LIVE AT HEART

Well, here we are with a double release of albums form the brilliant spacerockers from Finland. Symetria is right up there. The question is how does Live at Heart compare with the fabulous Live 11am.

First off I have got to say how disappoitned I was with the mix in this album. Nothing from the crowd in there: it's all a bit dead pan. Futur Ixiom sounds as if it was recorded off a back stage feed.

Enough of the wingeing. So how's the music? Well it's good. this is almost a new Hidria beast: harder - rockier. Gone is the smooth folkiness (is that a word???) and here in Futur Ixiom we have the Finnish answer to ZZ Top.

Sindran Rastafan brings the listener back to the essential Hidira feel and groove (this one as a studio version is on the free download form the website) It picks up speed and then mellows out with commensutare ease. the guitar line soars above the mellow groove: all is Hidria; all is well with the world. At the end of the track we are treated to a very understated round of applause ... for goodness sake Germany wake up and smell the coffee ... if that was Belfast we'd have raised the roof (still got some semtex left ...) JOKE

Symetria good, like the album but I didn'get that extra live buzz I was hopin' for (reminds me of a few Rush gigs I've been to). Sine opens like an iommi bred early Sabbath number before givign us that typical Hidria riff. Interestingly in the mid-section there'sa lot of clapping during a fairly sparse passage: sounds like summit is up at mill but i don't know what .. anyway that's what live albums should be about ...

Then we have the new anthemn ... Radien. If you write songs then you know when you've got a great riff. it's just sits there in front of you as you play it and you can't help smiling a deep self-satisfactory smile and you find yourself going "Yes!!!!!". Well folks, this is one of those riffs. i can't describe it .. you have to listen to it. And in this album, live in front of a partially sobre bunch of Germans, boy but do these guys know the've hit the riff gold mine ... cries of "work it! work it!" come from stage left ... and they do. 28.5 out of 6.

To end proceedings we have the long time favourite Tarapita, first encountered by the masses on Balansia (an essential prog album).This 15 odd minute journey into the realm of Hidra is awesome. It opens like the weird strains which played in my mind as I walked with Conan into the witchrealm of Louhi. It's not Tapiola or the Swan of Tuonnela but this music is carving out a characteristically Finnish sound within spacerock.

It's not essential (unless you're a spacerock progger). I prefer Live Eleven AM but I still think this would be an excellent addition to a prog collection.