Great show found by fan - a must!
Erik Vermeulen | Minneapolis, MN | 09/14/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Beggars Banquet released virtually every Numan recording on CD that they made over the 25 years he's been in business, except for the full 1980 shows. The original tapes were lost and all that was left was the Living Ornaments 1980 short version. Thanks to Steve Roper, a die-hard collector who specializes in Gary's early years (79-80), one of the most sought after live shows was released after 25 years. Steve spent a large chunk of his life searching for his `Eldorado' - a superb full-show life recording from 1980. There are many bootlegs out there, some of descent quality, but thanks to his endless effort, came across a soundboard/mixing desk recording of one of the shows and decided to contact Beggars banquet. They were also impressed and realized that this was a golden opportunity to release this to the world. The first CD starts with the original LO80 tracks that appeared on the album. Great quality, great piece of nostalgia. After this, the re-discovered show starts, and even though the sound quality is not hi-tech, it is still VERY good and more than we could hope for, for a recording that's been in someone's closet for 25 years. For the older Numan fans this is a piece of history that was discovered by a man who never stopped searching. For the newer fans, it might sound a bit dated but it is still worth a try. Great shows, great quality and nice packaging too.
A must for Numan fans!!!
Thank you Steve Roper for your effortless searching. All we need now is a 1982 show to appear....
"
It doesn't sound like a bootleg at all
Wurst Bürgi | 05/17/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A word about the allegedly bad sound-quality: As mentioned elsewhere, the "bootleg" portion (2nd half of CD 1 & all of CD 2) was taken directly from the mixing board and sounds really great, at least to these ears. In terms of sound-quality, it's about as good as LO '79. Sure, it's a bit rough around the edges but that's precisely what makes it so valuable! The musicians play with added verve and looseness because they probably didn't suspect the tape was rolling. Simply put: If you enjoy the studio versions of these songs, you'll get a real kick out of this "bootleg".
"
In Echo Park, I...
N. P. Stathoulopoulos | Brooklyn, NY | 09/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a must for fans of early Numan, period. It includes the original 10-track Living Ornaments '80 release (part of the original vinyl box-set) PLUS a new-found, complete show from the 1980 Teletour. It's basically one and a half shows, with the second, complete show a new find.
The sound quality of the original-release 10 tracks is impeccable and probably the best from the entire Living Ornaments series (79, 80, and 81). The mix, the performance, and the overall sound are amazing; as a live album, it holds up incredibly well today and goes right to the top of my personal favorites. Hard to believe it's over 25 years old; the band is tight, and Numan's voice (as well as the very use of his voice) are spot-on for the material. Numan gets it just right between his play on the vocals, the arrangements, and the energy (even his slurring/forgetting of vocals somehow works). The songs are tweaked a bit from the '79 versions, but not as much as the '81 release, where there seemed to be a real effort to spark everything up sound-wise. Overall, the combination of rock and synth sounds effortless.
The bonus to the original release version is an entire show from the same tour. The tapes were recently found though the actual show has not been determined. The sound quality is not as good as the first 10 tracks---they're slightly muddier, less crisp. But, I'm nitpicking. It's a complete show, the performance is very good, and you get a whole slew of songs for the first time on disc. Who says this is a shoddy bootleg? Er, not quite. It's straight from the soundboard, probably found in someone's closet, so while not as crisp as the first tracks, it's still a gem. It sounds far better than some of Numan's later live releases in terms of sound. There' s lot of punch with the remastering, and if you're truly obsessed you'll enjoy having two versions of some of the tracks.
Highly recommended. All of the Living Ornaments releases are, but this is my favorite. It's an import, so grab it, not sure how long they're going to keep it in print."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1