Customer Reviews

United States Live

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember seeing this performance series being advertised in The Village Voice & wanting desparately to go...but at 17, spending $35 + $20 round trip bus fare into NYC for each of the parts (and getting permission from mom to see a concert in Brooklyn by myself, as no other kid I knew was interested) made it out of the question. This missed concert opportunity has always been the one I've regretted most. So when the concert first appeared on vinyl, I didn't hesitate to shell out the $$$ for it. The LPs crammed quite a bit of time on to each side (I think there were as many LPs as there are cd's), and so the sound was very thin (you had to crank up the volume, making the pops & crackle very disruptive, deafening if listening on headphones). So, I upgraded to the cd box set a few years after having bought the vinyl. Contrary to another review, these recordings are from several different shows of the same piece "United States I - IV" which was a sort of anthology of the work Laurie Anderson had created up to February 1983 (when this performance series took place @ The Brooklyn Academy of Music). Many of the pieces are not available on any other recording, and that makes this box set essential. Her better known pieces are also presented in different (usually more sparsely instrumented) ways. The actual performance did also include visuals (projected video, laurie playing various "instruments" that she devised herself...). So you have to imagine what else was going on in each piece (audience laughter usually clues you into the fact that you are missing 1/2 of the performance).

The sound quality of the cd's is a definite step up from the LPs. The cd's are louder without as much tape hiss. However, if you listen to the cd's on headphones, it is quite noticeable that the cd's were mastered from vinyl, which I've always found rather annoying (hence the deduction of a star), but the surface noise is quite a bit less noticeable than what had existed on my own vinyl copy.

If there is any Laurie Anderson release that needs a digital remastering (24 bit/192 Khz) from the original tapes (and issued on SACD or DVD audio), this is it. With all the second rate artists doing the remaster thing, it is more than a bit disappointing that first rate artists on big labels (like Laurie, Philip Glass, etc..) still haven't remastered their back catalog using the latest technology to optimize sound quality (I don't care as much about 5.1 channels, as I do seeing that as much detail in the recording is available). It is really surprising that someone who was been at the vanguard in using technology in her music, has fallen so far behind others in using technology today. Now with Blu Ray discs capable of holding gigabits of info, the sound should not only be remastered, but the entire performance (visual too, which I do believe exists) should be put onto Blu Ray, so we can experience it in its full glory. However, until that day comes, this release is still highly recommended over any of her other recordings (except Big Science).

I don't need to go into the finer points of the performance, or of LA's career, in this review; that has been done already (see John Bickelhaupt's review in this section for a great take on the essence of US Live). I will say that if you want an intellectual, complex snapshot of the political, social, economic, psychological and popular culture forces driving Americans in the 1980s, you need to listen to this album. LA captures with (oftentimes frightening) clarity what living in America -- especially urban America -- entailed during that period. However, don't think that her lens is trained only on the '80s; to sum up her approach using a lyric line from a later album (in my opinion her most accessible album, Strange Angels): "History is an angel being blown backward into the future." So much stands out here, so much that is dissected and yet left opaque so that, rather than pontificating, LA simply draws pictures of the landscape and steps back, allowing for multiple interpretations. Key favorites in the work for me include "Violin Solo" (haunting); "Yankee See" (in which LA takes the ironic turn and parodies her own performance -- it also says much about American consumer culture and, specifically, the state of modern art); "Dance of Electricity"; "Private Property" (remember Wm. Buckley??); and, of course, "O Superman." How can you not shudder and snicker simultaneously at the lines:
"And when love is gone/there's always justice/and when justice is gone/there's always force/and when force is gone/there's always Mom/hi Mom!"
Be warned: This is difficult music. This album forces you to look over the precipice into the abyss. That's what's so great about it.

One final, unrelated note: Whenever you can, see her live performance. She could read from the phone book and make it powerful. Best performance I saw was the "Empty Places" tour (supporting the Strange Angels album). Sadly did not see the US Live performance. At least with the recording, you can live it in your head. I guess it goes back to polysemic interpretation again. Instead of ruing the lack of visuals, the discs draw out your own personal memories, visions and nightmares.

p.s. Think about the time this was recorded (early '80s) and the technology LA used for this performance work. There's a current exhibit at the Cleveland Inst. of Art on video/audio works from 1964-1977 that raises an interesting technical question: How does this media hold up over time? What LA did in US Live, the exhaustive work that went into the technical aspects -- any powerful computer and the right software could produce similar results with less effort today. (Of course, it wouldn't have LA's stamp on it, but mine is a technical point, not an interpretive one). Will we look back in 20 years and say, 'Wow, to think that she built that digital processor from the ground up!'? Will it seem as spectacular? And, more importantly, will we stop critiquing the very machines and technology we use to create the art; in other words, will we lose the self-reflexivity that LA captures so well in US Live (note "Yankee See" in particular as an example)? Hopefully, artists like LA will keep us honest.

Sorry for the rambling. Just go out and buy this; or, if you're a neophyte, start with her newest live album or the "Talk Normal" retrospective.

In the 80's, I would listen to this over and over while I vacuumed the balcony's at a Florida beach condo where I was (barely) gainfully employed at the time. It operated for me on the level of the associations that it dredged up from my memories and knowledge. Are you well read in the history of modern military technolgies? Do you have a morbid fascination with environmental decay and the mostly unconsidered consequences of the choices imposed on us by imperatives of our economic system? Are you endowed with a cinematic imagination with which you can explore these consequences? If so, this recording is for you.

The first time I ever heard Laurie Anderson's music, I was terrified.
I got over it.

Much has been written about this massive work, many hours long, encapsulating many of Laurie Anderson's observations for, of, about, counter, pro, etc etc regarding the United States of America. Not so much a history lesson as a long narrative of observations, encounters, ideas, musings, and so on about how she and this nation (and its people, culture, etc) interact...as well as interact with each other. It's almost impossible to explain in the course of 1000 words exactly what's going on here, thematically, so I won't...as this would be better done with something the length of a doctoral dissertation! Musically, what's up here is amazing. With minimal compositional input and a rather stripped-down ensemble of players (when Anderson isn't going at things solo, which is often), Laurie Anderson manages to evoke the soundscapes of America, in all their diversity, even when she's not exactly using the very elements that make up those soundscapes. Many at the time dismissed Anderson's music as 'childish', but time and the simplistic power of this work has rendered those observations very moot; Laurie Anderson's music is much better looked-at as 'child-like', opening a window which allows us to observe our surroundings with powers of observation as polished as when all of us were young. Many points about America are looked at here...personal relationships, politics, social engineering, work, family, commerce, information, entertainment...and they're all encapsulated as if this were one long drive, as the work starts and ends with you, the listener, driving to...somewhere, at night, on the edge of the city, not sure where you're going. In fact, this is perhaps the best place to experience "United States", in the absence of the stage spectacle that accompanied the recording of this opus. But there's one image from that that seems to sum up the work: standing before the huge screen that made up the backdrop, Laurie Anderson is sawing away on her violin, while the screen shows the words "HOW FAR CAN YOU PENETRATE OUR SCRAMBLE SYSTEM", in ultra-lo-rez graphics, along with an ominous-looking lissajous oval. This very much IS a 'scramble system', taking all of America, us, our lives and observations, and jumbling them up in Laurie's funhouse mirrors, setting them to music that reverts us all back to some classroom music playtime. Perhaps one of the most important works of the last quarter of the 20th Century; certainly one of the few that truly evokes those times.

One of the many qualities that separates Laurie Anderson from the sub-par pop world of the Backstreet Boys and Korn is her unerring intelligence, and it is on full display in the ambitious four CD box set entitled "United States Live". Taken from a series of shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Anderson attempts nothing less than a cultural, historical and psychiatric dissection of America. Though this was probably much more interesting to watch (as it included the use of multimedia which is obviously incompatible with audio formating), the songs nevertheless work on a cerebral level, the likes of which have seldom, if ever, been duplicated. Utilizing her electronic violin, Harmonizer and toy saxophone (among other instruments), Anderson has concocted a tour de force of sound and expression. Admittedly, each of the 78 tracks available here are exceedingly intellectual and demand the listener's full attention; consequently, one cannot listen to this box set in one, five, or even ten sittings as though it were a simple collection of pop songs. The themes, multiple meanings and interior layers of each track unfold gradually with repeated listenings. It is also of note that a few of the songs included here can also be found on Anderson's first studio album, 1982's "Big Science". Personal Favorites: the history of Tesla's relationship with Einstein that accompanies the song "Dance of Electricity"; the philosophical musings on the nature of human motion found in "Walking and Falling"; the pseudo-Native American vocal rhythm of "Hey Ah". Representative Lyrics: "I can see the future and it's a place- about 70 miles East of here." ("Let X=X")

One of the many qualities that separates Laurie Anderson from the sub-par pop world of the Backstreet Boys and Korn is her unerring intelligence, and it is on full display in the ambitious four CD box set entitled "United States Live". Taken from a series of shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Anderson attempts nothing less than a cultural, historical and psychiatric dissection of America. Though this was probably much more interesting to watch (as it included the use of multimedia which is obviously incompatible with audio formatting), the songs nevertheless work on a cerebral level, the likes of which have seldom, if ever, been duplicated. Utilizing her electric violin, Harmonizer and toy saxophone (among other instruments), Anderson has concocted a tour de force of sound and expression. Admittedly, each of the 78 tracks available here are exceedingly intellectual and demand the listener's full attention; consequently, one cannot listen to this box set in one, five or even ten sittings as though it were a simple collection of pop songs. The themes, multiple meanings and interior layers of each track unfold gradually with repeated listenings. It is also of note that a few of the songs included here can also be found on Anderson's first studio album, 1982"s "Big Science". Personal Favorites: the history of Tesla's relationship with Einstein that accompanies the song "Dance of Electricity", the philosophical musings on the nature of human motion found in "Walking and Falling", and the pseudo-Native American vocal rhythm of "Hey Ah". Representative Lyrics: "I can see the future and it's a place- about 70 miles east of here." ("Let X=X")

my old LPs of this are so worn out and scratchy from YEARS of use. The fact that this is available on CD is a gift. I wouldn't sit and listen to this marathon effort from start to finish that often...it is 5 CDs after all. But hearing just some of it here and there can be aurally gratifying. Lots of humor, poetry and personal expression from this live performance. I would have loved to have seen this at its performance in NYC...it appeared to be a multi-media happening. try it.

First listened to this one in 1985 or 1986. Best sound from L I've ever heard. She is something else, where in the world does she come up with the ideas. Great stuff!! It makes for a very different night. Just plug it in, you won't be let down. My favorite is the "two Jims", it will make you think...

I attended the performances of this at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in 1983, over two nights, in excellent seats, well placed to see the visuals. (If you were up in the nosebleed seats at BAM it would not have been ideal.) This was quite a riveting series of performances, and I bought the recordings on 4 cassettes when they appeared. (Note that the original performances were around eight hours, so this is just more than half of the total.)

Laurie Anderson was part avant-garde, part carnival huckster, and you could watch and listen to her and never know exactly which side she was leaning toward. It's easy to dismiss her clichés and simplifications, some of which would almost be stand-up comedy; on the other hand, some of her comments and ideas are much deeper and more complex than they seem.

United States was more of a compilation than a thematic performance. She had been riffing about these ideas for several years, and after the success of O, Superman, managed to tie everything together in this longish performance that took place over two nights. Looking back more than twenty years, some of it still stands up, but much of her music and ideas seems sophmoric. Nevertheless, they are a good reflection of an era: when the Cold War was still alive, when music had just shifted from rock to disco to new wave, when a variety of currents had started becoming mainstream (the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich made it big in those years, notably with a huge Reich retrospective at BAM and a revival of Einstein on the Beach). So there was, even then, a tinge of nostalgia in United States.

I'll agree with what one reviewer says: the visuals were an integral part of this performance. I seem to recall cameras, but I guess there was never enough demand for a video back then. (If it were performed today, there would be a DVD immediately.)

In spite of any negatives, Laurie Andersond had stage presence, had the courage to present some pretty quirky ideas (her style, however, has become mainstream, as can be seen in many movies these days), and was, for a brief period, unique. Unfortunately, after United States, she started repeating the same stuff over and over.

If you lived through the period, and, especially, if you were fortunate enough to see the performances, this would be a good bit of nostalgia. If not, you'll probably be perplexed. It would be interesting, though, to listen to this closely and see just how much the world has changed since then.

I saw Laurie Anderson perform "United States" in London shortly after this recording was made, and it stayed with me as a very special event, so I was very excited when I got these CDs. After a while I was struck by how much is missing: the concert was a very visual experience, and on the CDs you sometimes are reminded of this when you hear the audience respond to something you can't see. Also I feel that most of what's best here is done better on "Big Science", so unless you're a Laurie Anderson-obsessive you're probably better off with that. Still... I'm glad I have "United States".