Customer Reviews

Live at Life

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Ian McNabb's recent releases have been few and far between and, while he has never sold particularly well, solo or with Icicle Works, his talent remains undiminished. In a time when good pop hooks are hard to come by, it seems as if McNabb can't help but write catchy, anthemic pop songs.

Live at Life is a solo acoustic showcase for McNabb and his back catalogue, before an appreciative hometown Liverpool audience. His songwriting talent shines through. His lack of chart success is mystifying but he keeps plugging away. Those who cherish high-quality songwriting should appreciate Live at Life.

This is a great live album from big Ian,he seems very relaxed in the solo setting and it's just Ian and his acoustic guitar and harmonica. He kicks off the show with the classic Icicle works song "Hollow horse".It's also nice to hear"Great dreams of Heaven and "head like a rock" stripped down to just voice and acoustic guitar.McNabb is fantastic live and in a recent concert in Glasagow played for three hours.He does a very intense version of "What she did to my mind",which is probably the angriest song he's ever performed.All the classics are here ,including "Merseybeast" and "Why are the beautiful so sad"
McNabb has to been one of Britain's finest songwriters,alongside Richard Thompson and as well as being a good writer is also a good vocalist.
If you like the unplugged albums,this is for you,or if you want to hear him rock look out for "Head like a rock" with Crazy horse backing him.

If , like me , you're a big fan of Ian, and you're expecting rip-roaring, flat out rockin' versions of classics like 'merseybeast' and 'fire inside my soul', you won't find them here. This is just Ian and an acoustic guitar. I love his 1st 3 albums, but found this a little monotonous, i'm afraid.