REALITY DREAM

Bought this album on Thursday at a gig in Wrocław and it works very well to commemorate those moments. And it marks the beginning of new incarnation of Riverside live, different to what I saw at their previous gigs. Thrice have I watched them in smaller venues, like rock clubs, and got perceived a more aggresive, even metal style of playing. And this time it is more technical and subtle, once Riverside started doing bigger venues. But still it moves you and touches to the very core, even if the opportunities of headbanging are limited ;). Back to the music itself - keyboards of Michał Łapaj play more important role now and Mariusz Duda's vocal style is more elaborated, but of course full of emotion. The selection of tracks is representative to the Reality Dream trilogy which the future DVD is thought to summarize. The only important songs from the albums are I Believe and Loose Heart from Out of Myself (they are on Voices In My Head EP thogh), Dance Of The Shadows from Second Life Syndrome (but we got Parasomnia instead) and Beyond the Eyelids from Rapid Eye Movement - but we got Back To The River, the great opener from Second Life Syndrome tour, with quotes from Pink Floyd, which very smoothly goes into Conceiving You and wonderful, reflective Before, which lately was neglected. The sound is clear, all the instruments are audible. However, the funny comments and discussions by Mariusz Duda are lacking. This album would be a great opportunity to know the Riverside music live and great introduction to the trilogy. Its limited edition and the way of distribution (gigs) make it virtually not available to wider audience, who should wait for the release of DVD or go to band's gig, which I strongly recommend! Therefore, due to the limited availability I score this album with three stars only, whereas as first Riverside's live album it deserves better grade.