Customer Reviews

Livetime

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

 

 

Daryl and John hated this album, one RCA forced them to release in the wake of poor sales of 1977's Beauty on a Back Street. But for H&O's '70s live sound, it can't be beaten. The opener, Rich Girl, is pretty standard, but John Oates' delivers a great vocal on 'The Emptyness'. The reflective 'Be What You Want' from 1976's 'Bigger than Both of Us' LP sees Daryl's vocal soaring. 'I'm Just a Kid', another underplayed John Oates track from 'Abandoned Luncheonette' accurately reflects the original recording's Arif Mardin-produced R&B flavour. Side 2 (on the vinyl version!) opens with 'Sara Smile' the track that started it all for them in 1975. This is a superlative 8-minute rendition with Hall's ad libs giving the song a power far in excess of the original cut. 'Abandoned Luncheonette' is the album's best track; Charlie de Chant's seductive saxophone towers over the backing sound. The album finishes with the rocky 'Room to Breathe' which has all the excitement of their more recent live encore track, 'You Make My Dreams'. You know: it was a pretty damn good LP after all, wasn't it?

Even in their 80s heyday, when the popular hipster viewpoint was that these guys were formulaic slaves to the hit, people in the know considered them one of the greatest live acts in the business. That's probably why they have so many live albums commercially available. Think about it, if the guys couldn't deliver the goods, would there really be so much live product out there? Which brings me to "Livetime." I know even H&O have distanced themselves from this, deriding it as having poor sound quality and characterizing it as an early-career embarrassment. Well, I beg to disagree. From the first vinyl copy I found in the cutout bin to the Japanese CD import I bought six years ago, I've always held this as one of best live albums I've ever heard. I understand that the vocal mic can sound a little thin, but it's not in that tinny, bootleg-sounding way. It actually makes this sound more intimate, like the small club it was recorded in. It gives the listener the feeling of being in on something that's about to explode all across the music world. And the band performances are committed, passionate and technically proficient - everything you'd want from a live performance. The guitars sound great. It's my belief that this album is home to the definitive versions of "I'm Just a Kid" and "The Emptyness," plus glorious romps through "Abandoned Luncheonette" and "Do what you Want" and a positively blistering take on "Room to Breathe." It's kind of funny that the "hits" shine the least, although the 8-minute version of "Sara Smile" is a nice curiosity. I keep a copy of this my car at all times for those instances when I've driving late at night and need something to keep me company. It's great.

This cd is out of print in the US and difficult to find, but I think it is displays a very good, impassioned performance by Hall & Oates. I have seen negative reviews of this cd and have read that Hall and Oates themselves didn't like this release, but I think it is an excellent release. The sound on this version is far superior to other versions, I would recommend spending a little more and getting this one.

...the band on this is tiiiiGht! Daryl Hall's vocals are in full effect. I always did love this live version of "Do What You Want..." and that "hot cars, leather bars, and movie stars--payin' dues in earth shoes, Chicago blues" lyric he riffs always gets me in a silent glee when I hear it. But I also kinda dig the riffing on John Oates' "I'm Just A Kid, Don't Make Me Feel Like A Man"...the CD is veddy, veddy goot, so get it!

Whether the band is tight or the sound quality is good... those things do not matter. The greatest value found in this record is its role as time capsule for one of the greatest voices in rock and soul at an amazing juncture in terms of power, technique and possibility. Many would scoff at naming Hall's voice as "one of the greatest" but listening to this record alongside Sacred Songs is irrefutable evidence of an incredible instrument being offered to its audience. Even after hundreds of listens, I still think to myself during "Sara Smile" that "... he is doing this LIVE." It's crazy.