A LIVE EXPERIENCE

This was the first live album released by CAST and it's a double released in 1999.The songs are taken from their first 6 albums and it's really a compilation live recording as we get live tracks from many different years and events. Most of the music does come from "ProgDay" an event held in Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

The first 5 tracks are from that 1998 concert and it totals in at around 42 minutes. Most of the songs featured from that event were from their "Beyond Reality" album.The final track from that event given here is a drum solo. I'm not big on these but I enjoyed this one.Next up is "Run In The Rain" recorded at an event in Mexico. A laid back tune for the most part with lots of piano. Disc One ends with another "ProgDay" concert track from Chapel Hill but this one's from 1996. An almost 20 minutes tune called "Echoes", no not that one ! This one is a ride. Great track.

Disc Two is more varied I suppose with 10 tracks from concerts as far away as Quebec, Canada to Panama as well as Spain, including concert tracks from the USA and Mexico. My favourite song on this recording is "Static Dreams" from their "Third Call" album recorded in California in 1997. I like the atmosphere with flute and other sounds early on.The tempo picks up and I like the vocals here the best of all the songs.The guitar cries out after 7 minutes.

Certainly if your a fan of CAST this is a must as it will give you live versions of many of their excellent early tunes. I didn't enjoy this as much as I did some of their later studio albums but it's a good release.