Monday, August 15, 2011

Isis - Live 4 (2006)

After a misstep with Live 1, Isis seems to have learned their lesson and are, at the very least, releasing live albums with less redundancy. Live 4 focuses on the earlier part of Isis's career and is almost entirely composed of songs from Celestial. The two exceptions are "False Light" and "Weight," both of which come from Oceanic.

Like I mentioned in an earlier live album review, the songs on Celestial feel like they were made to be played live. They translate well to a live performance and feel more engaging than on their albums, so, while this isn't an ideal setlist, it's a bit more engaging than just listening to Celestial would be.

Most of the songs sound similar to the album versions with a bit of an added edge. Take everything from my Celestial review and bump the score up by about half a point, and you'll have the right idea of what to expect here. The setlist doesn't make a ton of sense to me, as "Swarm Reigns (Down)" seems like a no-brainer for this album, but it's notably absent. The excellent extended version of "Celestial" is present here, though, and it kicks as much ass as ever.

There's nothing really wrong with this album, but it's not as engaging as Live 2 or Live 3. Fans of Celestial will want to grab this, as the songs on that album sound great here, but I don't consider this release essential in any way.
Verdict: Indifference [6/10]
http://www.isistheband.com

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