Trouble - Live In Los Angeles

OK i must start off by saying i wasn't even going to buy this album but i found a brand new copy for $5 on Amazon so i went for it and i was going to avoid reviewing the album because i really don't have much time for Kory Clarke as a singer or front-man. I did see the band earlier this year and thought Clarke did a good job on some songs but he also butchered some others, i hope he is doing a better job these days. I am really waiting for the new Trouble studio album to emerge before i can give a final judgment on Clarke and how the future of Trouble is looking. This live album however i must admit, Clarke does sound better than he did when i saw him performing with the band. The track list on this album is a little disappointing, it focuses on Trouble from the 90's and apart from one song ( End Time ) it ignores early Trouble classics like The Tempter, Pray For The Dead, Victim Of The Insane etc etc. That still remains the bands strongest era in my book so to totally ignore such material makes this live-set seem un-even and more importantly much less doom. The fact is Trouble stopped being a doom when they released Run To The Light in 87. Having said that, i still rate the 90's stuff as being real good and its only the Simple Mind Condition album that never manage to grab me. I have been listening to Trouble since 83 when a friend gave me a live cassette and apart from Black Sabbath there isn't another band i have listened to more. This is why i am so passionate about my opinions on Clarke, i didn't think they could ever replace Wagner but i seriously think they could have found a better replacement than the ex-Warrior Soul singer which is a band i didn't like at all. There is no need to talk about songs, i am sure most of you have heard them all but i will make a few points worth noting. "R.I.P" sounds like a band during a sound-check, something is not quite right with the sound or the playing, it lacks all the energy of the studio version of the track. "The Sleeper" has the band sounding tight and Clarke delivers a decent performance of the song. From that point on the album is listenable till you get to "Troublemaker" which is rendered almost intolerable by the drenching of echo and re-verb on Kory's voice. The production on this album isn't great, i have better sounding live bootlegs than the recording on this but it is still passable. One wonders why they haven't released more live albums in the past, this seems long overdue. Rick Wartell's and Bruce Franklin's guitar work on this should be reason enough to check this out but how much you listen to it really depends on your appreciation of Clarke,for now i still have mixed feelings. 7/10

www.myspace.com/troublechicago