LIVE - MAGNETIC AIR

They're just Max Webster, here to thin the thickness of your skin

During their unfortunately short lived career Canadian hard rock outfit Max Webster managed to put out five excellent albums and this live offering, recorded after the release of their fourth album A Million Vacations. While this one is not quite as essential as their other material it's still a great disc. Housed here is a rather odd collection of songs considering the Webster catalog, but a good set none the less. However, any fans won't be disappointed by the actual performance of the songs, as Mitchell is on fire with his axe, not to mention that he rips through his vocal parts like there's no tomorrow. There's also a good chunk of time spent talking to the audience (although not so much that it becomes distracting) between some of the songs, much like big brothers Rush often do.

Getting back to the song list, this is likely the only strange part about the album. Obviously aimed more at the fans than anyone else, this one features less of the band's hits and more tracks that the fans would want to hear. Rather frustrating, however, is the lack of a couple songs. Exempted from the play list are some of Webster's greatest tracks. The debut's coda, Lily for example, would have made this an amazing effort. Recent hit from A Million Vacations, Paradise Skies is included, but the beautiful Let Go The Line is not.

This is nitpicking, of course. Included on the album are a number of songs which any fan will destroy themselves just to hear. The prog flavored In Context Of The Moon is a welcome addition as if fan favorite, hard rocker Hangover. Lip Service provides some well needed keyboarding fun while Here Among The Cats pulls out some twisted Canadian blues. Gravity and Waterline also make great appearances.

It's clear that the band were simply limited as to what they could chose with only a single LP to put the music onto, and it's rather unfortunate that they weren't able to go all out with a double LP and let loose on some more fan favorites. Nitpicking aside this is still a great disc that any progger will enjoy. Webster were quite good live! Performances are sharp and the songs are well picked (even if some favorites are excluded). 3.5 stars! Recommended, but fans are more likely the ones to enjoy it.

After four very good studio albums MAX WEBSTER released this live record featuring eleven tracks including a short improv. So we get 2 to 3 songs off of each of those four studio recordings. The sound quality is excellent but I must admit this album has it's ups and downs which surprised me since i'm a big fan of this band. Yes this could have been so much better.

"America's Veins" opens to the sound of applause as the music kicks in with vocals not far behind. I'm not a big fan of this one especially the chorus. It's not great when the opening track is my least favourite on the album. "Paradise Skies" is such an awesome tune but this version comes across as being a little flat for some reason. "In The Context Of The Moon" opens with Kim speaking to the audience for the first time. Again I prefer the studio version to this one. A good section though after 3 minutes as it turns lighter. "Night Flights" is where we finally hear the MAX WEBSTER I know and love. A top three and this one is from "A Million Vacations". Such a feel-good tune for me. "Lip Service" is catchy and fun which is what this band was all about. Check out the guitar solo 3 minutes in.

"Sarniatown Reggae" is a reggae flavoured track with spoken lyrics from the song "The Party". An improv I assume and the title comers from the fact they were from the city of Sarnia, Ontario. "Here Among The Cats" is from the debut and one of my favourites. The guitar is impressive. "Gravity" is humerous with pulsating keys that come and go. I like the lyrics a lot, and also the calm after 2 minutes. When the song ends Kim says "Magnetic air, thankyou!". "Waterline" is another top three song for me on here. A killer groove to this one and check out the fuzz 2 1/2 minutes in. Fantastic! "Charmonium" is an uplifting track with swirling keys and guitar. Watkinson sings lead on this one. "Hangover" is the closer and the perfect encore track. My final top three tune as well. This is raw and dirty as he sings about getting drunk. "Double vision when the bar is closed down". Yeah I experienced that once and it was one too many. Kick-ass all the way.

I agree with my buddy Queen By-Tor and her rating of 3.5 stars. We're both huge fans of this long broken up band but i'll stick with the first four studio albums thankyou. For noobs i'd suggest "The Best Of Max Webster" where you'll also get "Battle Scar" which MAX WEBSTER did with RUSH. An amazing track, but just one of many from this awesome group.