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Crashing together bits of two shows recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, Picture This Live was released to coincide with EMI’s 100th anniversary and shortly before the band released their comeback album. Eventually, it was rereleased under the name Blondie Live: Philadelphia 1978/Dallas 1980, which is a mouthful forsaking the simplicity of the original.
Enough of the background, this is the best of Blondie’s various live albums. A raucous 75 minutes where the band struts their punk bona fides and make even their most pop-friendly songs sound deliciously spiky. Largely pulling from Parallel Lines, the band blazes through the usual hits – “One Way or Another,” “Sunday Girl,” “Heart of Glass” – with vigor. Even better are the lesser-known songs like a mashup of “A Shark in Jets Clothing” and “I Know but I Don’t Know,” that threatens to continually thrash itself into a stupor. It all comes to a garage-rock crescendo with a medley of T. Rex and Iggy Pop. Not even Debbie Harry’s proclamation of “this is the pop portion of the show” vibes with actual reality as the band is in fighting spirit throughout giving their catalog of stellar material a sloppy, aggressive workout that proves their pop was always of the arty variety.
DOWNLOAD: “Bang a Gong (Get It On)/Funtime,” “A Shark in Jets Clothing/I Know but I Don’t Know,” “Picture This”
