Bruce's new album, Magic was released this past fall and is a supposed return to the glory days. I'm not sure about that. I'm pretty diappointed with the studio sounds of Magic. As many reviewers on Amazon have stated, the sound is muddy or overcompressed. To my ears, simply there are too many instruments playing at the same time and that takes away from the enjoyment. I didn't have the urge for repeated listenings so I really had to force myself to listen which made me more disappointed.
At any rate, I was looking forward to hearing the songs live to see if they were any better. This show from Boston on November 19 (with 2 bonus tracks from 11/18) is audience sourced and sounds pretty distant so it's hard to judge the new material. (The two bonus tracks from the 18th have lesser sound quality.) As many of us know, this was Danny Federici's last show for now as he is being treated for cancer. Danny gets to shine on many songs including "This Hard Land" and "Kitty's Back". This CD release captures this special show with emotions running high for everyone. I truely wish Danny the best and hope he returns to the tour.
What I did get from listening is the band is still tight and are probably the greatest live act ever assembled. Soozie Tyrell is back and adds some great playing. Some of the highlights for me included the texas blues full band version of "Reason to Believe" and "Sandy". Also "Last to Die" and "Livin in The Future" are two of the better songs on "Magic" and sound good. I could do without the political ranting though. I heard Peter Wolf is featured on "Kitty's Back" but I couldn't hear him.
I'm not partial to audience recordings so this is not the best sounding release for me but as mentioned above, this is a special show and is worth it for Bruce fanatics like me. Godfather did a good job with the artwork and packaging. There's a show writeup by "Joe Roberts" and many current pictures of the band.
