Review Summary: An excellent live album that is a must hear for fans
Taking Back Sunday - Live From Oresanz
Taking Back Sunday are a band who have had so many line up changes its hard to keep track without the help of a graph. This live album was under the line up of the last, and disappointing, album: New Again. However the band have since reformed the original line up, from the ground breaking scene staple of 8 years ago, Tell All Your Friends.
The main thing on a live album is the production and sound quality, and this is superb, and easily one of the best quality live albums I have heard in a long time. The vocals are crystal clear and the instruments all sound perfect.
This band is famous for its dual vocals, and although this is live, the dual vocals carry on, with the ex backup singer and guitarist Matt Fazzi actually sounding better than Adam Lazzara at times. Despite the fact that almost all songs played were originally with different backing singers, Fazzi's vocals are so melodic and superb, he makes the songs his own and sounds like they were written for his voice, the perfect example being "MakeDamnSure."
The songs are also given new life, with previously average and stale songs seeming to have a breath of fresh air injected into them. Older songs that were good to begin with sound totally different and shine just as brightly, with the combined vocals of Lazzara and the stunning Fazzi, making "A Decade Under The Influence" one of the biggest highlights of the whole album. Meanwhile, some of the newer, more average songs are shown to have a different side to them. "Caparthia" is one of these songs, while previously seeming a very mediocre and boring song, it is invigorated within the acoustic setting.
They save arguably the best song until last however, with fan favourite “Cute Without The E” winding up the live CD in a stunning fashion. Fazzi takes a slightly less prominent role, despite the heavy dual vocal emphasis of the song. This is due to some extraordinary crowd participation that really brought home just how intimate and special this must have been. Adam sounds back at his best on this song, backed up by the crowd and Fazzi. It ends the whole CD in an amazing fashion. When the breakdown with the repeated lines of “Why can’t I feel anything/from anyone other than you” is sung by the crowd (without Adam the last time through) it is a great moment and shows the great crowd interaction shown throughout the CD.
Having said that, not all of the CD is perfect, the second song New Again is actually duller acoustic and is one you will forget the moment the next song starts. The same can be said later on for Everything Must Go, which is a poor choice for a penultimate song. However these blips aren’t enough to stop an incredibly impressive live album in its tracks.
For fans of Taking Back Sunday, it is absolutely essential as a purchase. It shows songs in a new light and manages to totally invent some songs. It is certainly different enough to keep fans entertained until the new album in a few months time.
Best Tracks -
MakeDamnSure
A Decade Under The Influence
My Blue Heaven
Cute Without The E
