After
three cd singles, two EP�s, four full-length albums, four 7-inches and a
compilation the time was there for Mike, Tom and Yuri to release their first
live-album. It�s a co-production of Tooth and Nail (with a special edition for
the Christian market, without the Ramones� cover �KKK took my baby away�),
Rock City Recordings (American distribution) and A&M Records (worldwide
distribution).
After
looking at the song-list I was a bit disappointed: I missed songs like "Teenage
Politics" and "Move To Bremerton" on the compilation and I wasn�t sure if the
large amount of �Slowly Going�-songs was various enough to keep my
attention, but after I had put the disc in my cd-player I was quite embarassed:
how is it possible that three young guys play their songs as straight and fast
as they do without losing
their so-called musical credibility?�Though
most songs are quite fast, all songs are still �sing-along�-songs and the
noise they produce is just a way to express their very emotional and true
feelings. Mike shows his guts as an excellent singer and I always wonder how in
the world it is possible for him to keep on playing his bass-guitar while he
sings such a large amount of (and difficult) lyrics. 23 songs in a gig: there are a lot of
bands who play less songs live!
The songs I like best on this album are the �old songs�, though I still
consider �Slowly��� their best album. "Time
Brings Change",
"Small Town
Minds",
"Walking
Bye"
as well as the short song "Forgive
And Forget"
just make me sing
along and� jump all around my
room. Very special is the Ramones� cover "KKK
Took My Baby Away", which is only
available in the secular market. It�s a typical Ramones-song: short, fast and
quite easy to play, but very, very catchy. Unlike their label-mates the
Huntingtons on their Ramones-tribute, MxPx tries to play their own typical
version of the song, which is not so hard, because they lack a
�rhytm-guitar�.
The only real problem with this album is that for me, as a die-hard MxPx-fan,
this stuff is not new and fresh anymore. So I am really looking forward to their
new album but for this winter I can listen to this album and keep on hoping for
them to come and play here in Europe again.
�DARLING
TAKE ME BY THE HAND, WE GOTTA SEE A PUNK RAWK BAND!� Karel
Smouter
for The T&N Records FAN Homepage � 2000