Live @ The Fillmore

Lucinda Williams | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Lost Highway Records
• Copyright: (C) 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 1:55:23
• Genres:
• ASIN: B000WRSORW
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,167 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Further into the mind and soul of Lucinda Williams, August 22, 2005

By 

John Stodder "a.k.a. Juan La Princi" (livin' just enough) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live @ The Fillmore (Audio CD)

"Car Wheels on A Gravel Road" was a Grammy-winner that introduced millions of new fans (including me) to the brilliant performer Lucinda Williams whose poetic lyrics, memorable tunes and country-rock sound seemed both fresh and timeless, especially to fans of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Her subsequent albums, however, did not seem to reach her new fan base. The spare but evocative lyrics turned stark and minimal, and the emotions they revealed seemed extremely personal. The music was somewhat the same, but darker, more claustrophic, an accompaniment to the obsessive mood. I liked these albums ("Essence" and "World Without Tears") but if you didn't find them a little disturbing, you really weren't listening.

With "Live @ the Fillmore," Lucinda seems to be breaking all ties to the "Car Wheels" gal, and saying to her fans that this intense, internal, obsessive space is where she's at and where she's staying. This album is not a recap of her career, a greatest hits collection. It is almost completely devoted to the last two albums, and the few earlier songs that she includes either predicted her current direction, or are reinterpreted here in a darker vein than the originals.

Does she sell these songs? I would say yes, completely. They benefit from the greater expressiveness of live performances. Her vocal delivery is even harsher, the incredible steel guitar/electric guitar work of Doug Pettibone is even more expressive, at times sheer metal noise, at other times lonesome sobbing. These songs seem very close to the bone; I almost felt I was a Peeping Tom hearing her bemoan a hit and run lover in "Those Three Days," instruct a too-selfish lover in "Righteously," or paint a dark picture of solitude in "Ventura." This is a full-grown woman in three dimensions, a woman who has not found love to be much more than a momentary release followed by aching disaster. It can be scary. But it is artistically brilliant and satisfying.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate, May 10, 2005

By 

Jethro (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live @ The Fillmore (Audio CD)

A good listen, but in many cases the studio versions of these songs were more satisfying to me. I thought a strange thing was going on with this recording. On one hand, the vocals sometimes didn't show enough restraint and went to some place beyond the rawness that we like from Lucinda. On the other hand, the band showed too much restraint much of the time - they duplicated the studio sound well but didn't really tap into the kind of extra energy that a live show can convey. This dynamic works alright on the more low-key songs that start disc one and finish disc two, but it falls down on the faster/harder songs in the middle of the set.

Lucinda fans will buy it and like it well enough (I did and do), but...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not sure what to say, April 26, 2006

By 

T. Witanek "beerbothebeerhobbitt" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live @ The Fillmore (Audio CD)

This is a good live recording, but owning better live bootlegs of hers, and having attended better concerts of hers makes me wonder who decided what got put in this release and why? It took me a long time to shell out the bucks for this, and had I read the reviews on Amazon first, I probably would have spent the money on something else. Lucinda still makes me weak in the knees and I'll still buy the studio stuff and certainly keep going to the shows. The Fillmore might be legendary, but her performances in Houston far exceed what transpired on these San Francisco nights.