Customer Reviews

Live

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

 

 

So I am a relative newcomer to the bands music, but I have seen them live. Although I agree that this CD is not nearly as magical as the real show, I have yet to hear a live CD that is the same as the experience. And isn't this the whole concept of recorded sound in the first place, to try and imitate the live event. We all know an imitation is never as good as the real thing. Seeing them in concert makes this CD even more special because the memory of the show can live on in your head over and over.

A great selection of songs from a great band to. This CD had all of my favorites, and I love this version of Puptent (the album version never quite did it for me). If you are a luna fan it is a must have, and this would be the second album after Bewitched I would recomend to a newcomer.

This was my first Luna record. What a way to begin!! I listened to the first couple of tracks on numerous occasions at the listening booths of numerous music stores and eventually broke down and bought it, mainly for the wonderfully enticing rendition of "Bewitched." Upon listening to the album in its entirety, and on a decent stereo, I was utterly amazed and completely smitten with this wonderous band. I have since bought a few of their other recordings and also had the opportunity to seem the band perform live down in Providence. This disk is perfect for both the Luna novice and the long-time fan.

Throughout the course of a band's career, there is usually a need to "fill in" a gap of time between studio albums. The notorious "live album" usually fills this gap and more often then not, these collections are nothing more then mundane representations of the tracks recorded on previous albums.

But most bands aren't like Luna.

While they have released some of the most consistent albums of the past decade (Bewitched and Penthouse are the best of their collection thus far), Luna's forte is definitely live performance. This album does a fairly good job of capturing what it's like to see a Luna show; all the favorites are here ("Sideshow By The Seashore", "Tiger Lily", "Lost In Space") along with some surprises ("Bonnie and Clyde", "4th of July").

Along with the old favorites, there are some questionable selections, and the most demanding fans will ask themselves why certain favorites are missing ("Time To Quit" was the first one that I thought of), but all in all this album serves both as an excellent introduction to Luna's music (every album is represented by at least one track) and a must have for the full time Luna fans.

The high point of this collection is clearly the cover of "4th of July" -- and the beautiful guitar work of Dean Wareham and Sean Eden. Both have a unique and recognizable guitar style and when they allow themselves to "stretch out" on these tracks, they really shine.

While capturing Luna's live energy on a cd is next to impossible, this album comes close. There's even some band and crowd banter to fill in the gaps.

I've only been listening to Luna for about two years now and can't be considered an expert. I kick myself one every couple of months for having lived in NYC in the 90's and seeing their name in the paper and yet never going to see them. I did get to see Dean and Britta play a show and renting that dvd they have really gives me an idea of how fine they were and are! Anyhow, I've bought all the albums and for what it's worth I listen to this the most. Maybe cause I used to be into jambands and the quality of a live cd doesn't bother me as long as there's some rocking nuiances that aren't on the album originally. There's plenty here!

There's a couple of duds on this, but for the most part, it's got great jam versions of studio songs. If you're a Luna fan, it's well worth adding to your collection.

I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for new fans, since you'll want to be familiar with several of their albums before you can fully appreciate the nuances they do here.

I have seen Luna play live 4 times in three years. They are a great show. Sadly this live album does not, with a few exceptions, capture the audience or the aura of the shows they were recording from. Also, mostly the 'standard' songs are offered here. You can get the LP to hear 4 others songs. But there are no rare Luna songs presented here. I would say any Luna fan should buy a copy, and people who aren't sure about Luna should, too, but just don't expect anything earth shattering. Unfortunately these expectations fall short of the concert experience.

Far from it. It's been way too long since I've seen Luna live and this disc reminds me of just how wonderful they are in concert. It's a joy to reexperience these songs some of which I haven't heard in quite a while. I only hope they continue to tour. I also lived a similar experience to that described in the liner notes only the girlfriend is now my wife and is just as big a Luna fan as myself. Buy this disc now!

I have seen Luna play live 4 times in three years. They are a great show. Sadly this live album does not, with a few exceptions, capture the audience or the aura of the shows they were recording from. Also, mostly the 'standard' songs are offered here. You can get the LP to hear 4 others songs. But there are no rare Luna songs presented here. I would say any Luna fan should buy a copy, and people who aren't sure about Luna should, too, but just don't expect anything earth shattering. Unfortunately these expectations fall short of the concert experience.

Luna Live achieves the goal of any good live album. It introduces newcomers to this near-legendary alternative band, while showcasing enough new twists on their material to satisfy the most diehard of Luna fans.

Recorded at New York's Knitting Factory and Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, Luna Live is much more than a document of their The Days Of Our Nights tour. Although the dark moodiness of that album's sound is apparent here, it's tempered with remarkable subtlety -- a quality often lost in live recordings.

How that subtlety is achieved is what makes this CD worthwhile. There are fourteen tracks on Luna Live, and each is performed with a nearly ascetic, bare-bones ethos. It's as if Luna had decided to strip each song to its essentials, thus putting their lyrics and melodies front-and-center.

The CD does have its share of flaws, however.

What leaps out from its tracklisting is that no less than seven songs are culled from 1999's Penthouse album, and two of the songs are covers. For a band with no less than five studio albums, the remaining five songs are taken from their other four albums. Secondly, despite the masterful guitars of Dean Wareham and Sean Eden carrying the melodies, Wareham's deadpan voice tends to flatten the live intensity of several of the songs. All in all though, Live is a solid concert album that should please neophytes and connoisseurs alike.

Luna is a great band in the studio. All of their studio albums are beautiful and I recommend them all. When it comes to playing live, hower, they just can't create the same magic that they do in the studio. Live, Dean Wareham always sounds to me like he is bored of the songs, and he doesn't isn't trying. And all of the guitars, which sound lustrious and smooth on the records, sound hollow and labored. Take, for example, "Sideshow by the Seashore," a song that opens with one of the best guitar riffs ever. On the studio version, it is a mesmerizing riff ... live, it just sounds forced and thin. I've seen them live once, and I must say I was a little bored. I've seen Galaxie 500 live as well (opening for the Cocteau Twins) ... I think Galaxie 500 played a better show.