Reviewed - 01/11/05
From
the Cradle to the Stage
[SPV Records]
Ahhh, Rage. I remember back in the good old timey days of the 1980's. I remember how great a thrash band you used to be. Remember "Execution Guaranteed"? Pretty sweet, wasn't it? But good things never last and for some reason you decided later on to do the whole European Power Metal thing. Hey, I know bands need to change and experiment, but I didn't and still don't like it. Sorry, I long for the thrashier Rage again. Metal Coven's Webmistress will probably regret sending me the promo of your new album "From The Cradle To Enslave" because she loved it, and try as I might, I can't find it in my heart to give a glowing review to this album, even if it does contain some of the older songs I really liked.
See, what is contained on "From The Cradle To The Stage" is over two hours of live material taken from various points in the band's career to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. That's strike one against them in my opinion. I can't stand most live albums. Really, the only one's I've ever even remotely liked were Kiss's "Alive" and "Alive II", and Iron Maiden's "Live After Death". Live music just never really seems to have the impact of the studio versions of a song. Live music is great as long as you're there attending the actual concert, but on an album it's usually rather lacking, in my opinion. And then that brings us to another point-On a twenty year celebration album, you're going to have a lot of people that never heard Rage before picking this up to get a taste of your music, and live music sounds totally different than the album versions of the same songs, so an unknowing listener will pick this up and think this is how all the songs will sound and will be surprised at how different the songs are on the proper studio albums. On the newer Rage songs on the album this isn't as much of a problem, but the older tracks are "updated" to Rage's new sound and they don't sound much like the original versions at all. I can applaud them for including some really old stuff on here, but there's not a single track from "Execution Guaranteed" to be found. Such a shame, because at the time of its release, it was one of the more popular thrash albums around, at least here in the States. All of the musicianship is great and the songs are rendered well, but there's just too much of the new Rage material here for me to fully appreciate the album. Plus as I stated before, the older songs are given an updated twist which is just plain wrong in my book.
The lyrics are as always all written in English and Peavy's vocals are a bit of a letdown. On the older songs, just as with the music, he updates the vocals as well. Gone is his more thrash vocals that were on the studio albums that contained these older songs and in their place are really mediocre power metal styled vocals. These kind of vocals would have been okay on the newer tracks where they belonged, but to use them on the older tracks where there used to be his more aggressive vocals kind of baffles my mind. It's almost like he was just trying to keep the newer fans of Rage happy.
The production, especially for a live album, is great. I have a feeling it was edited in the studio, but I can't be for sure. The only time you can hear the crowd is when the music breaks down to almost nothingness or in between songs, and that's usually an indicator that the original recording was polished up a bit. But hey, Kiss "Alive" wasn't a true live album either, so no big deal. The overall sound is indeed great, though.
The packaging is something I can't comment on because it's just the cover art with band info on the inside. That's okay, but I wish labels would realize that we reviewers cannot comment on lyrical content or the design of the CD itself if that is not included! The cover art is quite simple, but looks cool nonetheless. The inside info says that "From The Cradle To The Stage" is also available on DVD, so fans of the band might want to be sure and pick that up as well.
I know this band has a HUGE following in Europe and in the last few years have gotten quite big in the US as well, so these masses of fans will get this album regardless. For Rage fans of old, I'd recommend you pass this one up because even the old songs on here sound as if they belong on one of their newer albums. To people that have not heard the band before, I'd recommend that you ask yourself if you like thrash or power metal and base your album buying decision on that. If you like thrashier stuff, go with "Execution Guaranteed" or "Reign Of Fear". If you like a more power metal sound, go with a newer studio album like "Soundchaser" or "Unity". But no matter what style you like most, don't get this album if it is your first foray into the band because a live album is a horrible way to be introduced to a band you've never heard before. And even though I don't care too much for the way Rage sounds in 2004, I do appreciate their past efforts a great deal and want to congratulate them on twenty years of creating metal. That's a big accomplishment for any band.
[SPV Records]
Ahhh, Rage. I remember back in the good old timey days of the 1980's. I remember how great a thrash band you used to be. Remember "Execution Guaranteed"? Pretty sweet, wasn't it? But good things never last and for some reason you decided later on to do the whole European Power Metal thing. Hey, I know bands need to change and experiment, but I didn't and still don't like it. Sorry, I long for the thrashier Rage again. Metal Coven's Webmistress will probably regret sending me the promo of your new album "From The Cradle To Enslave" because she loved it, and try as I might, I can't find it in my heart to give a glowing review to this album, even if it does contain some of the older songs I really liked.
See, what is contained on "From The Cradle To The Stage" is over two hours of live material taken from various points in the band's career to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. That's strike one against them in my opinion. I can't stand most live albums. Really, the only one's I've ever even remotely liked were Kiss's "Alive" and "Alive II", and Iron Maiden's "Live After Death". Live music just never really seems to have the impact of the studio versions of a song. Live music is great as long as you're there attending the actual concert, but on an album it's usually rather lacking, in my opinion. And then that brings us to another point-On a twenty year celebration album, you're going to have a lot of people that never heard Rage before picking this up to get a taste of your music, and live music sounds totally different than the album versions of the same songs, so an unknowing listener will pick this up and think this is how all the songs will sound and will be surprised at how different the songs are on the proper studio albums. On the newer Rage songs on the album this isn't as much of a problem, but the older tracks are "updated" to Rage's new sound and they don't sound much like the original versions at all. I can applaud them for including some really old stuff on here, but there's not a single track from "Execution Guaranteed" to be found. Such a shame, because at the time of its release, it was one of the more popular thrash albums around, at least here in the States. All of the musicianship is great and the songs are rendered well, but there's just too much of the new Rage material here for me to fully appreciate the album. Plus as I stated before, the older songs are given an updated twist which is just plain wrong in my book.
The lyrics are as always all written in English and Peavy's vocals are a bit of a letdown. On the older songs, just as with the music, he updates the vocals as well. Gone is his more thrash vocals that were on the studio albums that contained these older songs and in their place are really mediocre power metal styled vocals. These kind of vocals would have been okay on the newer tracks where they belonged, but to use them on the older tracks where there used to be his more aggressive vocals kind of baffles my mind. It's almost like he was just trying to keep the newer fans of Rage happy.
The production, especially for a live album, is great. I have a feeling it was edited in the studio, but I can't be for sure. The only time you can hear the crowd is when the music breaks down to almost nothingness or in between songs, and that's usually an indicator that the original recording was polished up a bit. But hey, Kiss "Alive" wasn't a true live album either, so no big deal. The overall sound is indeed great, though.
The packaging is something I can't comment on because it's just the cover art with band info on the inside. That's okay, but I wish labels would realize that we reviewers cannot comment on lyrical content or the design of the CD itself if that is not included! The cover art is quite simple, but looks cool nonetheless. The inside info says that "From The Cradle To The Stage" is also available on DVD, so fans of the band might want to be sure and pick that up as well.
I know this band has a HUGE following in Europe and in the last few years have gotten quite big in the US as well, so these masses of fans will get this album regardless. For Rage fans of old, I'd recommend you pass this one up because even the old songs on here sound as if they belong on one of their newer albums. To people that have not heard the band before, I'd recommend that you ask yourself if you like thrash or power metal and base your album buying decision on that. If you like thrashier stuff, go with "Execution Guaranteed" or "Reign Of Fear". If you like a more power metal sound, go with a newer studio album like "Soundchaser" or "Unity". But no matter what style you like most, don't get this album if it is your first foray into the band because a live album is a horrible way to be introduced to a band you've never heard before. And even though I don't care too much for the way Rage sounds in 2004, I do appreciate their past efforts a great deal and want to congratulate them on twenty years of creating metal. That's a big accomplishment for any band.
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Tracklist:
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| Rating: 6.5/10 | |
| Release Date: 2004 | |
| Length: 135:22 | |
| Review By: Britton Dicks | |
| Total Reviews: (1) | |
| Bands Website: Go Here | |
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