Live albums (double live here) fell out of favour for some reason in the 80s and 90s. The bands I wanted to hear (eg. Megadeth, Motorhead, Raven,Exciter, etc) sounded better on their studio releases, and like everyone else, was tired of hearing shitty sounding bootleg albums and tapes I'd get in trades. "Commercial" bands like Judas Priest and the Scorpions were a little too slick (well, 'Unleashed in the East' and Maiden's 'Live After Death' were/are still pretty damn good). Then you get the like of Metallica releasing quintiple live box set sets with underoos featuring all four faces (cha ching! Make that money!)

Anyways, in the 90s, besides the double live AC/DC, Slayer's was the only other one worth checking out. It's pretty raw and heavy (whaddya expect, it's thrash metal by one of the original bands) yet, clear. Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman just shred on guitar, with Tom Araya sounding like an old warhorse still battlecrying "Do you wanna die?!!!"

And Praise Death! Dave Lomabardo is bashing the drums, kind of glad they didn't use any part of the Reign In Blood tour when that Whiplash dude filled in. He was ok, but couldn't exactly replicate the drum patterns we know and love. Anyway, this is a great cross section of material, spanning from their debut "Show No Mercy" to the "Seasons In The Abyss" album.

Tough to say whether this is the cutting off point for me. I sort of like "Divine Intervention", but the punk covers "Undisputed Attitude" and the last album "Diabolus in Musica" are pretty shit. ...knowing me, I'll break down and buy the box set coming out with rare demos, songs from compilations/ soundtracks, re-recorded tracks, and probably a whole whack of live shit.

© 2001 mlotek