PLAYING THE FOOL - THE OFFICIAL LIVE

As a relative newcomer to progressive, I picked up Playing the Fool (the double CD anniversary edition) after listening to and loving Three Friends and The Power and the Glory. As far as live albums go, this is very, very impressive. The instrumentals are extremely varied and consistently mind blowing.

There isn't much that hasn't been said about this album in all the previous reviews, so I'll think I'll just voice a couple of my complaints about it. These are just common problems that come up with all live albums (and at a much, much, lower rate on this album.) The vocals on two or three tracks (most glaringly, near the beginning of the opening track, "Just the Same") seem to be somewhat inconsistent on the high notes that can be hit. "So Sincere," was also a great disappointment in terms of vocals, but caught itself quickly with an amazing jam. And there's a little bit of brief feedback on one or two tracks. But that's literally all I can find wrong with it. In terms of quality, I liken this album to a supermodel with a single, tiny zit on her back. Who cares?

Another point I have to mention is that the 35th Anniversary edition includes a .mov file of a live show of "Proclamation." It suffers with the same vocal issues in a few difficult places. But the most remarkable thing about it is the drumming of John Weathers. No, not the actual sound coming out, but his face. He contorts his face in the most absolutely hillarious way when he's drumming. Don't get me wrong, he's a great drummer, and it's great that he's putting so much passion into it, but JESUS. That's worth a chuckle.