "Carrot, Cake and Wine", an old B-side. Guitarist-singer-songwriter Kelly Jones is in great form throughout.

While I haven't been overly impressed with the Stereophonics' last 2 studio albums, they remain a great live act, and this set does more or less justice, although at 92 min. over 2 CDs, there was plenty of room left for some earlier (and still performed) classics such as "Have a Nice Day" and "Roll Up and Shine" that somehow are not on here.

Very good on the shipping. Very fast. The cd that I ordered was in the shape that I was told but didnt tell anything about the cd insert that it was a little ripped but I am satisfied with it(:

I couldn't get my hands on the vinyl LP version of this so a cd will have to do until I can find one. Stereophonics is stll relatively obscure on this side of the Atlantic so I, and other true music fans, won't have to worry about walking down the street and hearing Stereophonics ringtones. They are one of music's best kept secrets.

This a a no brainer for Stereophonic fans everywhere. While the recording isn't much different than we have heard in the past, they really rock it out with the best of them. The sound engineering is perfect; giving the listener an idea of their live intensity. It's got a great setlist with a great sampling of their catalog which serves as a great jumping off point for the newer listener. Forget the "best of" cd they just put out. Turn this on, turn it up and enjoy.