June 2018 the UK-based Progressive / Classic Rock band The Tirith did a concert at 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel (see review). It was their only performance in the Netherlands so far. At the time I did not attend this gig because in those days I wasn't really interested in this band to be honest. Well I almost forgot this concert until I received an email from the band. It contained the message that the band had released a live album. Furthermore they wrote;" Please note this album contains 3 tracks recorded at the Progfrogs, TBlok, Rotterdam". Songs that were done acoustically. A couple of days later the live CD Live Earth Songs dropped in my mailbox. Well I was not a lover of the band as I already mentioned, and therefore my expectation were not really high. However when I put the disc in my CD player I was pleasantly surprised to be honest! This really sounded good to my ears! The album was mainly recorded live at The Musician Leicester, except for the earlier mentioned acoustic tracks. Which were of course not really recorded in Rotterdam. But as mentioned earlier in Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel. A town near the city of Rotterdam. Which people know better than the real name of the town where the recordings were done. But I guess it does not really matter where the venue was at the time. What matters is how the music sounds which was recorded at 't Blok and at The Musician. The songs which you can hear on this live recording come from the band's two latest studio albums A Leap Into The Dark (see review, 2019) and Return Of The Lydia (see review, 2022). They really impressed me music wise. Most of all the musical pieces taken from their latest release really got my approval. The musicians responsible for this fine selection of tunes are Tim Cox on guitars, Anthony Hill on keyboards, Paul Williams on drums and Richard Cory on bass, vocals and acoustic guitar. Most of all the addition of a keyboard player to the line up really did it for me. A keyboard player who wasn't in the Netherlands at the time during the earlier mentioned concert. Also the songs recorded in the Netherlands acoustically sounded really good. Maybe I should have attended that show at the time. However not everything is really positive. Because unfortunately I have to say something about the live sound on this album. The album has been carefully mixed and mastered by Richard Cory and Tim Cox. The press info mentioned that this has resulted in a great live sound and a quality rarely present in live recordings. But for me personally it could have been done way better. Don't get me wrong it is all worth listening but to me it sounds not very crystal clear. It is as if they did put a blanket over the microphones. Even thought I had some remarks about the audio it doesn't mean I can't recommend this release. Because I certainly can. The band is really on fire and show their energy throughout the entire live album. So check it out after all if you are into live albums and great progressive rock in general. ****- Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
