PUPPET SHOW

This is the perfect vehicle with which to explore the Salem Hill back-catalog. Indeed, the live performances of songs from their first two albums are imbued with a sense of immediacy and vitality - a certain "fullness" of sound - that the engineering and production of the original studio recordings failed to convey.

It helps to enjoy the virtuosic violin of David Ragsdale on "Brave New World". But does anyone doubt that this was they way the band heard the songs in their "collective mind" when they set out to record it the first time?

The challenge of reproducing tight vocal harmony in the live setting has bewildered some of the greatest rock bands of history. Not so with Salem Hill. They have the vocal manpower and the discipline to pull it off with flying colors. The bass is punchy. The mix is fantastic. From "Golden Crosses" and "Aceldama" all the way back to "Here and Now" and "Listen to Me", these performances surpass the studio versions in almost every respect.

If someone could manage to convince the band to record live performances of the entire first and second albums, surely they would quickly become the definitive versions.

Although the actual CD is out of print, the songs are available via digital download.