If you’re a big fan of the band or have seen them over recent years this year’s live release ‘Live from Milan’ is a faithful rendition of their current setlist with all the bells and whistles of the early years and some newer songs that in truth aren’t too shabby either.
Performances are all present and correct too – Paul Gilbert sounds great as he always does, Eric sings his heart out and doesn’t seem to have lost much at all over the years, Matt Starr does a great job filling in for the ailing Pat Torpey and Billy Sheehan still continues to bore the pants off me with his bass solos (yes we know you are a legend but name me any fan out there who would prefer a bass solo to another song?)
As sets go it’s a nice length, doesn’t miss out anything essential and the fans seem into it and if you love the band you won’t need any commentary just to say that it joins a rather large number of other live releases that if I’m honest I prefer over this missive from Milan.
If you’ve been hiding out for 30 years though check out ‘1992’ and ‘Green-Tinted 60’s Mind’ and you’ve got my highlights in a nutshell. Nice album and great for the length of the set but otherwise not essential.