| A live album can be an interesting proposition for an artist. The results are often hit or miss, with no way of knowing how affectively the final product captures the unique attributes of that artist's live performance. Also, the noise generated by a crowd can sometimes take away from the songs in a live recording. These are some of the factors that contributed greatly to Luka Bloom's longstanding objection to releasing a disc of his live material. Finally after 10 years of fighting it, Bloom has released Amsterdam, a live recording of a solo acoustic concert at the Carre Theater in Amsterdam from February of 2002. This excellent collection proves that Bloom had nothing the worry about.
Bloom, a folk singer/songwriter from Ireland, has long been hailed by critiques for his studio material over the years, but has not enjoyed the commercial success and following in America that he has in Europe. This collection contains 13 songs, culled from the seven studio albums he has put out since 1988, and gives the listener a great idea of what a Luka Bloom performance is all about.
On this stripped-down set, Bloom is accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and an enthusiastic audience. He seems to be at his best in this stark musical setting, producing a sound similar to Turf, arguably his greatest studio album. Both albums, consisting of pretty love songs and quiet folk odes, provide excellent mood music for an evening with that special someone in front of a roaring fire.
Amsterdam starts with the soaring "Exploring the Blue," but really hits its stride on the second track, "Sunny Sailor Boy." This song, originally found on Turf, is highlighted by the audience sing-along at the beginning and middle of the song. While this type of thing usually sounds kind of forced on a live recording, in this case the audience adds subtle support without taking attention away from the song.
Another early highlight on the album is the folksy cover of Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic." Bloom maintains the reggae feel of the original, but still makes the song his own. The other cover on the album is the often played "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan. The song has been previously covered by several major figures, including Garth Brooks and Billy Joel, but Bloom's acoustic version is much truer to the Dylan original. While Joel and Brooks' versions come across as very schmaltzy Top 40 fodder, Bloom manages to deliver the tune in a very straightforward and sincere manner.
But not everything on Amsterdam is a quiet ballad. Bloom also gives us some of his traditional folk rock throughout the album. Tracks like "Gone to Pablo" and "Fertile Rock" are more up-tempo than most of the album, but do not standout in a bad way.
The biggest challenge that Bloom must have faced in putting his first live collection together was what songs to include. Though he has never had hits, at least in the United States, he has written some amazing songs over his career, some of which were left off of this album. That being said, Amsterdam is a great live recording that further cements Blooms status as an excellent contemporary folk artist and would serve as a great introduction to the man and his music.
by Greg Yost
Luka Bloom's Official Web Site
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