Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment!, 20 May 2003
By A Customer
Well, what can I say? This is a live performance of one of the best bands ever. This was a CD I had been looking forward to hearing, not only because I was actually at the gig itself, but also because I love the Banshees. That is why it is so difficult to say that this CD is absolutely appalling!None of the atmosphere of the gig has been captured, songs are played too slow and Siouxsie rarely hits the right note. Hitting the right note is not usually important for Siouxsie, in my opinion, as her voice is stunning whatever. However, it is the droning vibrato that continues throughout which really begins to irritate. I actually found listening to it boring and quite embarrassing. Knox Chandler, the guitarist, makes too many mistakes to record. Severin's bass playing and Budgie's drums are great, although they fail to save this CD which sounds little more than a bad bootleg. Highlights, if I can try and salvage something from this gig, are Jigsaw Feeling and Monitor. The songs chosen from the gig for this CD are extremely disappointing as well. They have missed out the best bits, in my opinion, namely, Israel and Spellbound. I can only conjecture that these songs, when recorded and played back after the gig, sounded too bad to include. All in all, a very disappointing CD. Can only hope the DVD is better!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If it itches, scratch it!, 1 Jul 2003
Does exactly what it says on the tin - 7 years after they split up, the Banshees are back for just one more tour. A compulsive Banshee fan I bought this before checking the track list, so I was extremely surprised to see that such an emphasis was put on the older songs. As per usual the Banshees are happy to surprise us, and give a more mature sound to these older songs, while not loosing any of the original Punk power of their early years.
Although I was pleased to see that they avoided a bubble-gum greatest hits tour (well, what would you expect) fans will be a bit disappointed by the fact that the album holds far less tracks than the DVD, and misses out some of the old favourites. Really this is an album that could have done with being a double LP.
To sum up, this is a must for the fans, but if you are less familiar with the Banshees pick up "Once/Twice Upon a Time", or "Nocturne" if you want a live album. This does merit 4.5 stars though, especially for a surprisingly fantastic rendition of "Peek-a-booh"
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SIOUXSIE'S GOT THE SOLUTION FOR PERSONAL ITCHING, 31 May 2003
I've always been a firm beliver that Siouxsie and the Banshees were much better as a four-piece. Call me retro, but my favourite Banshees line up has always been Sioux/Severin/McKay/Morris. Even their surnames looked great in print! Therefore, I was thrilled when Siouxsie, Severin and Budgie went back to basics for the "Seven Year Itch" reunion tour: no keyboards, no strings and lots of material from their earlier (and better) albums. Fans who discovered Siouxsie via "Peepshow" and "Superstition" will no doubt be disappointed by this strident, noisy live CD but who cares? They've got last year's "Best Of" collection for consolation! In fact, I'd have awarded this disc five stars but I don't think the group went far enough with their exhumation of early material at the Shepherd's Bush Empire shows. Instead of "Night Shift" and "Voodoo Dolly", which also appear on the 1983 live set "Nocturne", why couldn't they have belted out neglected classics like "Nicotine Stain" and "Placebo Effect" which both featured in the setlist on other dates of the tour? Still, the Banshees deserve our admiration for delivering such a gutsy, energetic show. Many musicians doctor their live recordings in the studio, but here we have a "warts and all" document of one of the most truly original - and criminally underrated - bands of all time. If, like me, you can't believe that people make such a fuss over THOROUGHLY ORDINARY groups, this cd should come as a welcome relief. It's a shame they encored with the irritating "Peek-a-Boo", but that's just another minor quibble. Even the packaging is stylish, and a vast improvement on the atrocious sleeve for "Nocturne". Highlights: "Pure", "Jigsaw Feeling", "Metal Postcard", "Lullaby" and "Land's End". Once again, Siouxsie scratches the parts other bands fail to reach.
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