When was the heyday of the live album? Some might suggest it was way back in the 70’s or 80’s when bands were expected to intermittently release a live record to add to the catalogue. Even then though it was far from a convention or regular occurrence and some of the real classic bands have very few ‘live’ recordings to their name. Over the years though some Rock bands positively made releasing ‘live’ recordings a sideline in itself with bands like Uriah Heep clocking up at least 20 official ‘live albums’ and they’re far from the most prolific. Then came the whole ‘Instant Live’ phenomenon which I quite enjoyed the authenticity of. But for some bands the ‘live’ album is uncharted waters and one such band is Eclipse, who having seen live in the flesh a few years back, truly deserve to capture the power of their live show on CD/DVD, Vinyl and Blue Ray depending on your taste.
If I was going to cut a long story short I’d just say that you definitely need ‘Viva La Victouria’ which follows the success of their last studio release, ‘Paradigm’ and contains a great set of more recent material. Indeed ‘Viva La Victouria’ includes the band’s performance in Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden on December 21, 2019 during their tour in support of the album.
And while the album is a little heavy on tracks from the latest record rather than ‘Greatest Hits’ live set that I probably would have preferred the live main set is hard to fault sonically. Sure there’s nothing really from the rather fine ‘Bleed and Scream’, except ‘Battlegrounds’ but then I know there’s only so much time in a live setlist.
Where I have questions is with the extras – surely the lockdown was the prefect opportunity to supplement the very first live album with a selection of deeper cuts rather than a mish-mash of offerings. I mean for a live album some of the bonuses are all over the place – there are five ‘live’ tracks from the ‘Live from the Quarantine’ pay-per-view special, which was recorded at Studio Grondahl in Stockholm, Sweden on April 1, 2010, but why not release them all as a bonus disc? Then there are a couple of ‘acoustic’ numbers – namely ‘The Downfall Of Eden’ and ‘When The Winter Ends’ but why not more? I mean I’m not complaining they’re all great I would have just liked all of it!
The only thing that really baffles me here if I’m honest is the cover of Lisa Miskovsky’s ‘Driving One Of Your Cars’ a hit for her in Sweden back in 2001. It’s not a song I’d ever heard of and after a listen, not a song I’d probably ever listen to again. It’s just an inoffensive Pop Rocker with a rather weak hook that a band like Nickelback might think twice about, but it gets on here twice – once a new studio version and once ‘Live from Quarantine’. I’m sure there has to be a story around that?
This first official live release from the band officially closes out the ‘Paradigm’ album cycle and serves as a document of this very successful, but at the same time, super weird period in time for the band and bonus footage on the DVD and Blu-ray features interviews with the band around the creation of ‘Paradigm’ and ‘Viva La VicTOURia’. Additional footage from the Paradigm Tour (backstage, tour bus, behind the scenes, etc.), and some interviews with the band around the development of Eclipse, from the early days up until now, including some historic footage are also included.
If you’ve yet to sample the sonic delights of Eclipse this isn’t a bad way at all to start. If you love wonderfully uplifting Melodic Rock with a great emphasis on Melody and hooks you need this. If you’re a fan of Eclipse already you probably need all versions. As modern day live albums go this is wonderfully produced and sounds amazing. As I said before if there is a trick missed it’s with the bonus material.
If you’re counting the numbers from your favourite Eclipse release there are 7 here from ‘Viva La Victoria’; 5 each from ‘Monumentum’; and ‘Argageddonize’; the single ‘Runaways’; and just the single track from ‘Bleed and Scream’.
If you crave more live Eclipse they have sort of done this before on a bonus disc of the 2016 Japanese Deluxe edition of Argageddonize (and I think there was a European version also) which featured 11 songs live at the Vasby Rock Festival in 2015. Good luck with that though it goes for a fortune.
At the end of the day this is still ‘Live album of the year’ – of that there is no doubt.
9/10
Tracklist
CD1
Viva La Victoria
Mary Leigh
Blood Wants Blood
The Storm
Vertigo
Jaded
Shelter Me
United
The Downfall Of Eden
When The Winter Ends
Take Me Home
Battlegrounds
CD2
Black Rain
Blood Enemies
Stand On Your Feet
Runaways
I Don’t Wanna Say I’m Sorry
Never Look Back
Driving One Of Your Cars (Studio Version)
The Downfall Of Eden (Acoustic Version)
When The Winter Ends (Acoustic Version)
Battlegrounds (Quarantine Live)
Driving One Of Your Cars (Quarantine Live)
Delirious (Quarantine Live)
LP bonus tracks:
Mary Leigh (Quarantine Live)
Hurt (Quarantine Live)
DVD / BR bonus contents:
Documentary
Line-up: Erik Mårtensson – Vocals | Magnus Henriksson – Guitars | Philip Crusner – Drums | Victor Crusner – Bass
