| Billy Talent: 666 Live |
|
|
|
| Posted by Mark Fisher |
05:00 PM Tuesday, 01 January 2008 |
Permalink
|
 Billy Talent has been around the block a time or two now, having received a big push with their debut self-titled album and critical acclaim for their creatively titled (Billy Talent II) sophomore effort. They're a punk infused rock band that gets pretty easily lost in the crowd, constantly swaying back and forth between enjoyable and annoying. This is the kind of band that it's easy to have a love/hate relationship with. Now comes 666: Live, which walks on both ends of the street.
666: Live is a two disc set that includes a CD of various live recordings from the band's European tour earlier this year and a DVD containing a full concert from Brixton Academy and a short set from MTV Rock AM Ring. On the CD portion the band sounds great. It's full of energy, guts, and sweat, something their albums have thus far failed to capture. If you've never seen the band before, the live performances will largely be a great surprise (okay, they would have been a nice surprise had I not mentioned it....). The sticking point here, and the reason for my use of the word largely, are Ben Kowalewicz's vocals. I really disliked his vocals on the band's debut but then he won me over wholeheartedly on II so I just wasn't prepared for his weak performance here. I suppose some will think he sounds "punk" because he can't carry a tune but the fact remains, he can't carry a tune here. He's either out of tune or screeching like a banshee (in a bad way) ALL the time and it's hard to get used to. His performance is energetic and entertaining but he pays a huge price by sacrificing his vocal work. The sets here are pretty solid, drawing from both albums nearly equally. Hearing both album's material side by side is interesting as well because it's clearly evident how much better the band's second batch of songs are. "Devil in a Midnight Mass," "This Suffering," and "Red Flag" stand head and shoulders above anything else on here. The material from the debut album is decent as well though, holding up a lot better here than the album versions did. Again, the band sounds great here. It's not that the vocals destroy it; it's more about how distracting they are. They really take away from the overall sound. Watching the DVD is a little easier because there are more things to focus on than the music, which in this case helps a lot. Overall if you are a Billy Talent fan you'll want to pick this up for sure but if you are new to the band I suggest picking up II and enjoying it until the likely to be titled III pokes it's head out of the underground. |
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|