Truly the ultimate Violent Femmes CD

Review Score: (10/10)
For a Violent Femmes fan, there can be no greater joy than inserting this CD into your CD player. No studio, no fancy equipment, just Gordon and the boys playing their songs--pretty much the same as when they were originally "discovered" outside a Pretenders concert venue. Guy Hoffman has replaced Victor Delorenzo on drums, but the Violent Femmes are basically unchanged over the years. They remain fiercely independent, and they sing their older songs with as much feeling now as they did when they were younger. This live concert (which does sound great for a live performance, by the way) is truly my favorite VF album because it basically incorporates all of their best songs, from Blister In the Sun, Add it Up, and Kiss Off to American Music and I'm Nothing. This CD also features more from Hallowed Ground than does the Add it Up conpilation; the title track from Hallowed Ground is a soulful, powerful song too often overlooked. There are eight classic songs from the band's career-defining first album, and they sound as fresh and defiant now as they ever did. Slower songs such as Sweet World of Angels, Good Feeling, and Hallowed Ground reveal the depths of Gano's vocal talents, while short cuts such as Old Mother Reagan and Dahmer's Dead exude the band's unique take on life and music and the obvious fun they still have performing. I saw the Violent Femmes live way back in 1989, and this live CD is the next best thing to seeing them perform in person (although there is nothing quite like dancing to Country Death Song among thousands of fellow Femmes fans).

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