Until recent years, Live at the Fillmore was one of the only live recordings available on CD, though a few tapes were made available. Released back in 1995, this recording finds a new home on Prosthetic Records in 2011, joining the many other Testament reissues this lavel has put out. While there appears to be nothing new on this recording, as well as nothing special done, the recording itself is phenomenal in the first place, being of a superb live recording quality, and clocking in at nearly seventy six minutes, pushing the standard eighty minute limit on audio CDs. But, fans of Testament who didn't have the chance to acquire this release will find delight that it is widely available once more.
What can be said about this recording other then this is a superb recording of the band in their earlier prime. Sure, Testament is still a fantastic band and issuing some great material, and having seen them many times recently live, can vouch that their live performance has not suffered over the years. But, for those who haven't seen or heard the band live, or those who are just dedicated fans of Testament, then this is one of the definitive recordings to be released of live material you could possibly own, especially compared to their Return to the Apocalyptic City EP that featured some live material on it as well. The recording is just raw enough to tell that it came from the sound board, and doesn't feature any studio editing, which really just captures the poower that the band has in their on-stage performances. Of course, each track is very close to, if not exactly like, the original studio material, just with an impressive live environment backing them up, which drives the tracks to feel more energetic in many ways.
The energy is evidenced as you progress through the release. "Burnt Offerings" feels rather intense, and as the song comes to a close it seems to move a little faster, and just feels like there's more energy behind it before crashing into the slower instrumental, "A Dirge", which immediately finds the audio clapping along to it's slower pace, giving the listener the visual shot of a stadium full of fans with lighters before it hammers into the entusiastic "Eerie Inhabitants". The crowd's energy even builds up the further into the set you get. During the gaps between tracks, you can hear the fans going crazy, and sometimes even during the song by clapping, screaming, and whistling along with the band and the beat of the music. But one thing that really stands out is the level of the bass in the recording, which is a perfect level to compliment the rest of the music, and in some cases, such as on "Low", really just takes over the song and breathes new life into it outside of the strong bass support at the start of the guitar solo.
Of course, the earlier tracks on the recording are some of the band's strongest recordings, but not as energetic and popular as the closing half of the live material. As soon as "Into the Pit" begins, the crowd starts to get a little crazier, and that craziness is rewarded with a perfect performance of this track with a heavier live performance of the track, full of energy, heaviness, and a feeling of total completion with the bass level on the recording. This is what happens to the rest of the set as well, and given the classics on there such as "Souls of Black", "Apocalyptic City" and "Dog Faced Gods", there's no wonder why the band, and the crowd, seem to be more energetic then at the start of the release. The only time that the crowd doeksn't feel to into the set is during "Urotsukidoki", another instrumental from the band that, while impressive and enjoyable, doesn't really feel like it went over too well.
Atop this fourteen song set, Live at the Fillmore features three bonus acoustic tracks that were recorded in the studio for this release. These are interesting takes on the original material, often coming off more as something you would expect to hear from some kind of eighties Hair Metal band. However, the titles are a little misleading. These three tracks should probably read (Acoustic...for the most part)". Instead, what you get is what you could compare as a Hair Metal attempt at an acoustic track, having a strong acoustic performance with an electric guitar for the solo, and the build up to it. The female vocals brought into these tracks are also interesting and add a nice element that make up for Testament feeling the need to include the electric guitar into the mix for these songs, which actually kind of takes away from the overall experience.
| 2011 Reissue |
| The reissue of this recording, again, doesn't really feature anything different compared to the original pressing. In many ways, this is a great thing considering the original concert is fantastic, and the bonus acoustic tracks really add an extra reason to add this recording to your collection. The only problem for this is that the whole reissue cancept wasn't fully taken advantage of. With many reissues happening today that are multi-disc compared to the original pressing with one disc, it's actually sad to say that this reissue does not include the two bonus Japanese tracks. Yes, the Japanese version of the live recording actually finds one of the acoustic tracks dropped, and two live tracks placed in their appropriate spot in the set list. Of course, given the length of the performance, it'd be impossible to include these two tracks and keep all the original songs on one disc, but the lack of finding a way to incorporate these for a US reissue is truly disheartening, and leaves this reissue one that the fans don't need to pick up other then a devout faith to the band. Back when it came out, many may not have known about these two songs, leaving them to believe it's a full concert experiend, but with today's technology and the internet, we know it's not complete. Even if the set had to be split in half over two discs, it would have been nice to have those extra tracks as well, but we don't, and it's hard to call this reissue a complete recording. |
In the long run, Live at the Fillmore is a fantastic live offering from Testament. And, honestly, that's how it should have stayed. The inclusion of the semi-acoustic tracks is a nice touch for fans of the band, shedding a different light on the group, but the inclusion of the electric guitar pretty much kills the atmosphere of the song and actually makes it sound cheesy and weak, as if the band's music could only have an impact brought on by electric equipment. Also, at the time of it's release it may not have been a big deal, but knowing that there are two tracks from the performance omitted to make room for these is depressing, leavingt he listener with an incomplete live experience from the group. While the intentions of adding these tracks were more then likely well intended, the main issue is that the reissue of this release made no effort to bring those two Japanese edition pressed tracks available to the US customers, and for this day and age, it's something one would expect to do with a release in one, shape, or form. Live at the Fillmore with Testament is a great live performance, and, while the acoustic tracks aren't the greatest, is still worth checking out.
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