Todd live in Chicago 1991

Review by Andrew Jones (Switch to
)
7/5/1999

I got the third Todd Archives live CD in the post today. I'm sure most of the list already have strong views on the 2nd Wind tour already (either through attending the live shows or by buying the boots) and I doubt this CD will change minds either way. I'm of the strong opinion that the 2nd Wind album is much better that Almost Human, though not the work of pure genius No World Order which followed was/is. Suffice to say, Todd and the band are in fine form on this CD.

The CD is notable for the first official release of that protest song "Jesse", which I first heard courtesy of Lin Sprague's webpage- thanks Lin! It's also the first official release of the Lost Horizon/ Marvin Gaye medley.

The sound quality is excellent- better that the first two CDs in the series- NYC 1978 and Tokyo 1979. The bass is particular is very good and the overall fidelity is excellent. Todd is credited with the mix on the sleeve. The crowd is mixed well back and I suspect that Todd did a fair bit of editing of downtime in between songs.

As with the previous two Japanese live CDs, the sleeves are miniature gatefold LPs not jewel box. The sleeves are somewhat glossier than the first two CDs. The front cover is frankly poor- an artless out of focus head and shoulders shot of our hero with an orange background (ugh!). The back cover lists the song titles and composers including a Utopia credit for "Love Science" which I always thought was a solo Todd song. Kelli will pleased that there is the URL for Todd's web site.

Inside the gatefold is the tease of the Todd tape list and a separate booklet with the English and Japanese lyrics and all of Todd's intros and quips (a nice touch.) There are also two short essays in Japanese only. The inner sleeves are again in orange (ugh! again).

Unlike the previous two CDs there is no reference to Rhino- perhaps this album was licensed direct to Nippon Crown? And while the CD clearly says Japan only, it not a numbered limited edition like the first two CDs.

One little mystery on this CD and a number of other Japanese CDs I have. The release date is marked on the sleeve (99.6.23) then there is a circled Y and X followed by a Japanese character and 01..6.22. Is this a reference to the exclusive licensing period or when Japanese shops can start discounting the CD? Keiko can you help?

One happy man here in Wales...


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