The idea of a live MF DOOM album in 2010 is going to raise more eyebrows then not. When his 'Live from Planet X' album dropped years ago no one thought anything of it, it was just another dope DOOM release and one of the better live albums ever released in hip hop. In 2010 though, after countless DOOMpostor sightings and missed shows, a live DOOM album is almost set up to fail from the jump.
I went in to this almost expecting to hear DOOM ripping through tracks in an attempt to reclaim his live show respect, sadly the set is almost instantly dated when you hear DOOM reference the canned food drive he did around the time of his MM...FOOD release. What this essentially means is that you wont get DOOM performing any new material, a quick look at the track listing reveals that most of the songs are indeed pulled from 'Operation Doomsday', 'MM...FOOD'', and 'Madvilliany'. This isnt a bad thing by any means, just slightly disappointing, when I purchase a live DOOM album in 2010 I expect it to contain performances of up to date material.
Enough bitching about what this album isnt though, lets dig in to what it actually is. The songs performed here are all fan favorites, DOOM picked some of his livest tracks that really come through wonderfully on his live set. DOOM himself is in top form here, he brings new life in to his classics, digging in with more energy then most will be used to hearing from him, hearing him perform 'Meat Grinder' with a flow other then the lazy, laid back flow that im used to really blew me away. His energy really carries the show and keeps it entertaining.
Now, the most important element of any live album, sound quality. The good news is that the sound quality is good, this isnt your typical bootleg sounding recording, this is obviously something that was recorded with the intentions of being released to the masses. Honestly though I dont think it sounded as good as 'Live from Planet X', I could be biased since ive spent so much time with that record, but I thought the sound quality on that was exceptional. This leads me to my biggest problem, is there any reason to buy this when you could get the superior 'Live From Planet X'? probably not to be honest, if I had to choose one I would def go with that. This review isnt suppose to be about comparing the two though, this is suppose to be me judging this recording on its own merits, and as so its a very strong live recording, one that any fan would be more then happy with.
Overall - Hardcore fans are going to love this, if you're like me then you simply cant get enough of DOOM's music. Casual fans can probably pass though, you wont be missing much.
