AUFFÜHRUNG IN BERLIN (1983; 1993)
1) Less Than Human; 2) Paper
Tigers; 3) Monkeyland; 4) Thursday's Child; 5) Second Skin; 6) Pleasure And
Pain; 7) Singing Rule Britannia; 8) Perfume Garden; 9) One Flesh; 10) In
Shreds; 11) Splitting In Two.
Out of all the official and semi-official
archival live albums associated with The Chameleons, this is the one that
usually gets the highest praise, and it is easy to see why. Recorded at
Berlin's Loft venue shortly before the release of Script Of The Bridge, this is a surprisingly high quality product
(lead guitars and rhythm section sound fabulous, with near-ideal separation),
and, just as it was with the Peel sessions, you get to hear classic early
high-energy Chameleons without the production excesses of their studio records
(namely, good drums).
Half of the setlist predictably consists of Script Of The Bridge tunes; the rest is
a preview of several songs from What
Does Anything..., plus a few non-album numbers like ʽLess Than Humanʼ — and
only one hitherto unheard song, ʽSplitting In Twoʼ, an Alternative TV cover
that they often used to finish their shows in the early days. (Admittedly, it
does not sound seriously differently from the typical fast-paced Chameleons
song.)
Since the show was professionally recorded, and
the band's interactions with the audience are minimal, there are hardly any
substantial differences between this record and The Peel Sessions, except for (quite fortuitous) discrepancies in
the setlists, but I guess there is something to be said about the wholesome
experience of a single show. My main gripe is that neither of the two has ʽUp
The Down Escalatorʼ, still arguably the single greatest Chameleons song in the
«upbeat» mode — not clear what it was that made them avoid that one so much.
Too cheerful for public consumption? Anyway, be sure to grab this one, if only
for the excellent sound quality.
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