Customer Reviews

Live EP

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

 

 

For those of you who have seen Interpol live, you know what kind of show they can put on. Dark, moody, rockin, and usually pulling equally from their releases. But this Live Ep is none of these things. First the mood comes off as flat, much of this is due to the mixing. The backbone of drums and bass that really defines much of the bands sound are pushed to the back of the mix (except for the cymbals) and the vocals and somewhat mundane guitar lines are pulled to the front, just creating a wash of blah.
My second point is about the mood of the Ep. When you listen to Interpol, either live or on cd, you get wrapped up in the mood of the music and how it all eats away at your insides from song to song. They didn't balance the highs and lows of the band well on this cd. Choosing to showcase their new album instead of pulling some of their best live tracks out (i.e. "NYC", "C'Mere"). I do applaud their inclusion of "Obstacle 1", but even that song sounds out of tune and flat.
I would say that is Ep is a skip for even the biggest of Interpol fans. Poor mixing, and poor over all example of what a great live show this band puts on.

This is another Interpol EP that was originally released and available only via independent record stores (the previous one was the "Evil" EP in 2005). This EP was recorded at London's Astoria on July 2, 2007 (just weeks before the release of "Our Love to Admire"), hence the audience was not familiar with most of the songs on here.

"Live" (6 tracks; 32 min.) was released in late 2007, mere 4 months or so after the release of Interpol's "Our Love to Admire" album and hence rightfully this EP is heavy on the OLTA songs (4 tracks): "Pioneer to the Falls" was the opening tune on Interpol's 07-08 tour, and the track here brings the instrumental that precedes the actual song, as the band makes it way onto the stage. "Obstacle 1" follows, and I've heard better performances than this one. "The Heinirch Maneuver" is one of the catchier songs from OLTA. "Mammoth" and "Rest My Chemistry" follow, and the band sounds great. The EP closes with "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down", a superb track from the band's debut album "Turn on the Bright Lights".

In all, given that this is an EP, not a full album, I was more than satisfied when I got this at my independent record store (has it really been 2 years already?). Another reviewer here feels that this EP is "drab" and I have no idea why he came to that conclusion. Did we really listen to the same EP? Or maybe that reviewer is not so keen on the OLTA songs, which I agree are generally speaking not as strong as the first 2 albums. But that does not make it "drab". Given that this is the first official live release as such (mot just 1 or 2 tracks) of Interpol, I recommend this to all Interpol fans. Also, please note that the tracklisting listed here on Amazon is NOT CORRECT. "No I in Threesome" does not appear on here, and instead "Stella Was a Diver" is on the EP.