If you recall, Marcello - Vestry shattered my ovaries pretty hard. I decided to do some research. My friend said that I should get into Danger Danger and seeing as how Rob Marcello and Bruno Ravel are in Danger Danger, well let’s say I was eager. Exploration into their catalog has me enjoying the debut tremendously, the most actually. Cockroach is an awesome melodic rock album. But keyboardist Kasey Smith had left the band by this point and he made Danger Danger a bit more special than the other bands of their day. Bruno and Steve still write great songs without him however the debut and to a lesser extent Screw It! have that extra oomph in them that the rest do not. I come round to the Paul Laine fronted era and I like this dude’s voice and for the most part the majority of the songs. This is a way different band concentrating on having a modern slant to them but still is making quality music. Now, after all that I still hadn’t found an album with Rob Marcello on it until I stumbled across this live album. As much as I used to love live albums, (I would go so far as to get the live album first when getting into a new band) I quickly learned that the Live After Deaths and Alive In Athens are oddities rather than the norm. Ok, here we go, this one’s for you Rob! And I pop this in. I’m still picking my jaw up from this one.

On every single aspect regarding a live album, Live And Nude fucking nails it. This is one straight shot, full concert. From the guy introducing the band to the bows at the end of the night this captures what a concert is like. The crowd is mixed great, and so are the musicians. Keyboards come at you on the right channel and while Rob is in both, he is concentrated on the left. Bruno’s backing vocals come out from the right as well and this adds to the authenticity of the album. Paul Laine sounds great and is on top of his game. His take on Ted Poley era material is fantastic. He uses his own voice rather than trying to imitate Poley. Paul also talks to the crowd a good bit. It never becomes overbearing and sounds natural. One thing that I did notice however is that in every song, even the modern era tracks where keyboards were minimal if non existent, there are now added keyboards. Lush, melodic keyboards. I’m glad to see that Danger Danger realized that they have an ear for how to use the synths, and that their sound owes so much to their musicians ear in that department. Song selection is adequate and represents both eras of the band equally. Instead of railing off the entire track listing here are some highlights, intro Beat The Bullet, Grind, Bang Bang, Rock America, Under The Gun, Goin‘ Goin‘ Gone and Dead Drunk And Wasted.

I’m just as happy that this is such a well put together live album as I am in the performances from Danger Danger. Live albums used to be celebrations for bands, you’re around for five albums minimum before you even think about releasing a live album. Nowadays, these get shit out all over the place. If you have one album out you do not need a live album period. Live And Nude is what it should be, a special album for the fans that wanted one. I’m going against my own norms here and would say that if you liked that Marcello - Vestry release then Live And Nude is a perfect companion piece and sits great beside it in terms of musical style. Or this could very well be your vehicle in which to dive deeply into the Danger Danger catalog.