THE 13TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: LIVE IN HOLLAND

Let me rephrase that: I love the EARLY The Residents. After about 1982, they really started to suck. HARD. This album has should have been good - it is not. Imagine hearing your favorite songs of all time played with absolutely no passion, no planning, stripped of all complexity.

Apparently this album one of the more rare recordings of the "13th Anniversary" show, and to my ears sounds a bit cooler (less clinical) than the Japan recording. Not that it matters - neither are worth owning.

Everything is played on crappy sampler keyboards and carelessly programmed synths. Even the presence of Snakefinger doesn't help much; it all sounds the same - very, very bland. All of the songs literally run together, usually with a single low bass pedal tone sustaining for what seems like hours at a time. The instrumentation is incredibly thin - usually it's just Homer Flynn singing against what could easily be presets on a child's Casio.

Although - I guess there ARE some okay bits on here. Some highlights:

"Jailhouse rock" has some bayou-goop fake saxophones.

The piano loop on "Where is She?" is kind of catchy, and it features a nifty Snakefinger solo.

"I Got Rhythm" has a nice shift in texture midway through, when a cheesy drum machine enters.

"Hello Skinny" has a kind of nice synth woodwind duet.

"Constantinople" has some nice guitar from Snakefinger.

Of course, all of this overlooks the obvious deficiencies in the music, arrangements, & planning. Most of the tunes are utterly dispensable, and the ones I described have few redeeming elements. It's incredibly disappointing for a fan of The Residents' early material. Probably the worst thing about the album is that sounds like there are only three people on stage: a MIDI key player, a singer, and (occasionally) a guitarist.

I cannot give this more than 1 star with good conscience - it's not even good for collectors IMHO, since The Residents were over year before this.