TO SHATTER ALL ACCORD

This is one band with an unfortunate case of split-personality. While their (few) studio albums present some great music, IMHO, there is always something lacking--something 'second rate'--in the engineering/production of those albums. In concert, live, the band brings an energy, a sound, a rawness, an emotional immediacy, a here-and-now type of feel to their music which is so much more, so much bigger, so much more vibrant and engaging, so much more powerful--the word 'devastating' even comes to mind--than their studio recordings. Front man Matthew Parmenter's show, his body language, his engagement in the act of embodying the persona of his lyrical message is so powerful--the Parmenter-audience connection is so necessary for the full effectiveness of his music, that the studio albums pale in comparison. A Discipline/Matthew Parmenter studio album is like seeing a two dimensional painting on a museum wall. A live performance--even a live album--is like experiencing a fifth dimensional out-of-body wet dream. I'm glad Discipline decided to try to 'preserve' studio versions of some of their long-time (and hitherto un-studio-recorded) live favorites. Unfortunately, for those of us who have gotten used to seeing MP/Discipline perform them live, these are static silhouettes of the live versions.