I've been meaning to write a review of his recent live album, Order of Magniture Empath Volume 1 Live so todays bump has ignited that flame....
It's very good.
I got the artbook which is very nice, physical quality is very good and has some nice pictures in it. I must have watched the blu-ray 15 times now. I absolutely love it. However, I didn't on my first watch. Actually was slightly dissapointed on my first watch. Reason being, I didn't love the set list. It's hardly a metal album, it's actually kind of pure prog. Which I guess I should have expected, but it really didn't hit me until I watched. It might also be because I was never a huge fan of Ki. So let me explain myself further... I'm not a huge fan of starting the show with Borderlands. I think it's a decent song, but it has no real juice or energy as an opener. I still believe this. However, I've come to really enjoy the performance of the song over time. it's quirky, and doesn't come off very heavy, but it's actually really fun in it's own unique way. Then we get Evermore which also doesn't come off as heavy live IMO, but it's pretty damn awesome to see the band play it. It's also a pretty fun and quirky song.
Then we get War and this is a very cool version of the song. This band brings their own flavor, it's not that it's different per say but with different people like Che, it feels very different. It's an awesome addition to his catalog to have this version of one of his older songs that have already been captured live.
Now we get to what I have come to find as maybe the best part of the live album. These chunks of songs:
4. Sprite
5. Gigpig Jam
6. Coast
7. Gato
8. Heavens End
9. Ain’t Never Gonna Win
While Sprite is from Empath, I kind of feel like it belongs with this grouping of songs. Che's vocals are AWESOME on it. The guitar playing is so intricate that you don't always notice while listening, but when you see it, it really sticks out. The jam is one of the most unique drum solos I've ever seen. It's not "the best" but when a drum solo keeps my attention, you know it's good. Then the four Ki songs. This album had never really clicked for me, but these live performances have me coming back to Ki now. It took a few watches before I kept waiting for this part of the set to come up. I'm so happy we got these performances on a live album because they definitely belong in the DT catalog of music that represents him. BURN BURN!! I'm not sure which song I like the most out of this bunch. Also all the backing band solos are really cool.
Maybe the best performance of Dead Head we have. Devin's vocals are perfect on this track.
Why is one weird song and the live version is even more weird. The interaction with the crowd is fantastic.
Lucky Animals may be the least interesting song on the set, but he gets the crowd going and it makes it fun. I'd have to watch the RAH video to compare, but I think the Retinal Circus version is probably my favorite. It doesn't sound as different as War does to make it very unique to me.
Genesis is maybe my favorite song off Empath and the performance is awesome. I love how they are actually able to pull this song off live. I feel this song is everything that Empath is in one song.
Spirits will Collide is beautiful. The female backing vocals really make this song great. It's an acoustic version so not that huge bombastic album track, but a beautiful version here. Show me someone who doesn't like it, they probably don't exist.
Disco Inferno is a fun cover. I've always enjoyed the song as like a stupid song to dance and sing along too so when I saw Devin was covering it, I thought he'd do it justice. He did. It also looks like the band is having a blast with Deigo making and handing out drinks during it. Really cool encore song.
And it ends with Kingdom. Another awesome performance of this song, and maybe the most energetic the audience gets the entire night. It seems the room really comes alive for this one. I think I like the Retinal Circus live version better, but this one is really solid. Can't say anything bad about it.
So to end, I just want to say the sound and picture quality are also fantastic. I love how this sounds more raw than his other live albums. It feels legit. It looks like they are all having fun and it rubs off when you watch it. I highly recommend it.
Right now, I'd say it's not better than the Retinal Circus just because that video is so over the top, but it may be my second favorite over RAH and Provdov.