ALIVE AND WELL... WHO AM I?/LIVE IN KRAKOW

This DVD actually dates from 2004, the year the gig took place. For 2009, Metal Mind productions have re-released the set as a limited edition (1000 copies) Digipak box with a bonus CD containing the audio track of the concert. The title has been slightly amended to the simpler "Alive and well. . . In Krakow". As such, we need to manage expectations in terms of the production quality. Metal Mind's recent DVD releases of the many great concerts which have taken place in Poland of late have set extraordinarily high standard in both video and audio terms. This release though takes us back a few years as far as technical excellence is concerned, the sound in particular being at best described as adequate.

To be fair, that sound is probably much as you would hear it if you were at the gig, with the bass riffs being over loud and distorted while the vocals are muffled. The guitar work tends to come across well though, especially during the solos, and the keyboard swathes are lush and atmospheric.

Most of the songs here are taken from Norwegian band Green Carnation's then current third album, "A blessing in disguise", the main exception being a 22 minute extract from the album filling song "Light of day, day of darkness". The mood of the music is often gothic, with heavy riffs and deep, powerful vocals. There are suggestions of the music of bands such as The Mission and Sisters of Mercy blended with more contemporary outfits like Anathema. The energy of songs like "Myron and Cole" and "Crushed to dust" is occasionally balanced by softer numbers like "The boy in the attic". By and large though, this is a set which demands the full attention and commitment of both listener and band.

On the plus side, the audience do seem far more aware of what is going on than their friends in Katowice, and are much more responsive than them. This helps to contribute to the overall atmosphere of the gig.

The DVD includes a number of appealing extras which help to offset the rather brief 1 hour running time of the main gig. The first of these is a short film of drummer Anders Kobro in the studio, adding the drum track to "Into deep". This is followed by three bootleg recordings of performances of songs which are included in the set list of the main gig. The sound quality of these songs is understandably worse than that of the main gig, the filming taking place from the audience on a hand-held camcorder. We are also treated to seven audio only songs. These include acoustic versions of four tracks from the "Blessing in disguise" album, plus covers of songs by Aha and Chris Isaac. These studio recordings sound much better in technical terms, while offering an interesting alternative view of the songs. The final audio track is a "pre-production demo" of what I take to be "Child's play" from the 2005 album "The quiet offspring".

Also include on the DVD is a lengthy interview with the band plus various text based "extras".

In all, a well packaged DVD which contains a lot of fine music. While the sound quality is not of the standard we might now expect, the set remains well performed and highly enjoyable.

Share this GREEN CARNATION review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Easy Livin
• Report this review (#222992)
• Buy GREEN CARNATION music online with PA partners
• Show all GREEN CARNATION MP3/Stream
• Go to GREEN CARNATION page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Alive And Well... Who Am I?/Live in Krakow page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GREEN CARNATION related discussions