Customer Reviews

Live

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend gave me this disc as a present and it immediately became a favorite. I'm big on intensity and like Dvorak's "Symphony From The New World", The Ramones' "Rocket To Russia" or Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' "Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo", the only logical way to follow this gem is to play it again!

Just give track 1, "Heat of the Sun", a listen and you'll hear the rhythmic intensity of The Gipsy Kings over a lighter, swinging, bass and a constellation of percussion, handclaps and cymbals. After setting the scene, the melody leaps out of the two guitarist's fingers and instruments with confidence and flair. The melody is passed back and forth, solos framed by percussion, the turn-arounds at the end of the verses bubbling with good humor. Music for a barefoot race on the beach between friends, or the sound track for the night you met someone special on the patio under the stars.

Best of all this isn't all one tone, all fast and exuberent. They can turn it down a bit and paint a landscape of minor and major keys. Its not all lazy good natured feel-good, like Otmar Libert for example. Not dumb tunes carried by great playing or technical exercises. And the 'live'-ness couldn't be more apparent. I have no idea what disc the long, negative, review at the top of this page refers to. I haven't heard it.

I can't go note-by-note comparing this disc to their studio efforts, yet, but I hear the playful and slightly relaxed atmosphere of live recording all through this disc. In a live recording you get no chance to fix it, so either you play it safe and dumb-down the hard parts or you really know your stuff and play better, inspired by the audience and lack of a net. Surely track 2, "Chincha", was recorded in a sound-check, there is no audience noise, but its a technical and demanding piece and the clock-work meshed perfectly, from the tight arpegio that starts it to the mounting intensity of the two-guitar figure it closes with. Some great stuff gets played in sound checks. I'm happy with this version of this tune.

It is a shame though that there's no sample of track 6, "Bola", because I think its the strongest, and just bathed in the calm intimacy that the best live recordings capture. The technique used is stunning, the arangement always fresh, the pair of guitars coming back together time and again, in unison or in counterpoint. The blue notes and the quiet orniments on the main melody have an emotional wieght that just loud and fast playing can never convey. The magic of it is how tender three percussionists, a bass player and two guitarists can sound. And yet the timbale and cymbals playing against time at the end would do any Ska band proud. Neat stuff

As you press play your CD player, you hear clapping and an incredible vivid atmosphere, which you understand as soon as you hear the opening chord of "Heat of the Sun". From then onward, you are stoned by all the rhythm that these two virtuosos squeeze out of beautiful, hand-made guitars. You are stoned, all the way. Your mind becomes blind with music. Again you hear an audience raging from excitement, at the end of "Américas", and in this moment you press the repeat button on that CD player.

I have enjoyed listening to this CD time and again. The music is uplifting, energizing and at the same time sensuous in a primeval way. Incredible mastery of guitar playing for those who enjoy it.

I had to see these guys in concert to believe what my ears were hearing. S&F have broken the sound barrier. Now I have seen and heard what a guitar can do with a master driving it.

This duo is simply gorgeous . It has such freshness and vitality in their expressive rhythm that you engage almost immediately . . Heat of the sun is a very appropriate
example ; Chincha is a peruan piece ; and Earthquake is one of the most moving and happy songs of the album , Selva is a piece whose character comes from the jazz and reminds us to Al Di Meola ; and last we come to the crown jewel of the album : Dark Fire : an erotic piece loaded of a dark poetry and suggesting light and shadows melody and clear Spanish influence .
Bola is a frenetic piece filled with Flamenco airs while Anaconda is the longer piece and gifted of experimental character, Twilight at the Zuq is a very Spanish work very expressive and Zapateao rhythm .
Jardin is my second choice , vivid piece filled of love for life and exquisite beating .
Americas is the last piece and it is the fussion piece the only of them not instrumental . It a cross between the latin mood and Spanish rapture .

Strunz and Farah Live, is the hotest guitar album around. It is all of their past hits played faster than ever heard before. If you like latin fire you will love this album. It is a real must!"Their music is the closest thing to being in heaven without actually being there."

Just when you think you've heard it all, something like Strunz and Farah comes along. This is pretty amazing stuff with blistering guitar solos overlaying beautiful chord work. Latin, Cuban, Middle Eastern, Brazilian flamenco all blend into a masterpiece. An absolute MUST for anyone interested in guitar.

Strunz & Farah's Live album simply put is perfect. Gauranteed to ease all of life's stressors. If only I could find a store that sells "Primal Magic" now. Hey, it'l happen to you.

This is the best Strunz and Farah album yet. There is a song for every mood and taste in this album. The intensity of the exotic music played by this duo capture you heart from the very first song. For those who love perfection this could be a great source of inspiration.I can't wait to see a DVD with the songs in this album. A MOST BUY!!!

This is the most amazing live guitar album I have ever heard. If you play this album once a day, for three weeks I guarantee you will loss 25 lbs. That's right. Twenty five pounds in three weeks. The guitar work is so fast, so precise, so energized when you hear it you will be jumping around like a bull frog in heat. This album is so great I am now the CEO of my own corporation. One year ago today I was pushing mops in a basement. Now I am the largest distributor of spark plug washers in the USA and I am expanding into Peru. So act now!