The wonderful Melodic Rock of Captain Blackbeard has been on my playlist since 2011 when I heard their first record and 2021 sees them with a new EP hot on the heels of last years rather tasty ‘Sonic Forces’…
Six tracks – five live and one new studio track does in this day and age seem a little a little odd, after all long gone are the days of EP’s between albums, so its hard to see why a mini live album has been put out when I’m sure any fans out there would have much preferred a full set. And let’s face it one new track to be going along with is rather underwhelming as far as quantity goes. Well that’s the down side – the positive side is that this sounds great and as a limited edition in a card sleeve made to look like a battered old vinyl cover it’s actually pretty cool. Released on Bandcamp it’s also a way to get your hard earned $ to the band.
Never having heard the band live before it’s a nice opportunity to test them out though I must admit the mix is rather suspicious in the crowd noise department but we’ll let that slide. If you love the latest record you’ll love this because half of the songs are from ‘Sonic Forces.’ Opening with mid-tempo Melodic Rocker ‘Headlights’ is a nice if not explosive start, and the pace is upped a little for the very melodic ‘Midnight Cruiser’ before the wonderful sweepingly melodic ‘Sonic Forces’ kicks in. On one hand it’s nice to see how the new songs sound live as we’ve been starved of them during the pandemic but on the other hand you can’t help wondering why this isn’t a full on live album as what we have is pretty damn flawless.
Those new tracks are followed by the opening tacks of their previous two albums – first ‘Divided Feelings’ the opener from 2016’s ‘It’s a Mouthful’ which is one of my favourite Blackbeard songs; and then ‘All the Pain’ the opener from 2018’s ‘Struck by Lightning’ which is another that really hits the spot and another of my favourites. Then just as you’re getting into your groove it’s over. You really do feel like they’ve missed trick here – I’d love to have heard a full live show.
On an album entitled ‘Live + 1’ the new studio track has to be stunning as surely that’s half the focus, like on Ace Frehley’s 1988 similarly titled EP – which featured ‘Words are not Enough’ a song I still think is one of his best. Here the new studio track is ‘Too Good’ is simply a nice catchy mid paced rocker. It’s relatively speaking still a cool song but still the least of the songs here when it should be the highlight. Another trick missed.
Don’t get me wrong I’d encourage you all to grab a copy of this I just wish there’d been more – either a full live album or a few more new tracks.
7 / 10
http://www.captainblackbeard.net
