It's about time...
Jean T. Gilliland | Owensboro, KY USA | 06/11/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"...these discs were reissued! These albums represent a musical transition for the Osmonds. I had not realized until I read the insert notes that Rick Hall and the Osmonds had split during the recording of Phase III (I thought the split had come afterward), but that explains the inclusion of songs like "My Drum", an underrated rocker which hints at the musical direction in which the boys were headed (the notes incorrectly credit Jay, not Merrill, as lead singer, and Jimmy, not Jay, as being co-writer, of "My Drum"). The brothers' desire to play rock'n'roll couldn't be more obvious than on Live; the precise, raucous muscianship exbibited on well-chosen, faithful covers of "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling", "Proud Mary/Free" and "We Gotta Live Together" might still catch some less-informed listeners by surprise. Donny's innocent angst on signature tunes such as "Puppy Love" and "Hey Girl" reveals a musical sensibility and depth too many unfairly wrote off as insubstantial teenybopper music. The boy knew what he was singing about, and it's no wonder the pre-teen girls swooned, because they knew what he was singing about too. Taken together, these albums clearly show a progression from the Osmonds/Homemade albums toward the more substantial rock/pop of Crazy Horses/The Plan, and they reflect the Brothers' increasing control over their music.
I lost my original recording of Live years ago, but the song list on this reissue seems to match my memories of the original American release. The double-tracking mentioned by another reviewer is there, but it's not so obvious that it detracts from the music's listenability. Otherwise, the sound is very good, the notes informative (despite the mistakes listed above), and the packaging generally better than most previous reissues.
"
Approaching their best.
bobby morrow | United Kingdom | 05/18/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"These two albums were probably the biggest selling of the Osmonds' career in the US. 'Phase III' is good, if a little patchy, and although it showed growth from the brothers' first two MGM releases, to my mind their best work came on their next couple of studio LPs.
The 'Live' album is infamous for not being that 'live'! At the time of it's recording the brothers were all sick and the results were so diappointing that they were made to re-do some of their vocals. You can tell, too, as many of the tracks have a 'double-tracked' sound to them. Still, it sounded like a good show and I was surprised to find out from the sleevenotes that the 'Live' album was a double LP in America whilst in the UK it was 'slightly edited' to fit on a single album. Which version is here I'm not sure but this version of 'Live' lasts nearly 49 minutes.
Both albums sound good, clear and 'full' but there are glitches. There's a fair bit of hiss on the quieter tracks and 'Love Is' has a shaky start. Also, 'Don't Panic' and the live version of 'Down By The Lazy River' have a couple of bad 'dropouts' that really take you out of the songs. Don't get me wrong, it's not the end of the world, but it's a shame these flaws couldn't be fixed as you know that everytime you hear these tracks these errors are going to annoy you!
Overall, a good effort, though I've deducted a star for the above mentioned problems with the remastering. I always was a picky devil, though!"
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1