Review Summary: More like Live from Boringsanz. Actually this is good
Usually live albums are stupid; I mean if you want to see/hear a live show then go to a live show. Other wise just stick with the actual studio CD because most live CDs have nothing to offer except bad (or worse) versions of their studio CD songs. But this is one of those very rare cases where it's a bit of an exception and the album is actually very good. Brace yourselfs because believe it or not, some of these songs are better than the original album versions! Granted that they are usually the stupid Louder Now or New Again songs that sucked anyway but still that's pretty cool. Taking Back Sunday managed to take the songs they already knew and completely remake them into a more mellow and acoustic fashion that fits really surprisingly well for an acoustic show.
The song starts of with MakeDamnSure which seems like its Adam's warm up song because it takes him all the way until the last chorus before he starts belting like a madman. You might notice if you're watching the DVD or listening to the background harmonies but this is when they had Matt Fazzi in their grasp and not John Nolan or Fred, which may actually disappoint some fans but Fazzi sounds really good in this. His voice is buttery smooth and he really nails just about everything thrown in his direction. He sounds so good that he even overshines Adam just a little bit in a couple of the songs but not for sure.
So I'm praising this an awful lot you might wonder why it's not a 5; and the only reason for that, is that has too much filler. There is way too much stuff from the awful New Again and Louder Now and even a couple of their mediocre old songs before even Tell All Your Friends. But even with all of the bad material and only a couple songs from their best album, all the songs sound pretty new and fresh which makes it much much easier to listen to than Louder Now, or New Again. The only disappointment is that they didn't have the new songs from the self titled to work with but I'm willing to forgive that because it wasn't out at the time. All in all it's a great listen for any acoustic fan or Taking Back Sunday fan in general.
