Customer Reviews

**** Live In Phoenix

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

 

 

The band dropped the ball on this. I like this band, but this is the worst and most poorly put together live album I have ever heard. First off, the cd doesn't inlcude the entire concert and it's not because of time constraints on the cd. The cd is only 50 something minutes. Second, track 9 is a studio version of a song in the middle of a live concert. WTF? I have never seen that in my entire life. A recorded studio track in the middle of a concert. Why not put it after the concert is finished and include the entire concert? This is weak and lazy of the band. At least the dvd is the entire show. I mean who puts a studio version of a song in the middle of a concert cd, it made me laugh. They could have easily put it at the end and put the entire concert on the cd.

Despite featuring gems from across their career such as "Grand Theft Autumn" the single that never was, and the climactic "Saturday", this album is nearly unlistenable. Sounding like a Fall Out Boy concert heard from the concession stand in the lobby, the band's punches and crescendos come out flat. Fall Out Boy's true strengths lie in the crisp harmonies between and punchy dynamic changes. 'Live In Phoenix' fails to capture the spontaneity, energy, and humor so apparent in the group's music videos, or the tight interplay of instruments and Patric Stump's soaring voice from their studio work. Pass on this pacifying between album moneymaker, and delve into their back catalog. More classics include studio versions of "Calm Before The Storm" and "Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today".

-Josh Constine
Joshsc@gmail.com

I was actually at this concert. And I gotta say, it sounds EXACTLY like it did on that hot June 22 night. Patrick still sends chills down my spine with "Golden" and I tap my legs and mouth along the words no matter how much I try to stop myself.

Nothing beats Fall Out Boy live, and if you can't catch them live, this is the second best thing. WELL worth the money!

Let me start off by saying I'm a huge FOB fan, I own all their albums so of course I had to buy this as soon as it came out. I've seen a few FOB live performances but this is my first time hearing a full concert (I've never seen them live). And well, I did like hearing the band play the tracks (some have slightly different arrangements since they're out of the studio -- "Thnks fr th mmrs" lacks the strings for example) but Patrick's singing wasn't that great. It's really obvious here that he's never had any vocal training (yeah yeah, they were an indie band from Chicago so that would explain that) but he's still "new" as a singer. He seems breathless at times (performing 15 songs for an hour is not a lot; I've been to concerts that were 2-3 hours with fine vocal performances) and there are points where I had a hard time understanding the words he was singing. (Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE Patrick and his voice, he could sing me a phonebook and I'd be happy)

Maybe it's because I grew up listening to the Eagles's live albums (Eagles Live and Hell Freezes Over, my mom's a huge fan) that I have sort of high expectations for live albums. If you can't sing/perform fantastic live, you kind of shouldn't be putting out a live CD. But FOB isn't bad or anything I just think that this release may have been too premature, maybe in another few years...

The only other thing that bothers me is that they stuck the studio version of "Beat It" right in the middle of the live tracks. I haven't watched the DVD yet but I'm assuming its placement was where "Beat It" was perfomred live. I would've rathered them leave "Beat It" live (or even cut it out) where it should be and then put the studio version at the beginning or end of the CD as a bonus track kind of thing. Putting the studio track in the middle of a live recording breaks the flow IMO.

But these are minor gripes, if you're a huge FOB fan you're going to buy it anyway but if you're not a huge huge fan, you can pass on this. There are better rock live albums.

When I received the newsletter from FOB's official website, saying that they released their first concert DVD, I was soooo happy!!!!!! A couple of weeks later, I ordered it, here on Amazon.com! Usually, I receive an item 10-15 days after I order it, but this time I waited a little bit longer... When I picked it up in the post-office, I came home, and watched it completely! I was soooo happy to find the DVD contain the concert, Behind the scene footage and music videos! I can say that it made my expectations, and I'm completely satisfied!! :)

It sounds like FOB put on a good show, but the sound quality of this disc is pretty awful. I don't know if it's a matter of mixing, recording, or a production issue. Id consider describing it as if someone were sitting in the crowd with a tape recorder. It has a heavy midrange sound, and little treble or bass. They didnt pick up highs or lows well, and lead vocals occasionally drown out the guitars. Again, not the band's issue...obvioulsly, as they sound great on albums.

Another review here mentioned they didnt even include the entire set. The included songs are some of their best, so there's no complaints here. The other thing I have to laugh about, is when Patrick lets the crowd sing, it sounds like the entire crowd consists of teenagers...not that I should be shocked about this.

I typically don't enjoy live albums, they tend stray too far from the way the original songs sounded in the studio. However, you can't help but get into the energy the band portrays here. I guess I'll just have to wait for a better quality release of a live set.

I love FOB. Always have. All their albums are great, however I never realized how much editing has gone into each one.

The vocals on this album are awful. It's very disappointing since the set list is a perfect combination of old and new songs. Like I said in the title it gets 3 stars because of the songs, but it is brutal listening to every song being song off key.

This could have been an awesome disc. I'm sure the concert was great though since everyone was singing all the lyrics loud enough to drown out the bad intonation.

A great dvd/cd combo. I like the dvd that comes with it because you get all the music videos as well as the concert. I like the cd, not my favorite but the beat track featuring jon mayer on the guitar is phenomenal

Rock has meshed into so many sound alike bands over the years, but Fall Out Boy have remained true to their roots, giving fans a little extra with pyrotechnics at their shows for all their googles of girly fans. At a time now with more rap artists like 50 cent, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne dominating the music charts, shoving rock musicians out of the way, it's been harder for the full style rock bands to make it big. Fall Out Boy have been deemed one of the last alternative rock bands to succeed. So with the release of "Live In Phoenix" Fall Out Boy have proven that the alternative/rock/indie scene isn't dead quite yet.

Their songs are sharp, witty, crafty and with pop anthems to the T. This CD/DVD also features a live show to prove it. Live In Phoenix is a heck of a show for any fan, even if you own the previous albums. It has "This Ain't A Scene"& "Dance, Dance" that fans have loved. It is a record for new Fall Out Boy fans, giving them not only their live vibe, but hits from all prior albums. It was filmed on the band's 2007 Phoenix, Arizona stop of the Honda Civic Tour and opens with "Thriller", which is quite amusing.

They seem to still have the connections to fans that they had in the beginning and adding more. The CD version replaces "Beat It" with studio version that features John Mayer. The album is strong and is definitely worth the money, because you get the both of both worlds. They will probably be around for a long time.

If you like Fall Out Boy like I do, you'll love this live concert DVD. High energy and good times from start to finish. Looking forward to seeing them live this year.