Search - Enuff Z'Nuff :: Live (Reis)

[Similarities: The Beatles, Poison, The Loveless]

kurt torster | usa | 05/19/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For a live album to be worthy it has to do one of two things: either capture the moment and become a piece of history or compile tracks that are different enough from the regular version to make it more than just a dry run. It is the rare live disc that does both (and to my mind, the only ones that ever mattered are UFO's "Strangers In The Night", Thin Lizzy's "Live And Dangerous", Scorpions "World Wide Live", Dan Reed Network's "Live At Last" and Iron Maiden's "Live After Death"). This album comes close at times, but ultimately falls short. The performances are great and much more raw than their studio counterparts, which actually makes them stronger. The song selection comes entirely from the band's first three proper albums when they straddled the glam/power pop fence like no one else ever has. There are some killers here as well as some songs I could have done without. On the plus side, the always rocking "Baby Loves You", "In Crowd" and "Fly High Michelle" are at least equal if not besting their studio flips. But on the downswing, the dragged out jam of "In The Groove" or the plodding "Takin' A Ride" drains the energy from the set a few notches. And I would have preferred some other songs (especially from "Strength") to such choices as "Social Disease" or "Runaway" (no neither are Bon Jovi songs). But all in all, while not a classic, it's certainly a worth listen for those handful of songs that show that when the band hit their live stride, no one could touch them. [Spitfire has reissued five of the band's albums including Live, Seven, Tweaked, 1985 and Peach Fuzz.]"

HEAVY AND TIGHT ENUFF IS WORTH IT

kurt torster | 10/23/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THIS COLLECTION IS WELL WORTH YOUR TIME AND MONEY. A LITTLE HEAVY COMPARED WITH SOME OF THEIR STUDIO ALBUMS. THERES NOTHING LAID BACK ABOUT THIS ONE. JUST LISTEN TO "IN THE GROOVE" AND YOU WILL FEEL THE CONCERT HALL TEMBLE FROM THE THUNDEROUS DOWN BEAT. I LIKE THEIR MELODIC ROCK SOUND THE BEST. IT SHOWCASES THEIR WRITTING AND VOCAL GENIUS THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAS YET TO FIND OUT ABOUT."