The Juliana Theory

Live 10.13.2001 (2003)

Scott Heisel

Personal opinion of this band aside, this is just a shameful excuse for a live album. 10 songs? Barely 40 minutes? No encore? From a band who [at the time] had over 30 songs recorded/released, this is just a poor, poor showing, especially considering the band knew they were recording this for a live CD.

The tracklisting breaks down like this - 4 off of Understand This Is A Dream and 6 off of Emotion Is Dead [with one of those being the instrumental "Emotion Is Dead Pt. 1," which doesn't even count]. That's it. No rarities off split CDs or comps. No cover songs. No new material. No surprises. Even if I was a diehard fan, I'd be pissed off at this release. And this was a hometown performance? You have to wonder how much the band skimps on out-of-town crowds.

The worst part is, the music - what little of it there is - doesn't even hold up. While I don't own Emotion Is Dead, I do still have a copy of their first disc, and the 4 songs they play off of it don't even come close to how they were recorded. Notes were missed, guitar effects were super sloppy - even the crowd seems pretty lackluster in the few moments you hear them cheering.

"But Scott," some of you are saying, "it's a live album! It's supposed to have blemishes!" This is true, but the point is this band's live show is mediocre at best - why even bother documenting it? There's plenty more bands out there that are more deserving of live albums that actually put on *exciting* live shows, with surprises on their setlist and all - not just the same ten songs night in and night out.

The CD does have one saving grace, though - it's packaging. The photos are nice and the liner notes written by singer Brett also add a personal touch to a live album that is sorely lacking just that - any human presence.

MP3s
Duane Joseph
Understand The Dream Is Over

Stream 5 songs here