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Rating:
Although I discovered them relatively "late" (just as "Yes" was released), in some ways I can say I was privileged to have had the chance to discover and savor them retrospectively: the robust evolutions of Dana Colley's baritone sax intermingled with the pulsating two-string bass of Mark Sandman are there to demonstrate what a magnificent ensemble the Boston trio was.
In fact, recovering at least their first trilogy should be mandated by law in a society that aspires to (self)proclaim itself as civilized.
Another and lateral way to get in touch with their peculiar sound universe could be to approach this (only) album recorded live in 2000 by the "survivors" Colley and Conway, just a few months after losing their companion in many wonderful escapades.
To set up the Orchestra, a substantial group of talented musicians is recruited alongside the excellent singer Laurie Sargent to reinterpret and revitalize some of the many hidden gems within the Morphine corpus. Because I wouldn't know how better to define the reinterpretations of tracks like "You Look Like Rain", "The Night", or "I Know You Pt.III" in a semi-expanded version.
Moreover, the album features a large part of the tracklist of the last studio work, that "The Night" which brought them back to levels befitting their standard after the (in my opinion) not very convincing "Like Swimming": unfortunately with Mark behind the microphone, many of these pieces couldn't be brought on stage... and the desire to pay homage both to him and to the songs by performing them live, I believe, was an uncontainable physiological need.
While you are indeed faced with a "serious" album, the work is anything but an emaciated tribute to the memory of the unfortunate frontman: it is a pulsating and passionate record where even the noisy chatter of the audience in the background creates a friendly and enveloping atmosphere; furthermore, the concert is recorded more than respectably and performed often exuberantly, and I have a vague certainty that even without knowing the original versions, the album flows with pleasure.
For those who have known and perhaps also loved the shadowy/nervous textures of the trio, the slightly more colorful performances of various tracks like "Souvenir", "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer" etc., besides the instinctive pleasure of (re)hearing Morphine in action, might bring forth some bitter tears for what once was and for the goodness we lost too soon.
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