Review The Poodles - No Quarter 2010

About a week ago I declared on Fair Warnings live album that I think live albums are pointless, stupid and only should be released if they have recorded something more than just any live show (for example if they’ve played one or two albums live from start to finish or that they play together with a choir or orchestra, or something else that has made that night special enough to be recorded). A live album that doesn’t do this and only have some of the bands songs in live version is in my opinion as idiotic as to make theater versions of movies, fat free version of fat products or houses without walls. I know they all exist, but why? And an equal why to live albums that hasn’t documented a once in a lifetime show? If you like the band, then go see them – a concert ticket is no more expensive than an album and often stays as a memory for life. The only thing a “normal” live album do is worse versions of the bands songs since a live version in 999 cases of 1000 can’t be measured with the studio version in any way.

’No Quarter’ doesn’t have anything that makes it special, except possibly that it’s recorded in Sweden with Swedish talking between the songs. Otherwise it’s only a live album and nothing more. To me this is more however, since I haven’t heard much from The Poodles and don’t know much more about them than their appearance in the Swedish part of Eurovision Song Contest, from whom they’ve never qualified. I haven’t heard any albums and therefore most songs are new to me. And that is the only thing that keeps me from yawning my cheek off – the news with it. But does this change the fact that the album feels completely pointless? No, absolutely not.

The poodles have plenty of good songs in their bag. they have only released three albums but since they hire professional song writers they have a pretty high percentage of good songs. This album sounds mostly good with songs worthy once attention. The problem is that it tends to only get longer and longer and more dull every time you hear it. They scream to an audience you hardly can hear and let them sing the lyrics even though you can’t hear them. This lack of audience is what they’ve traded an album with good sound, good production and effectively a well played album for. Not that it sounds too bad for being a live album, when seen as that it has a pretty decent sound and is pretty well played. But to consider an album from that criteria is like saying something is good for being… you know. A movie is good for being Swedish – it’s still a rubbish movie worse than most we can see. Or that a skier is good for being from the jungle – a skier from the jungle is normally not very good whether he/she is one of the best jungle skiers or not. And a live album that sounds good for being a live album still always have flaws compared to a studio album.

One hour with poodles in live isn’t that horrible to experience, however it is still a completely pointless album and I really hope that bands, labels and everyone else starts to listen now and stops making this kind of albums. If you must release a live album there must also be a point with doing so. You should not release albums only to have albums released, they hardly do so with studio albums, so why live? It doesn’t matter what they do, as long as you had something special with that evening you recorded. The thousand live show? The live version of their classic album? A show they did together with an Hawaii coconut choir? What the hell do I know! But please, please – if you must do live on album then make it from a concert that was special! This is not a low grade only for The Poodles new album, this is a low grade for the whole concept of releasing live albums that aren’t like ‘S&M’ or ‘A Night to Remember’ (Metallica and Evergrey). The choise of Nora as the place to record this didn’t really help the case. This is a small town of 6 500 inhabitants that gets just about as many interesting bands playing live per year as a dog gets revolutionary scientific hypothesis. This should be musicans, they get their food on the table from giving us musical experiences that we the listeners find so interesting we are willing to pay for it. I get so frustrated when they don’t even at least try because this feels as something they mixed together with the first tape they could find from the summers live shows… and that kind of albums hardly get golden stars from me.

I really hope they take in some of the barking I’ve done and carry the dogs head for a while because this stupid, pointless album that, just like all live albums in the same vein, would be best undone. The only thing The Poodles successfully have done with this album is bite their own tail, and however impressing this may or may not be –it certainly doesn’t feel very clever.

HHHHHHH

The Poodles No Quarter

The Poodles
No Quarter