2012年 05月 12日 土曜日 17:05
Agua de Annique - Live in Europe
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/174s/55570925.png
This is the first solo live album of Anneke van Giersbergen, and it's also the fourth and last album she made with band name Agua de Annique on it. After this album she decided to use just her own name, to avoid confusion and to make clear she really is a solo artist now. The album was recorded live at various venues in Europe during her tour in 2010. It contains songs from her earlier solo albums: Air and In Your Room, together with 3 brand new songs and 1 old The Gathering-song. I got this album for free, as a gift from Anneke's webshop in December 2010. I ordered "In Parallel" there and didn't hear anything for a month. After I contacted them per email, they found out that they overlooked my order/payment. To make it up they sent me Live in Europe as a gift. Signed by Anneke, so that is even better! (I actually forgot to send an email to thank for this gift… and still feel a bit ashamed about it. I'm sorry, Anneke!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjLWhgeMaU
After an Intro of some samples of songs, together with the sound of audience and some spoken words, the album starts with The World, one of the heavier songs from the album In Your Room which sounds great live. It is followed by My Girl, originally from Air and also a great song. Next is the first new song on the album: Who I Am, which is written together with Devin Townsend. This song really rocks! Before the start of the next song Day After Yesterday (from Air) a spoken text is heard in a foreign language, I'm not sure what it is… it sounds like a message on the airport or something. The song itself is great, one of the best she has ever made. It's melancholic, more soft and slow compared to the first three songs, which is a nice change. The next song Hey Okay! from In Your Room is the most happy song she has ever made and it took a while before I started to like it. It's great to sing along during live shows. Fury is the second new song on the album and I really love it. The rhythm and the melody are great, especially the chorus has this kind of tripping atmosphere, which is great during a live show. It is followed by a softer, more introvert song: Beautiful One from the album Air, a great and very beautiful song. Next is Adore from In Your Room, which is not very special to me. I don't really like the melody with its sudden changes between softer and heavier parts. It is followed by another song from In Your Room, named I Want. I really like the rhythm, melody and the lyrics of this song. Next one is the third and last new song on the album: Laugh It Out, a song with a very compelling rhythm. The chorus is quite heavy and also has this tripping atmosphere. The album continues with another great song for live performances: Witnesses from Air. One of her most heavy solo songs, showing a lot of anger and frustration, but also with some nice middle-eastern sounding melodies in it. It is a great song to end a live show and it would have been great as final song on the album. But the last one is Shrink, an old song from Anneke's time with The Gathering. It is a very beautiful song, really touching and beautifully played and sung, but also very sad and therefore not the best song to end this album with, in my opinion. It leaves you with a sad feeling, which is not so nice after such a great compilation of live songs. It's not only this song, but also the order of the other songs seems a bit at random to me. It might have been better to put a complete live concert on the album instead of all these separate recordings. At least it would have made it more cohesive. But that is just a minor, what is far more important, and really shown on this album, is Anneke's enthusiasm and great interaction with the fans. She is so sweet in the way she talks to the fans and thanks them for coming to the show. Her live performance is really great and she loves it very much, which becomes also clear by reading her "message to the fans" in the booklet. I really like these kind of messages, it makes it more personal. The booklet also contains some beautiful pictures, taken during live concerts. The picture of Anneke on the cover is beautiful as well, but what is going on with her neck? It doesn't look really nice when you look more closely. Overall this is a good live album, containing some of Anneke's greatest songs and showing her enthusiasm and love for the live performance itself and for the fans who come to see her.
Best tracks: The World, My Girl, Who I Am, Day After Yesterday, Hey Okay!, Fury, Beautiful One, I Want, Laugh It Out, Witnesses, Shrink (okay, I admit, I can't choose)
Tags: alternative rock, alternative, atmospheric, rock