COMA DIVINE

I listened to the 2 CD re-release of this. Before this I was only familiar with a couple of instrumental EPs from this group. Of the few studio songs I have heard, their '90s stuff I find more enjoyable than what they have done over the past decade. Without being familiar with the original versions, this comes off as a 'best of' to me. Recorded in Rome on the Signify tour in 1997, the sound is very good for a live album. The songs here are supposed to be amongst the best they did in their early years. Apart from a song or two, I generally enjoy the tracks presented here.

"Waiting" is in two parts; not sure if that is the case on the studio album. The first vocal part is pretty good. The second part is spacey with nice percussion. I like the vocal sample "the brainwashed can not know they are brainwashed". Cool propeller sounds done on synth at the end. "The Sky Moves Sideways" is very Floyd sounding before the vocals start. Proceeds to pick up a bit after 7 minutes. Around 8 1/2 minutes gets more rocking with guitar. Gets more spacey with a hip-hop style programmed beat. Rocks out to finish it.

"Dislocated Day" has some good drumming, but I don't really care for this song otherwise. Short drum solo at the end. "Moonloop" is an ambient-rock instrumental until after 8 minutes when it gets more energenic. At 10 minutes really starts to rock out. "Is...not" has some good keyboard work. Wilson does some ripping guitar playing at one point. Nice melodic bass towards the end. Judging by the crowd singing along, "Radioactive Toy" was one of PT's most popular songs at the time of this concert. I guess the lyrics are supposed to be deep and thought-provoking but this song doesn't do much for me. That mellow middle section goes on a bit too long I think.

Although Wilson says that "Radioactive" is the last song of the night, "Not Beautiful Anymore" is instead. Maybe this was an encore? This track contains samples from the woman talking in Voyage 34(which is one of the instrumental EPs I have heard). I like the spacey synth effects at the beginning. Great drumming later on with more spacey synth effects. This song is generally upbeat and rockin'.

I'm still not sure how much I would enjoy a whole PT studio album. I read a lot about these guys over the years and downloaded a few of their songs; I guess I picked the wrong songs. I generally like these guys when they stretch out and either get spacey or more rockin'. Wilson's vocal songs I don't find to be as much to my taste. Still, this is a great live album. 4 stars.