Search - Concrete Blonde :: Live in Brazil

Concrete Blonde delivers in a big way!!!

Bob Rosser | Mesa, AZ United States | 05/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've often thought that Concrete Blonde was one of the most underrated and overlooked bands that came out of L.A. during the late 80s/early 90s. Johnette's voice has always knocked me out and the passion with which she delivers her lyrics is amazing. I've also thought that Jim Mankey is one of the most underrated rock guitarrists out there, delivering solos and parts that are technically and emotionally amazing. I still have not heard Group Therapy yet, but will be buying it shortly, after hearing the versions of its songs on here...Now to "Live in Brazil". The first word suitable for printing that comes to mind after hearing this is simply "WOW". For three people, the sound and fullness is amazing. Everybody is in fine form here, especially Johnette (who "tries to play bass" - major understatement there!). Her voice is the best I've ever heard it and she delivers the songs with such raw intensity and emotion that you almost forget that she is playing the amazingly solid bass playing that holds it all together... Jim's guitar playing is also top notch. His sound is totally original, the only way I can describe it is "fluid". It winds and bends and twists like a river... And the drummer on this recording is also rock solid and does a great job of holding things together... I'm not going to pick it apart and recommend particular songs, as all of this just plain rocks... definitely in my best of the year list!!!Buy it!"

If you don't own this, there is a hole in your life.

wankenstein42 | Stillwater, OK USA | 05/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't like live CDs, as a general rule. I bought this anyway because Concrete Blonde's live performances are so dynamic and amazing, much more emotional than their studio recordings. Live in Brazil does about as good a job as a live recording can do of maintaining the raw emotion that is the key ingredient in a powerful live show. Johnette explodes repeatedly, and Jim is on point, as usual. Highlights include Tomorrow Wendy (the best live performance I've ever heard of this song), Caroline, I Was a Fool, Violent, Roxy, and Joey. Why they omitted Jenny, I Read is beyond me, but I guess I can forgive them."

Real Alternative Rock: Punk is Alive

Omer Belsky | Haifa, Israel | 02/22/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although I've heard several Concrete Blonde songs over the years ('Tomorrow Wendy', 'Bloodletting' and the amazing cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Everybody Knows', among them), 'Live in Brazil' is the first of their albums I listened to. Although 'Live in Brazil' is not a perfect introduction, it is truly a great album, and I'm sure I'll be listening to lots more from the Los Angeles Trio.The greatest disadvantage is 'Live in Brazil' is that the songs lack something of an identity, blurring a bit with each other. Even after multiple listening, I'm still not quite sure, looking at the song lists, what 'Little Conversations' or 'Your Haunted Friend' are like, exactly. But this is a minor flaw. This is an album with amazing guitars, powerful punky melodies, and lots of enthusiasm by the band. Mostly, it is Johnette Napolitano amazing vocal that carries the melodies, firing haunting eulogies ('Tomorrow Wendy') ironic love songs ('Tonight') and angst ridden tirades ('Violent') with equal conviction.Among the highlights in these two albums is opener 'God is a Bullet', which features one of the best song titles I've encountered in recent times, combined with a great if simple ascending bass line and a great refrain: The music stops while Napolitano screams "God is bullet have mercy on us everyone". Another highlight is the Leonard Cohen cover, "Everybody Knows", introduced with an amusing commentary, "This is a song by a great-great-great-great-great-great-greatgreatGREAT Man". If Cohen's song was an ironic satire, a tale of depression told with a laugh around the bar, Concrete Blonde turn it into a bitter, haunting punk rock song, ending, quite appropriately, with Napolitano's version of Cohen's bitterest lyric in the song 'Everybody knows that you've been discrete/ but there were so many bitches you just had to meet/ without your cloths/Every body Knows'.Also memorable is 'I was a Fool', where the acoustic song becomes in the final chorus to a Post Punk yell, with heavy guitars and bass to match, "Scene of the Perfect Crime' which is just beautiful and sad, and set closer 'Tomorrow Wendy' an alternative rock classic, even if the guitar reminds me a little bit too much of the Pixies's 'Where Is My Mind?'Concrete Blonde's live album is a must have for fans of alternative rock. If you like guitars distorted, songs aggressive, and vocals angry, bitter and chaotic, this is an album for you."