The mighty Canadian legends Harem Scarem mark time between studio releases with this career spanning double live CD/DVD. Supporting their brilliant second comeback album Thirteen, the band rip through 20 tracks that take in nearly every album of their 25 year career.
This is an absolute must have for all fans of the band.
Do yourself a favor and start the playback at 1.10 so as to avoid the awful stage introduction.
The recording starts a bit rough with the new track Garden of Eden, but the mix improves as the band launches into some of their most memorable tracks.
The debut is represented by spirited versions of Hard To Love, Distant Memory and Slowly Slipping Away.
The classic Mood Swings has Saviors Never Cry, Change Comes Around, No Justice, Sentimental Blvd and Mandy.
The brilliant new album shines via Garden Of Eden, Troubled Times, Midnight Hours, All I Need and Saints And Sinners.
Turn Around and So Blind appear from Big Bang Theory as well as the anthem Killing Me from Weight Of The World.
The title track from Voice Of Reason gets a run as does the hard riffing Dagger from the underrated Overload album.
I actually find myself skipping some of the earlier tracks to enjoy the more recent and modern tracks as I feel Harem is on band that just nailed the crossover from old-to-new with their constantly evolving sound.
I’d love to comment on the DVD, but I’ve been sent 2 Disc 1’s instead of the actual DVD disc, so I guess I’ll have to sort that out.
No matter your preference for albums by these guys, there is no understating what gifted songwriters the guys are. The Hess/Leperance team has delivered to me more all-time favorite songs than just about any other artist I enjoy listening to.
This disc features 20 of them, but there’s so many more. This is a great testament to the band’s longevity and creative brilliance.
