VOIVOD LIVES

"Voivod Lives" is a decent live album (or can be considered as a live compilation) from the chaotic Canadian prog/thrash gods. The first four songs were recorded at the famous Dynamo Festival in '96, the other songs come from the legendary underground club CGBG's in New York. Some editions contain two bonus tracks recorded in '99, Sweden. It means that the emphasis is on the "Negatron" album and the Eric Forrest era.

The Dynamo songs are great, better sound and better songs, regrettably the audience is hardly audible. Good to hear great legendary songs such as 'Tribal Convictions' from "Dimenson Hatross" or 'Nuclear War' from the first album, these are the highlights for me. The sound of the CBGG's songs is quite noisy and messy and the song selection is not the best. I like about the half of "Negatron", but songs like 'Planet Hell' or the title track are not among the good ones. The two bonus tracks bring back old memories; I saw them on the same "Phobos" tour they were rcorded and I really enjoy hearing 'The Prow' and 'Forlorn'. All in all, it's a decent live compilation from Voivod, no more no less, but I prefer their earlier albums.

6.5/10

I have already seen Voivod live on stage and know that they are able to do transfer their energy to the crowd and deliver a sweating and intense performance.

But in the mid-nineties, it wasn't the same thing. The band had chosen the path of a very dystopian, depressive and destructive sound and parted ways with their former singer and bass player and played in front of little and shy crowds. They really chose the worst time to release an energizing live record.

That's maybe the reason why there isn't much of a live atmosphere on this album and why the live versions almost sound like the studio versions of the songs. Sure thing is that E-Force is doing a better job than in the studio on the vocals, Piggy is playing above all standards and Away's drumming is straight and tight as always, but there is an important thing missing: the magic of the music. This record sounds too much like a routine job and has no atmosphere. As live recordings from two or three (with the bonus tracks) different places has been chosen, the live recording is somehow cut into pieces and doesn't sound really straight.

The second reason why I dislike this album is the set list. The band had chosen to play mostly songs from the very difficult and depressive "Negatron" album. Those songs do not work better live than on the regular studio album and sound very difficult, dumb and annoying. The band does not play enough songs from their great masterpieces of the eighties, but when they do, the results are surprisingly good and you are not missing the old member. A surprising fact is that the bonus tracks "Forlorn" and "The Prow" are the most intense songs on this album.

All in all, this live album is surely a good album from a technical point of view, but the set list is weak, the crowd is lame and the magic is missing. I would only recommend this album to the "hard core fans" of Voivod. The "Tatsumaki" DVD presents a way better live performance of the band in a more interesting line up.

Originally published on www.metal-archives.com on October 6th of the year 2010.