Description:
As a founding member of the early-'90s psychedelic band Spacemen 3, Jason Pierce and bandmate Sonic Boom, a.k.a. Peter Kember, proudly proclaimed they were "taking drugs to make music to take drugs by." These days Sonic pretty much adheres to his original credo, but Pierce has blasted off on an entirely different trip. OK, Spiritualized's droning chords, sedated melodies, and atmospheric passages don't exactly discourage stoners from toking up, but their music is far too emotionally involving to be called drug rock. Not that it's complex, exactly. Many of the group's songs revolve around endlessly repeated two- and th
As a founding member of the early-'90s psychedelic band Spacemen 3, Jason Pierce and bandmate Sonic Boom, a.k.a. Peter Kember, proudly proclaimed they were "taking drugs to make music to take drugs by." These days Sonic pretty much adheres to his original credo, but Pierce has blasted off on an entirely different trip. OK, Spiritualized's droning chords, sedated melodies, and atmospheric passages don't exactly discourage stoners from toking up, but their music is far too emotionally involving to be called drug rock. Not that it's complex, exactly. Many of the group's songs revolve around endlessly repeated two- and three-chord progressions. But what the group is able to express in these simple structures is breathtaking. Some songs splash and spiral like slow-motion Spin Art, some ascend like rising mist, and still others reach the heavens via gliding strings and gospel choirs. Spiritualized is hands-down one of the most captivating, mesmerizing live bands since early Pink Floyd, and the double CD Live at Royal Albert Hall captures every violin quiver and guitar dribble with absolute clarity. On old Spacemen 3 tracks like "Walk with Jesus" and on Pierce's own "Electric Mainline" and "No God Only Religion," Spiritualized are truly celestial. --Jon Wiederhorn
Album Description
Live albums, by and large, are a dime a dozen -- inconsequential souvenirs designed to placate fans awaiting new studio material, they rarely if ever shed new light on the artist in question; rarer still is their ability to approximate the energy and excitement of the concert setting itself. Spiritualized's transcendent Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 is the proverbial exception that proves the rule, a revelatory two-disc collection which captures the group at the peak of their powers, somehow translating the hypnotic power and epic majesty of their live set onto vinyl. Rejecting the inane between-song stage patter common to most live performers, Jason Pierce instead weaves his music together into an unbroken tapestry of sound, casting a spell which ebbs and flows with narcotic beauty and intensity; even the most familiar selections (like "Shine a Light," "Take Your Time," and "Medication," all frequent inclusions on other Spiritualized live EPs and bootlegs) pulsate with new life, their melodies as likely to set off on a meditative drift as they are to erupt in blasts of white noise. Granted, Royal Albert Hall isn't a substitute for the experience of actually catching the group in the flesh -- what is? -- but like so few other concert LPs, it actually rises above its conceptual limitations, forever capturing a singular moment in time and space when Spiritualized was unquestionably the greatest rock & roll band in the world. BMG. 2004.
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Manufacturer: Deconstruction
Release date: 26 October 1998
Number of discs: 2
EAN: 0743216228522 UPC: 743216228522
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Login![Live at the Royal Albert Hall [2 CD]](https://i9.lisimg.com/image/products/280/B0000241RV/music/B0000241RV.jpg "Live at the Royal Albert Hall [2 CD]")
