Customer Reviews

Live at 25

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So, what have Huey Lewis & the News been up to since their heyday - the days of their back to back monster albums Sports & Fore? (Sports & Fore! produced many of the band's most recognizable hits, including "Heart & Soul", "The Heart of Rock & Roll", "I Want A New Drug", "Stuck With You", "Jacob's Ladder", and "Hip To Be Square", among others.)

Huey & company have continued to produce quality music based in the great traditions of American rock and R & B, releasing fine albums like "Hard At Play", "Four Chords & Several Years Ago", and most recently, "Plan B". The News has shifted their style over the years away from great rock with a great hook to great R & B with a great hook. And that shift, along with the passing of time, has pushed the band away from the mainstream, appealing primarily now to a large core of die hards.

Huey Lewis has said for years that he has always wanted to release a live concert album, and for the first time today, he and the band have come through with a live CD spanning songs from their 25 year career.

The CD is stuffed with 16 tracks and the set list won't surprise the die-hard NewsHeads. The tracks are a well-chosen sample of the News' albums through the years. Following the band's live performances since 1983, one can tell there are certain songs that Huey likes, despite the fact that they are not commercially popular. Huey included a track from their self-titled debut and three songs from "Plan B", which were never heard by most listeners on commercial radio. And the songs that didn't make the cut include "Stuck With You", Huey's biggest hit ever (3 weeks at number 1) and "Jacob's Ladder", another top 5 smash. Like he has said in concert, so many hits, so little time...

The disc really captures the pacing and energy of a typical Huey Lewis show. Light on banter with the crowd, he begins with "The Heart of Rock & Roll", and starts to unwind a bit when introducing Johnny Colla's sax solo mid-song. And he really loosens up toward the end of the underappreciated soulful second song, "So Little Kindness", extending the end of the song well beyond the recorded version, begging, pleading for just a little kindness. At this point, he and the band are hitting their groove and the night is still very young.

After a smooth and soulful "Thank You #19", Huey & the boys kick into a traditional highlight, the guitar-driven "I Want A New Drug". In recent years, Huey has taken to jamming a shorter version of "Drug" and rolling into "Small World", which features some snappy riffs from the News Brothers horn section and nice keyboard work by Sean Hopper. It definitely works here.


A by-the-books version of "If This Is It" makes way for a rocking "Power of Love", featuring Stef Burns on guitar. A deftly reworked version of their first big hit, "Do You Believe In Love", is a pleasure and could hit the Adult Contemporary charts today if recorded in studio.

After the traditional accapella break, the band hits the accelerator and doesn't look back. The crowd-pleasing segment kicks off with a News classic, "Heart And Soul", jumps to the foot-stomping "But It's Alright", and spins into the slightly reworked crowd-pleaser "(Too) Hip To Be Square". Huey & the News don't let up here, kicking into their out-of-the-box classic from "Plan B", "We're Not Here For A Long Time", and finishing the hand-clapping set with a long-overlooked staple, "Back In Time". To finish the disc, Huey ends with one of his greatest sing-a-longs, "Doing It All For My Baby".

Throughout the show, Huey's voice retained it's patented gravelly quality, rough around the edges, for sure, but hasn't it always been that way? The band was tight as ever, the crowd was cheering and dancing, and a great American rock and roll band was captured doing what they do best. This is what they call "feel good" music. My only regret was that the disc had to end at 16 songs. So many hits, so little time, indeed...

Boom-boom boom-boom boom-boom boom-boom . . . and there you are, in the heart of rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Huey Lewis has always been an upbeat force, but live is a separate dimension. Buy this record, crank it up, and experience the News in a whole new and always catchy way.

Good call on the "Drug/Small World" mix and a special edition of "Do You Believe In Love." And, really, is there any better closer than "Back In Time"? I don't think so. The band is in its usual snappy groove, and Mr. Lewis belts and purrs his sonic trademark straight into your soul. Yes, Huey, we're still with you.

Rilke wrote, "Music is closer to us, then; it streams toward us; we stand in its way, but then it goes right through us. It is almost like a higher air, we draw it into the lungs of spirit and it gives us a greater blood in the secret circulation." Breathe this record in, and curry favor by buying an extra copy for someone you like.

Geoff Cronin
Boston

Huey Lewis and the News is one of those bands that sound better live - and this CD sure proves it. I've seen them three times in person and they are amazing!

Excellent mix of HLN songs, except it would have been nice to have had a few more songs like Workin' For A Livin' and Couple Days Off.

Overall, a definite buy! Great CD and DVD!

Big Huey fan since the SF State student union concerts for a dollar! The concerts over the years, from the local Bay Area gigs to the stadium sell outs of the band's heydey were awesome due to the background of the Tower of Power band or other tour horn back ups and arrangements. Truthfully, it's hard to play Huey at a gathering with any original recordings, because everyone has heard them a million times and sound too popular(even overplayed for me). This album played to guests now will be a major hit as they ask you how to buy it! Great dinner background blues or even throw it into a dance mix. Huey at his best. A great live recording. (I only wish Chris Hayes was involved, although not many will know the difference.)

I watched the DVD and could not get enough!!! I had to buy the CD to listen in my vehicle. Songs like "Thank You" and "Bad is Bad" sounds better than the original versions. I was a little disappointed that some songs on the DVD were not on the CD; but it still is a great purchase!!! I hope another live performance is released in the near future!!!

this is a great cd . sound quality , choice of selections , the only thing i wasn't totally impressed with was how they changed "do you believe in love" , which is probably there biggest hit . but you have to be open to change ...this is new stuff . i love " thank you " for a new one at least to me , and i grew up with huey . i was 16 when sports came out , and they were bigger than sliced bread . i just can't wait for new material . the boys haven't lost a beat . keep on rockin' huey , and the news . we love your sound and style , don't change a thing . thanks for the memories which is what we have with the songs .

If you like Huey Lewis, don't hesitate to pick up this disc. It has a nice mixture of hits from the 80s, 90s, and today. You can tell the upper end of Huey's voice has suffered a little bit with age. But otherwise he and his (now) larger band sound great. I especially enjoyed the new arrangement of "Do You Believe in Love." As somebody who grew up during the 80s (when Huey was at his peak), this disc has been a real treat to listen to.

I was thrilled to see a Dvd by Huey and the News, as I threw out my vcr and haven't been able to find a dvd of his music. Anyhow the other writer was right about not having Chris Hayes and Mario in the group but the new members did a good job. The music was good (though I think Huey had to bring the keys down a little ,getting older and harder to hit those high notes. Also, didn't have quite the high energy he used to have. My main complaint was that the video was poor. Too dark on stage and just plain poor.( Maybe it was intentional to hide the wrinkles)lol
. But I would recommend it, if for no other reason than it's not easy finding this band on DVD. Brought back alot of good memories.

One of the best live CD's i have ever heard

I saw the video version on PBS. I was so excited about getting the CD. All the songs are fabulous. But, hey, afterall Huey Lewis and the News are fantastic. I rock out in my car with this CD.