By Jason Wellwood
I’m not sure how I end up doing so many reviews of them, but I’m not a big fan of live albums. I’ve only recently come around to enjoying live DVD’s but I still have a hard time with live records unless it’s something spectacular. As much as I dig Mike Muir (Cyco Miko) and the original members of Infectious Grooves, this album leaves a lot to be desired. Now, that’s not to say that the sets are bad, or that the band sucks, it’s really the sound that kills it for me. This is a completist’s dream though: 2 discs of live from the board, what you hear is what you get, Mike Muir history. Considering that both bands featured Robert Trujillo (now in Metallica) on bass and Brooks Wackerman (now in Bad Religion) on drums, you know the rhythm section is tight. However, the sound is a little muddy and Trujillo’s bass is all but lost for most of it. Not a good thing when you’re hearing a band that really relies on funk beats.
Again, it could be due to the board recording, but there just doesn’t seem to be any excitement, any build up. It starts at full bore and keeps going but…full bore sounds really middle of the road. I’m sure that the shows must have been more exciting than this recording makes them out to be. I really do dig the material covered but the versions here just don’t stand out or excite. If you’re a Mike Muir completist, you’d want this but if you just dig Suicidal or Infectious, or even the Cyco Miko stuff, buy the studio records.
(Suicidal Records)
