Comments for Stranglers, The, Live at the Hammersmith Odeon 1981

BBC MUSIC: The Archive SeriesThe Stranglers, Live at the Hammersmith Odeon 1981My God, a BBC live concert recording that almost does a band some justice . . . .This is a 13 track set giving reasonable value for money (55 mins. playing time), and the tracks mainly come from the "La Folie", "Meninblack", and "Raven" era. As far as I know this is the only Stranglers live album which covers this period, and in view of this I feel that this album is a must for fans, and not only the die hards. An enthusiastic Hammersmith Odeon crowd welcomes "Down in the Sewer", a marvellous opener - what will strike Stranglers fans most will be the slightly subdued, somewhat clumsy and compressed bass sound which is probably the only flaw in this concert recording - I suppose the BBC had to bugger something up (Anyway, JJ`s playing is a little skew wiff in parts anyway !).After this we`re into two tracks from "Meninblack" - "Just like nothing on earth" and "Second Coming". In passing, after the "Meninblack" album, the only Stranglers album I bought for the next 6 years or so was "Feline". "Meninblack" nearly put me off. I felt that they had gone soft, and the tight sound of "Black and White" and "Raven" seemed to have disappeared. Now in retrospect, I adore "La Folie" and "Feline" - maybe it`s because I`m older (34 !!!) . . . but I see these albums as natural progressions - it would be boring indeed if every album sounded like "Rattus". Anyway, to get back to the point, the "Meninblack" tracks do stand up quite well here, even if they do sound a little odd - definitely experimental ! It`s still a treat to here a live excursion featuring this relatively rare material.I had always thought of "La Folie" as being a somewhat lightweight and silly album - short, unexpected lightweight pop numbers (with the exception of the title track itself) quite out of character with the previous tour de force instrumentals on the first 4 albums. But, here in the context of a live gig from 1981, these songs from "La Folie" take on a new, and better, life, sitting very comfortably with tracks from the "Raven" era. in fact they are right up there with "Raven" and "Genetix" . Certainly better live than in the studio. They rock more than the studio versions - there is some welcome aggression. "Non Stop" is a welcome light relief after a rather serious "Second Coming" My favourite studio album has to be "The Raven", and this live album is a treat, giving us "Duchess", "The Raven" and "Genetix" . "Duchess" suffers from an initial mix problem but this is soon rectified by the BBC engineers; JJ ballses up his bass part in "the Raven" at the start, but, oh what the heck, the rest of it is brilliant; and then the set finishes with a marvellous "Genetix"All in all, an album well worth having. Released 17 years after it`s initial release, all I can say is that I wish I had heard it actually broadcast all those years ago - I believe that it wasn`t actually broadcast, and I think that`s true, `cause I`m sure that I would have taped it off the radio then ! Now BBC, how about a "Peel Sessions" album ?????Track ListingDown in the SewerJust like Nothing on EarthSecond ComingNon StopThe Man they Love to HateGolden BrownTrue Love and HappinessDuchessLet me introduce you to the familyTrampThe RavenGenetix