Given the nature of this live release I think that I should begin in the same fashion that I did for the DVD version of this which came out about two years ago and it went something like this - "Warning to all diehard Poison fans: This CD does NOT feature guitarist C.C. DeVille." Now for those who are coming in late to the music that Poison has been doing for over two decades let me now reiterate that at one point the Glam Rock band had continued on without one of its founding members and performed with different guitarists. Richie Kotzen stepped into the band and was a spectacular player who was less on the Glam side and more on the Soul and Blues-oriented Rock angle and with his contributions the band released the fantastic Native Tongue album. It was a recording that showed you that Poison were much more than lipstick and hairspray. The album and touring took place in the middle of the Grunge Rock phase of the music scene and Poison's level of notoriety had really dropped while bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam climbed higher and higher and when the band stopped by the Hammersmith Apollo for a gig it was captured forever on audio and video. Understandably some fans dropped Poison entirely when C.C. left while newer fans who had hoped for more depth from the band welcomed the material they did with Kotzen. Since the touring was for Native Tongue the larger portion of material presented came from this release but this appeared to only be the case for the video of the show and not what was delivered here on the CD.
The DVD had fifteen tracks presented while this CD of the very same concert delivers only eleven with the omissions being as follows: "The Scream", "Strike Up The Band", Good Love", "Body Talk", and "Seven Days Over You". When you compare the subtractions from the Native Tongue album you will see that four of the five numbers are from that recording and in their place we find the same old Poison favorites that are already presented on their Swallow This Live recording from a couple of years earlier. The CD does give us a Rikki Rockett drum solo which I could have lived without in exchange for more of the tunes that were actually the focus of this tour. To me it made no sense to leave all the old standards on the only live recording that will ever present this lineup doing this albums material. Kotzen left the band shortly after the tour after some in-fighting and apparent impropriety and this was a shame since the musical direction of the band had matured so much with his input and moved them miles ahead of the campy stuff that made them a household name.
Being brutally honest if you have the DVD you do not need the CD since it leaves so much of the important stuff from the show out and yet if you are one of those hard core band studies who must have every single release then I say go for it so you can complete your collection. Production wise I felt that this was also lackluster and didn't have as bright a sound as I knew the band often had during a live performance. Instead it sounds rather muddy to me and Bret overpowers everything in the mix. I could have appreciated it more had there been a little more evenness to it. The DVD came out via Cherry Red Records and really should have included this CD as a bonus disc as opposed to having Armoury Records doling it out to fans as a separate piece. There are a mere four photos to enjoy and some liner notes about the group more than the show itself which takes away from that end. As I recall, the video is also rather standard and features just a performance with very limited stage décor or bombastic display. Even though I was more the casual fan of the band over the years I didn't see myself buying this CD unless it came packaged together with something else that made it worth purchasing because on its own its pretty disappointing. In 2008 Poison continues to tour with C.C. DeVille back on lead guitar.
Track Listing
- Ride The Wind
- Something To Believe In
- Stand
- Fallen Angel
- Look What The Cat Dragged In
- Rikki Rocket Drum Solo
- Until You Suffer Some (Fire & Ice)
- Unskinny Bop
- Talk Dirty To Me
- Every Rose Has It's Thorn
- Nothin' But A Good Time
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