LIVE AT BURG HERZBERG FESTIVAL 2007

I quite liked this Italian band playing some deeply rooted Van Der Graaf music. Their first album was an extremely good surprise, but they were not really able to pursue on this very good mood with their second effort "Love Hate Round Trip".

Now, about this "live" record.It was recorded during the Burg Herzberg Festival in Germany which tagline is "Traditional Hippie Convention". It all started in 1968 and it still exists today.

"Araknamés" played along with bands such as "Paatos", Pavlov's Dog", "Van Der Graaf" (tiens, tiens), Riverside and the "Heep". But what to say about this "live" album?

Since it was a festival, their set was rather short: just over fifty minutes. The band decided to have three unreleased tracks (out of five) be played on the occasion and as far as I am concerned, it isn't a great recording when it is compared to their really good debut album.

The epic "The Prison That Few Can See" (over seventeen minutes) is just a long jam with no cohesion. I'm lacking the desperate feeling of their debut ("A Day Among Four Walls" or "Down"). The best part of this long track is the closing one which features fine vocals (which are all in English). But it lasts for less than two minutes.

The opening track "Dateless Diary" is more in line with my expectation, even if it is on their heavier side (but it won't be the only example of this tendency). It seems that as while playing live, "Araknamés" is heading towards a more powerful sound.

"A New Song" is my fave of the unreleased tracks thanks to a fantastic organ parts. The heaviest song of all and a wild song indeed.

"Outcast" from their second album "Love Hate Round Trip" is not really a great choice. This short song is quite anonymous IMO. Very much on the heavy (again) side, but little inspired.

To be complete, the last track "Boredom" was my least fave from their debut. This "live" version is no better I'm afraid. It is almost double in lenght here and also features some wild organ solo. For a couple of minutes...The last four minutes are just cacophony.

I was rather enthusiast before I listened to this live album. Unfortunately, the track list is a little weak: only two songs are worth IMO. Two out of five. This is my rating for this "live" album with no live feeling at all (not a single interaction with or from the audience).

A solid deception.