Amazon.com: There is always cause for concern when a promising new artist follows up a solid debut with a live album rehashing all the same material. After seeing Erykah Badu steal the "Smokin Grooves Tour" summer of 1996, however, it only makes sense that her record company decided to release Live as a stopgap between her next studio recording. To put it mildly, the Badu live experience is anything but typical. There is a kindred bond between the singer and her audiences which translates wonderfully onto the disc. It's in the warmth of the songs, the intimacy with which Badu addresses the crowd, and the constant chants of "Erykah!" emanating from the masses. For her part, Badu does a wonderful job revisiting the material from her superb debut Baduizm. She also takes on an assortment of covers, ranging from Roy Ayers's "Searching" to the Mary Jane Girls' "All Night Long," making each one sound distinctly her own. The most captivating moment, though, is a new number called "Tyrone," in which she most eloquently tells a dense boyfriend to take a hike. --Aidin Vaziri
great live sound this is one of my favorite live cd's, that's seen alot of play. favorite tracks are stay and tyrone.
Erykah Keeps It Live! I can only imagine the reaction of many people when Erykah Badu followed up her hugely successful debut album with this live recording. But hey-she knew from history that momentum can really boost up such a potentially idiosyncratic move so 'Live' became as much of a hit as the debut! And artistically it is more then worth it. Erykah was (and still is) one of the "artiste's" of the often formuliac neo soul crowd. Her jazzy rhythms,soaring vocals and saucy "raps" permeate every single thing on this album from the opening "Rimshot" (I hear a little Miles riff in there) on through great versions of "Other Side Of The Game","Apple Tree" and the sassy "Tyrone". She even mixes it up with some terric covers in keeping with her style and savvy;the Roy Ayers classic "Searching" and the Rufus & Chaka Khan standard "Stay";her vocals on this song almost revival Chaka's passion,maybe even less subdued if you can imagine it. She also has a great talent for musical juxtoposition;melding her own "All Night" with the jazzy intro to the Heatwave tune "Boogie Nights". There's even a reprise here featuring a beat poem style narration by Badu about her feelings on her pregancy;she is photographed on the back and inner sleeve of this album with her very pregnant belly proudly showing. I am glad that she felt no shame in the fact she was brining a new life into the world. And it's kind of symbollic in a way because many of these songs had already been done in the studio,but now she was performing them live so they were themselves getting "born again" such as it were. So a sense of recreation and rebirth hang over this recording.And she sounds particularly alive scatting her way through,into and around songs like "Next Lifetime". One could tell from the fact that a modern soulstress from this era could hold her own on a live album and come out looking even rosier was a sure fire sign Erykah Badu was a musical powerhouse to keep an eye on.
The Soaring Artistry of Badu As an artist of incredible creativity and depth, Erykah Badu stands head and shoulders above many of her contemporaries. An MC at heart, Badu's message is delivered with a signature vocal style which, beautifully synthesizes elements of Jazz, Hip Hop, and Soul. As a live performer Badu can be spellbinding! With N'Dambi, and Karen Bernod doing backup vocals, Badu Live is a diva showcase! Badu doesn't just sing, she's also an accomplished lyricist who's message is a large part of her art. The profound energy, and superb musicianship, of a live Badu performance is effectively captured on this CD. Her rendition of Chaka Khan's 'Stay', is a veritable tour de force! All of the songs on this set are of exceptional quality however. For those who appreciate the special qualities that only a live performance provides, this CD captures Badu and her bandmates at their best!
Ignore reviewer luke, this is LIVE!!!!!!! Just wanted to point-out to those of you out there who are hesitant to purchase this because of the god-awful review by (luke).
What I'm reading from reviewer (Luke) about this gem is that he's reading the final credit's and coming to a false conclusion & totally overlooking the most obvious point that there are two recording crew's on this project. It's almost laughable that amazon let his review exploit falsehood's to us buyer's of real music.
(First)ofcourse is (The Live Recording & in-house Mixing Crew) which is stated (on the disc itself mind you) the vocal's(front & back)/instrument's/band & the wonderfully captured particapation of the audience which to me is just as important as the muisc in this case becasue the whole vibe is perfectly in sync.
(Second) is the Sony Music Stuido he's is talking about where they proceed(just like any other live show) with the final mixdown of this timeless (LIVE) cd. This is the smoothess Live cd of 97'no doubt. Come on luke relax baby and don't mess with the structure and authentcity of grown folk's music, this is the real deal yah...
Fans of good music will love this CD, regardless of their musical preferences. I've never been a big hip hop/R&B fan, but this CD is amazing. Some favorites of mine include "Searching," "Apple Tree" and "Other Side of the Game." One song that stands out is "On and On," which segues into a discussion about cyphers and Egypt, only to flow into "Apple Tree." "Tyrone" appears on the CD twice, once live and once as studio track. The live track is great, but the studio version is out of place on a live album. I understand the studio version was intended to be the single to promote the album, but it doesn't flow well with the live material. I didn't like the finale "Next Lifetime" either. It's a great song, but Miss Badu stretches it out for 15 minutes to finish the show in a dramatic gesture, which by that point is unnecessary. All in all it's a great CD, and it encouraged me to check out other Erykah Badu music, and I haven't been disappointed. This is an artist who will stand the test of time and isn't going anywhere soon.
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