CD REVIEW: Martina McBride Live in Concert
By: Will Manly
5/3/2008
We're forced to ponder the point of the live music album.
Sans studio acoustics — which are replaced by much-less-pleasant over-loud music and interruptive crowds — the music doesn't sound nearly as good from a live concert recording as it does on a studio album.
And there's no way a live album can reproduce the magic, the effects, the atmosphere of actually attending the concert. See, an iPod rendition doesn't produce the $7 beers. It doesn't produce the tipsy overweight woman in tight jeans and a low-cut shirt, who shouldn't be dancing on the stadium staircase, but is. It doesn't give us the chance to take photos — of the back of the head of the person in the row in front of us.
With very, very few exceptions, the "live" version of the album isn't worth owning, at least not compared to the standard-issue studio album. Among those exceptions are maybe Garth Brooks, maybe AC~DC, maybe Chris LeDoux. NOT among them is Martina McBride.
Yes, Martina is an exceptional talent. Her voice is incredible. She's got the ability to outsing any of us in this room.
But Martina's concert singing — especially with just eight songs — is not worth shelling out the money.
Basically, the point is for the record company to sell more CDs. The beauty of it is, the overhead for these is miniscule — there are no new songs to record, so there are no new writers to share the money with, and no new session musicians to pay. Just connect some recording equipment to the amplifying equipment, shoot an artistic photo of the pretty artist on stage for the cover, and bake for two hours. Let it cool, and you've got yourself a nice slice of profit pie.
Don't get us wrong. We at The Stir are capitalists (at least, most of us are). Trying to sell this stuff is the record company's prerogative.
It's just that it's our prerogative to ignore them.
