SPOCK'S BEARD: Don't try this at home

Released : 2000

Label : Inside Out / Suburban

Catalogue number : IOMCD060

Total playing time : 50’18”

Tracklist:

Day for night (8’03”) / Mouth of madness (5’06”) / Skin (3’54”) / Gibberish (4’48”) / June (7’11”) / The healing colors of sound (20’)

Musicians:
Neal Morse - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Alan Morse - guitar
Dave Meros - bass
Nick d'Virgilio - drums, vocals
Ryo Okumoto - keyboards

Website:

www.spocksbeard.com

This is the third live entry from our Spock's Beard friends and in my opinion slightly rush-released to promote the band when they set out as support on the forthcoming European Dream Theater tour. After the Official Live Bootleg in '96 and last year's double offering Live At The Whiskey and NEARfest on the band's very own Radiant Records ("We do need to release stuff on our own label from time to time in order to recuperate some of the losses we still make when going on tour," explains Neal Morse. "We need to have merchandise available for our fans to pay the bills!"), the brand-new single disc Don't Try This At Home was recorded during the band's last visit to Holland last year. Recorded at the 013 club in Tilburg, Holland (rumours have it that a video was also recorded there), the tracks presented here are from the band's last two studio albums. Four tracks are from the Day For Night album and two from The Kindness Of Strangers. Again the band proves the be one of the better bands around at the moment by means of their craftsmanship, their CSN&Y harmonies and their compositional skills.

Yet, as already stated, this release sounds more like a rush job instead of a proper release. For those who own nothing by the band maybe this could well be a nice calling card but then again I feel that some of the versions here lack the professionalism the band is known for. In "June" I hear some false singing and small mistakes here and there. Obviously these things happen if you only take the recordings of one single night and don't use any overdubs at all. In order to have an idea about the band though, I'm afraid you need to hear the entire concert and not some of the highlights. Therefore the band's very own double live set is a much better buy, and for those of you who want to hear more before buying a Spock's Beard release, why not visit one of the following sites where you can hear an entire Spock's concert in RealAudio lasting nearly two hours! http://www.studiomlive.com/nearfest99/spocksbeard/.

Reviewed by: John 'Bo Bo' Bollenberg