I came upon this album, never having known of its existence previously, in the racks of HMV. This was not long after I'd got Brook's Cobalt Blue and since I enjoyed that, I thought I'd have a punt on this.
One "problem" is that it sticks too closely to the Cobalt Blue template to make comparison interesting to any but the most dedicated fan or fetishist of the nuance. All but one and a bit of the tracks are also on the earlier album. Another is that Brook's sound has that squeaky-clean made-for-CD aesthetic that (a) sounds a bit dated 20 years on, and (b) denies the grit that you'd normally expect from a live performance.
I still like the music, but what is there here that doesn't sound better on the original studio release?
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