Two live 1990s albums best avoided
Judas Priest - ‘98 Live Meltdown 1998
Released in 1998, ‘98 Live Meltdown is a quick follow-up to a very long awaited album. Judas Priest brought out Jugulator in October 1997, some seven years after their previous album, Painkiller. Jugulator introduced a new era with a heavier sound and without Rob Halford, welcome Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. After that long wait, it was this live album up next. Taken from the Jugulator tour in 1998, it was quickly released that September. Perhaps that was too much of a hurry.
It has plenty of their best songs on a decent tracklist. Owens has a good voice but he’s no Halford and comparisons are inevitable. Even with him as a fresh face and some new energy the rest of the band don’t seem able to match that. They sound jaded and past their best in several places on this album. This makes this a real turn-off, even I suspect for avid fans of the band
King Crimson - THRaKaTTaK
This album is a slightly odd concept in the first place, especially for a live record. Take a load of instrumental improvisations from your tour, edit out the crowd noise, and focus on the musicians doing their own thing. Maybe if you are at a concert, knowing the band's style, that’s ok to watch for a few minutes as part of the overall set. But all together as one album? The only good news is that it's not a double album.
Released in 1996 after the band had completed their Thrakattak tour you have to wonder who the album was aimed at. It doesn’t reflect the live concerts with its hard focus entirely on improvisation. Many hardcore fans of the band have rejected it with accusations of rip-off heavily used. As a live album, it’s nowhere near replicating the gigs and easily becomes one to avoid.
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