Live at the Gods

Harem Scarem's Live at the Gods is a live album recorded in Japan in support of the phenomenal Weight of the World album, my pick for best Melodic Hard Rock release of 2002. Live at the Gods does a good job of covering Harem Scarem's entire career from their first self titled debut, through the success of Mood Swings, to the poppy Big Bang Theory, and even touches base on the Rubber moniker on a couple of songs. (Rubber was the name of Harem Scarem's completely out and out pop-rock project, different but damn catchy and listenable) The show begins with Change Comes Around a good song that works well as an opener it gets your blood flowing, then after a long flourished ending Killing Me from the Weight of the World album is next. This mid tempo balls out rocker sounds more raw and stripped down than the studio version and it works well live, one of my favorites off of this album. The next few tracks consist of more fun, light, rock tunes and it isnt untill the seventh track where we come to a ballad This Ain't Over. Instead of being piano driven like on the studio album it is changed into a more bluesey guitar driven song and is much more listenable in my opinion than the normal version. After the obligitory ballad Harem Scarem tears through If You, How Long, Outside Your Window, See Saw and close out the show with So Blind and The Paint Thins. My biggest complaint about Live at the Gods is the fact that its only a single disc live album. It's far too short as you know the concert wasnt only an hour long but like many live albums this one is meant mainly for the fans, (thats why I didn't go into an indepth song by song description) and it is a competent effort. You can really feel that this is a real live, even though the production is crystal clear it doesnt have that overproduced feel that some live albums have (hint hint Halford). Some people might not like Harem Scarem's brand of lighthearted Melodic Hard Rock so this band may not be for everyone but if you like bands like Bonfire or Jaded Heart you might like Harem Scarem, check out their last studio album Weight of the World as its a killer.