Customer Reviews

Live at Red Rocks

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

 

 

If you like Rickie Lee, make sure you visit her web site where
she sells MP3 live recordings, direct to you. There you will
find the opposite of this one: quieter, looser, quirkier. The
offerings there (www.rickieleejones.com) are also often complete
shows. This one *is* as the other reviews suggest: (high-)
powered, poppy, punchy. The thing is, I don't know Rickie Lee
and neither do you (and neither do these other reviewers). So
who can comment on her wishes, and who knows but what she wants
all of these sides of her performance persona exposed. In this
performance, she took pains to put together a *very* slick band,
complete with muted trumpet ornaments, multi-part harmonies,
etc. And it rocks. And if you feel like complaining about the
slick production, save your breath and your time, go to her
website, and download the quiet sensitive stuff until your
fingers go numb. That stuff is great, too!

Imagine looking at the painting "Nighthawks" without one of the patrons at the counter. That's the visual equivalent of listening to "Live at Red Rocks".
This is a great CD, to be certain. Rickie is in excellent voice, and it's clear that she was having a good time on the night this show was recorded. And a band setting presents a much richer experience than "Naked Songs", her first full live album. It's just that, once again, Pirates and The Magazine are as forgotten as the cotton candy left on the ground after the carnival pulls out of town.
If you're a fan of the infamous beret popularizing first album, or if you joined the show circa 1989, with the release of Flying Cowboys, there is much to enjoy. "Weasel and the White Boys Cool" is the best track on this CD, and it's always fun to sing along with a live version of "Youngblood". But with 2 legal and quite a number of "alternative" live albums in my possession, I've heard Chuck E.'s in Love recorded in every style, every manner for one lifetime. Likewise, the Flying Cowboys choices sound great ("Rodeo Girl" could very well be the "Lush Life" of our generation), but overreliance on this material serves poorly the fact that Rickie has grown and changed with each new release. This fact hits home hardest when listening to "We Belong Together", from Pirates, her strongest album in her near 25 year career. You just wish more of this type of adventurous material (as well as songs from The Magazine and Ghostyhead, which are totally neglected) would have been included.
The choice of Van Morrison's "Gloria" as one of two covers (the other is "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying", which is also on FLying Cowboys) was quite clever. Having heard countless other versions of this song, it is nice to hear what a "good" interpreter can do with a classic.
After listening, I wish that I had been at this show. That's generally a good indication of the value of a live album. Had I been, however, it would have been me yelling "Play "Living It Up" from the cheap seats.

This must have been a great show. The band is tight. It's wonderful to hear Rickie in a live ensemble setting. Her voice is strong and lovely. This would be a favorite CD of mine if not for the quality of the recording itself.

I enjoy "raw" live recordings like those from bands like moe. But this CD could have used a scrubbing in post-production. It sounds like a bootleg. And that would be okay, too, but for the too frequent dropouts in the left or right channel (really noticeable with headphones), and the subtle but all too present hum of the amplifiers in the background.

My advice is to check out this recording for yourself before buying it. You may love it. But it left me feeling a bit annoyed and disappointed.

I found this Rickie Lee in the budget bin of a local retailer clearing slow-moving titles. "Live @ Red Rocks" never got to the top of my priority list with so many musical choices; however, I'm VERY pleased to have this live disc. Rickie Lee's sound pops at this Colorado venue. "Satellites" jumps alive with her band's backing vocals and Tony Morales' drums stomping out the rhythm. "Coolsville" has Rickie's vocals that sounds offhand & casual but gains intensity as she punches the lyric with Michael Stewart's trumpet squealing with appeal, "You stick it here, you stick it over there, but it never fits." "Chuck E's in Love," "Flying Cowboys" & "Rodeo Girl" cast strong sparks in the live versions. "Youngblood" rocks out with lots of fun. Rickie recasts Gerry & the Pacemakers' 1960's hit with her wistful voice and swaying rhythm fitting the classic melody like a glove. The set ends with Van Morrison's "Gloria" where Rickie Lee rocks joyfully. There is a lot of crowd noise on the recording, which shows how much the crowd was with her. Overall, this is an appealing addition to those for whom Rickie Lee Jones is a special artist. Enjoy!

Excellent sound although a bit too much of the audience for my taste. But hey, this is a live CD. There are about ten additional Rickie Lee Jones songs I wish would have been included which is a testament to her genius. But it is a good overview of the breadth and depth of her work. Can you imagine anyone today producing the level of work she (and Joni, Laura, and Carole) produced? Think about it, her self-titled debut, followed by Pirates, The Magazine, Flying Cowboys, and Traffic From Paradise. Sometimes I feel it is so defeating that no one seems to care or is listening and then I hear "Horses" in Jerry McGuire or "Stewart's Coat" in a Meg Ryan film and I then realize, it's getting out there. Good work will always find a place. But then again, I like having her all to myself. To those who only know Chuck E have really missed an incredible talent.

A live recording, or any recording, is simply a documentation of a time and place.
If it is great, then it transends time and as years go by you like to hear it again and again. It may be a banner of those times, or it may just be a great performance for all times. Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, for instance, cannot be judged by what an audience member would have rather heard, but by what was heard, and how great it was.
she has always had great audiences..(listen to the people yelling in my funny valentine on "volcano") and this is no exception. they make as much noise as she does.
My sense of this is that it took place around the time of Flying Cowboys, since there is nothing on it to suggest it is
a collection of all her work to date. The emphisis is on that record, and the performance is really wonderful. It's not sparse or experimental, other than the fact that that new work at the time was experimental ( rodeo girl, use of drum machines and synths) This record will not bother anyone for it's abstract nature. Most of her critics are people who want these great pop melodies instead of the sparce avant-auarde of her later work. this is the sophisticated pop Rickie live, tentatively at home in the pop stream of it all, trying not to be weird. (I happen to like Ghostyhead as much as flying cowboys so..) Beautiful harmonies, great playing. She is always commanding on stage, and when it works, you feel like you are in the hands of someone who knows where they are going and takes you with them. when it's over, you feel good. that's a great show.
I didn't much like the original recording of the jumbled up Loves gonna bring us back alive, (which is a good song but never quite works) but in the end this recordings exuberance saves even that track, and you do get a sense of a party, a great engagement with the audience.
The harmonies, again, which don't seem to occur at all in the last decade, are really fun. You don't hear the band singing harmony much these days. But you do here.
there are plenty of live records available on her web site which include her entire catalogue, but this recording has a spirit, great band, funny comments, this is worth having if you are not aware of how good she is live. It is raw, unfixed, and unpolished, and still rather polished though there are some out of tune things. (like van morrisons live stuff) but I actually like some of that. It was not a recording of a live show, but rather a live show that was recorded, if you know what i mean.
There is always something enigmatic about her and her work. Even when she is playing pop, she is...unexpected. Her fans are her constant critics, always wanting something other than what she does.
for it's emphisis on a Flying cowboys, not in spite of it, I recommend this to anyone who could use alittle cheering up.

also I don't know why they put that chuck e's in love on everything. good grief. do they really think that is why anyone buys these records????

A live recording, or any recording, is simply a documentation of a time and place.
If it is great, then it transends time and as years go by you like to hear it again and again. It may be a banner of those times, or it may just be a great performance for all times. Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, for instance, cannot be judged by what an audience member would have rather heard, but by what was heard, and how great it was.
she has always had great audiences..(listen to the people yelling in my funny valentine on "volcano") and this is no exception. they make as much noise as she does.
My sense of this is that it took place around the time of Flying Cowboys, since there is nothing on it to suggest it is
a collection of all her work to date. The emphisis is on that record, and the performance is really wonderful. It's not sparse or experimental, other than the fact that that new work at the time was experimental ( rodeo girl, use of drum machines and synths) This record will not bother anyone for it's abstract nature. Most of her critics are people who want these great pop melodies instead of the sparce avant-auarde of her later work. this is the sophisticated pop Rickie live, tentatively at home in the pop stream of it all, trying not to be weird. (I happen to like Ghostyhead as much as flying cowboys so..) Beautiful harmonies, great playing. She is always commanding on stage, and when it works, you feel like you are in the hands of someone who knows where they are going and takes you with them. when it's over, you feel good. that's a great show.
I didn't much like the original recording of the jumbled up Loves gonna bring us back alive, (which is a good song but never quite works) but in the end this recordings exuberance saves even that track, and you do get a sense of a party, a great engagement with the audience.
The harmonies, again, which don't seem to occur at all in the last decade, are really fun. You don't hear the band singing harmony much these days. But you do here.
there are plenty of live records available on her web site which include her entire catalogue, but this recording has a spirit, great band, funny comments, this is worth having if you are not aware of how good she is live. It is raw, unfixed, and unpolished, and still rather polished though there are some out of tune things. (like van morrisons live stuff) but I actually like some of that. It was not a recording of a live show, but rather a live show that was recorded, if you know what i mean.
There is always something enigmatic about her and her work. Even when she is playing pop, she is...unexpected. Her fans are her constant critics, always wanting something other than what she does.
for it's emphisis on a Flying cowboys, not in spite of it, I recommend this to anyone who could use alittle cheering up.

I saw this show. It was a beautiful night and a great concert.
Lyle Lovett opened for RLJ; and was really good too. I highly recommend this cd to RLJ fans. If you like Rickie Lee; and live cds you will appreciate this; the energy comes through!

This is rock star Rickie. Loud crowd noise. Overproduced pop hits.

If you want the radio version of Rickie Lee Jones, by all means, be my guest. But if you've bought her last five CDs and prefer the introspective, thoughtful, clever and occasionally disturbing Rickie Lee, then you really need her acoustic live CD.

It made me sad to listen to this, because I can't image that RLJ really wanted to make this CD. If she did, I can't wait to hear her next studio CD, which I'm sure would be both a crowd pleaser and insightful. As it is, this belongs on Top 40, I'm afraid.