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 | A person Isn´t Safe Anywhere Bonus Acoustic Tracks -The Chameleons Live Tears |
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| A person Isn´t Safe Anywhere Bonus Acoustic Tracks -The Chameleons Live Tears |
Comments by Mark Burgess
Comments by StrangE TimeS
Hello
Welcome to "The Chameleons-Live", the first definitive live album to be released since the retrospective "Live In Toronto" some years ago. The Chameleons reformation began over five nights at a small venue called The Witchwood, during the month of May 2000. At the time this was all that had been planned, but on witnessing the invasion of this small north of England town by armies of Chameleons devotees from all over the country, and indeed the world, turning our five night stand into something more remisniscent of a Chameleons festival, we quickly realised that we also owed a debt to those that hadn´t been able to take part and yet had contributed so much to keeping the spirit and the music of the band alive over the years. So we decided to go out and play a few more shows, with the ensuing momentum resulting in the band performing waht at the close of the year 2001 totalled around 67 shows: in England, Scotland, Shetland, Germany, France, Spain, Holland and the state of California in the U.S.A.
From the outset we told ourselves that a properly produced live album documenting the reformation of the band would be a worthwhile addtion to our catalogue of releases. But from the first gig until the last the group´s performances were improving and it seemed we were never quite satisfied with the results when reviewing the tapes. The Witchwood shows had been mad, frantic affairs and a period better captured on the live video "Resurrection", which we felt, coming so close on the heels of the band´s initial reformation reflects the entire spirit of the time. The audio soundtrack left something to be desired however and doesn´t really have the quality of ambience we were looking for in a live record. In addition, following the recording of "Why Call It Anything", the first Chameleons studio album in fifteen years, we eventually began adding brand new material to the sets and so we had wanted to document this too. The new songs were also evolving and improving with every performance and we felt that by attempting to capture this we would be able to offer a live album that took a step beyond the usual collection of past classics.
Recording a live album is a tricky business however especially when it´s The Chameleons because every single gig can be totally different and we weren´t able to carry a mobile recording unit with us every night. One approach was to contact Alex Staszko, Andreas Ott and others who regularly archive the band´s performances (on a none-profit making basis I should add) in the hope of compiling tracks that spanned the whole period of the reformation. Although we were very grateful for the response and the results were interesting, from a technical viewpoint the recordings were a little too disjointed and unpredictable and in the end we were forced to abandon the idea. Finally, thanks to Simon Moran of SJM Concerts we were invited to return a second time to the Manchester Academy and we were able to nail the live album to our satisfaction with the help of Alan Leach from Shed 7, who recorded and mixed the tracks alongside Ollie King at their Studio Seven in York, and John Delf our regular "Front of House" sound engineer, who alongside John Slater at "TheShed" studio in Stockport, was on hand to master the recordings. They all did a great job in presenting what I personally feel is the best live recording of the band to date and we´re very grateful.
The night wasn´t without its problems, not least when the bridge on Dave´s guitar went flying into the audience mid-way through Soul In Isolation thereby rendering the guitar totally out of tune. Sadly for this reason the song had to be omitted, but by way of recompense we´ve added a few bonus tracks at the end, which also represents an attempt to present the band in a slightly different context. As always there are some people that we feel we deserve a special mention: the band´s manager Simon Lawlor, Booma, Dougie, Will and Stan for keeping the wheels rolling, Big Tony Miller (Mr Fish) for all his running around, Shan Hira for all his help early on, Andy Moore for the lighting, and Daniela Haug, who stood in lots of drafty corridors selling merchandise on our behalf and answering a thousand and one questions from eager supporters. It is to them and to you that we wish to express our highest appreciation for making it all possible and giving us so many special nights over the last eighteen months or so.
Mark Burgess, midday, Hamburg.Germany.
P.S. Noch eine fantastische Illustrierung von Reg, oder?
In 2002 it´s released under Paradiso Communications label and distributed by Universal the first official live album from this band since their starting point in 1981 where all the band is involved. In a double CD format it is recorded all the songs, except Soul In Isolation and Truth Isn´t Truth Anymore due to a problem in the recording, of the Manchester Academy concert in the Why Call It Anything Tour in 2001. Almost all the main songs are revisited, focusing on the last studio album and on the first one as well. The intensity of Caution and Dangerous Land are one of the highlights, although we can´t forget the three bonus tracks from the semiacoustic gig in Munster. An Immaculate live sound that reflects perfectly what The Chameleons are nowadays on stage.
At last an open chapter has been closed. During all these years the hunger for live recordings from The Chameleons have been paliated with pseudo-official recordings unable to capture the magic of their live sound.
As only counterpoint we could mention the fades in and out the songs have, which gives less live sensation and perhaps the poor design the CD has; a more extended inlay with less distorted pictures would have given more presence to the double album, but as this is an self-release with no big record company behind, we are not going to complain.
Lest´s hope the edition of this new album is a clear sign of the vitality of The Chameleons here today, and soon new recordings will be born.
