WAKING THE DEAD - LIVE IN JAPAN 2005

Upon my deliberation of what Anekdoten live release to acquire first I picked the 2005 Waking The Dead Based on the high praise it has received up to this point. I was also somewhat uncertain about the whole Official Bootleg part of the title that was added to the band's 1998 live album (not to mention the hefty $14 price difference), even though the track-list featured there felt much more familiar to me. The set-list here consists almost entirely of the albums From Within and Gravity which I consider to be good but not as appealing to me as their first two albums. I guess that I also wanted to find a new reason to like the second stage of Anekdoten's career therefore I, once again, jumped in head first without any preconceived expectations!

My first reaction was related to the sound quality that wasn't top notch and lacked the punch I was so accustomed to with other live recordings in recent years. Fortunately it didn't ruin this album since the current production softens down the sound making it work surprisingly effective with Anekdoten's luscious and mellow sound. Unlike my own concert experiences of the band where drums and bass always overshadowed guitars and Mellotron this is definitely not the case here and if anything I would say that the complete reversal of that scenario can be observed here.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of the studio versions of this material, the live setting did enhance these songs. I was especially pleased with the version the instrumental called The Sun Absolute that not only felt much more atmospheric than it did on From Within but now it was also accompanied by a nice intro Mellotron track titled Moons Of Mars. I happen to be one of the few people who cheaped out and only bought the original version of Anekdoten's debut album Vemod meaning that I haven't actually heard the wonderful bonus track called Sad Rain that was added to the later reissues of that album. This is a mistake that I do regret now that I've heard this gorgeous live take. Fortunately the band did foresee this problem and added a alternate version of Sad Rain on their 2009 compilation album.

I'm pleasantly surprised by Waking The Dead - Live In Japan 2005 and would like to add my voice to the legion of enthusiastic reviews that this live album has received. Even if you're just like me and find it difficult to enjoy the slow but steady shift of direction that Anekdoten has been going through ever since the release of From Within I still recommend giving this one a try. Who knows, maybe it will help us gap the bridge between the two eras of this great band development.

***** star songs: Kiss Of Life (4:44) The Sun Absolute (5:17) Sad Rain (12:04)

**** star songs: Monolith (6:26) From Within (7:58) Hole (11:17) SW4 (6:00) Moons Of Mars (2:39) Ricochet (5:53) Gravity (9:27) This Too Will Pass (7:09)