VAULT IV

Two concerts from 1986. The first one is in Brighton, the second was performed in Cleveland. The set-list is pretty much the same and after having endured the Brighton set, I had no patience left to bother with the second concert.

Froese and Co. are a very productive lot, but it often comes at the expense of quality. They are also undisputed masters of ruining otherwise well-crafted tunes by reworking them. That is of leaving out the essence while enhancing the beat. The end result is boring, monotonous sequencer galore sprinkled with a tiny, little spice. Not enough to hold one's attention, but succeeding in creating disappointment bordering on outright irritation.

The Brighton set is a prime example of that. The track list held great promise to me as I am rather partial to many of those tunes. The delivery however leaves a lot to be desired. One shouldn't write off a band over a weak performance, but considering the enormous TD discography, this release I have no room for in my collection.

Froese is prone to abrupt changes in direction. In the early '80s I saw TD live. It remains one of the most memorable performances I've ever seen. It left me spellbound, totally mesmerized as if waking from a trance-like dream. Just superb! (Unfortunately, that concert hasn't been recorded, or released.) I saw the band again within a few months and that performance couldn't have been more different. Different track selection, uninspired delivery saw me leave during the intermission.

"Vault IV" belongs where it's name suggests - in the vaults.