Review Summary: An average live album from an above average band. They trade their electronic influences for acoustic renditions, with a slightly negative effect.
I’ve never really been into live albums. Generally, there isn’t a reason to buy a live album when I already own the original recordings that were professionally done in the studio. For me, live albums are only ever good if they improve on the sound quality of the original recording, they play the songs with an interesting twist, they include unreleased songs, or you’re a hardcore fan and buy everything a band releases. Unfortunately,
Lunik’s live album doesn’t do any of these things well, and as much as I like them, I am definitely not a hardcore fan.
This live album actually starts out with a studio recording of the song "Summers Gone" originally from the album
Weather. I’m not sure why this song is included on the album, as there seems to be absolutely no difference between this version and the one on the original album. After that song (which is good, just not necessary) we get into the live songs. Above, I mentioned that a live album could be good if it included an interesting twist to the songs. The keyword in that statement would be the word “interesting”. The twist on this live album is the entire thing is done acoustically, which does not add up to “interesting” when most the songs derive their quality from the electronics and loops present in the original recordings. The electronics are semi-recreated on this live album through the use of a piano, which, does not have the same impact as the original sounds and loops.
Life Is On Our Side closes with another studio recording called "Serenity" which actually isn’t found on any other album. It’s your typical acoustic guitar-based pseudo-ballad that seems to go nowhere in particular and brings nothing you haven’t heard from Lunik or countless other bands. Basically, I could end this review right here by stating that unless you feel the need to own all their albums or have an overwhelming need to hear the new sub-par Lunik song, you don’t need this album… but I’ll continue with other details that come up with live recordings.
A big question for any live recording is always whether or not the crowd noise affects the songs. The answer is easy: there isn’t any crowd noise except respectful clapping and subdued cheers in-between songs. As this is a live album, performance is also a factor. The band plays the songs flawlessly and Jael’s vocals are perfect. There seems to be no mistakes at all, and her voice never loses the quality expected of her. I mentioned above that a live album could be good if it improved on the sound quality of the original recording, and subsequently stated that they didn’t do very well with that. I need to make it clear that this album sounds awesome, and if not for the cheers could almost be mistaken for a studio album. The thing is the original albums sound just as good, but also include the electronics so lacking in these versions.
The quality of the overall performance and recording add to the score this album has received, because it has to be a factor when reviewing a live album. If it wasn’t factored in, the score would actually be lower due to the way in which the songs were re-worked. That’s not to say the live versions aren’t any good, they’re just not as good as the originals. With all of that in mind I am going to simply return to the statement I made earlier; unless you feel the need to own all their albums or have an overwhelming need to hear the new sub-par Lunik song, you don’t need this album.
