Search - Loudness :: Best of Reunion

Recycled + 1 new song + 1 new version

eveoflove | North York, Ontario Canada | 10/14/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Made in JAP in 2005, Serial# TKCA-72903, Playing Time 75:51



Contrarily to the "album description" posted on the page, which, at the time of this writing, reads: "Re-formed Japanese metal band play their hits. Again. Japan Records. 2005.", this CD does NOT mainly contain NEW interpretations of previously released material (for those, you need to get their "Rockshocks" CD)



"Reunion - The Best Of" is in a fact a compilation of material lifted from 6 sources:



1) track 2 is from the single "The Battleship Musashi";

2) tracks 3, 4 and 5 are from the "Spiritual Canoe" CD;

3) tracks 6 and 7 are from the "Pandemonium" CD;

4) tracks 8 and 9 are from the "Biosphere" CD;

5) tracks 10 and 11 are from the "Terror" CD;

6) tracks 12, 13 and 14 are from the "Racing [English Version]" CD.



Track 1 ("Jack") is a new track, and the CD contains a bonus track (track 15, NOT listed on any the artwork), which is a new rendition of the song "Speed", given a DRASTIC make-over to sound contemporary (or, should I say, to match what the LOUDNESS sound has been in recent years).



The "original" line-up has reformed in 2001, and I must admit that I'm not especially impressed with the musical direction and overall sound adopted (somewhat too compressed for my taste, though Akira's guitar performances never cease to amaze me!)



If you have all the recent albums, picking up this CD boils down to an individual (and difficult) choice: whether or not to spend hard-earned cash for basically 1 new song ("Jack"), 1 new version ("Speed") and 1 single-only track ("Wolfgang Amadeus")? I vote "no"...



I found "Rockshocks" significantly more interesting, even if it consists of re-recorded material, given a second life; perhaps that's because, in my opinion, the compositions were much stronger, and even though the sonic treatment is "current", it's like the best of both worlds.



To that end, "The Best Of - Reunion", is "the best of" since the "2001 reunion", but omits the excitement from their live performances, which you can get on the "The Soldier's Just Came Back" or "Live 2002" albums."