Something has been troubling me about the relationship between The Wildhearts and Gut Records. The first result of their collaboration was the solid comeback album. ‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’. However, since that time we have had a b-sides album and now a live album. It might just be me, but this situation smells strongly of a band seeing out their contractual obligations as quickly as possible.
Anyway, down to business. ‘The Wildhearts Strike Back’ is a huge double disc set, taking in a plethora of the bands back catalogue in a live setting. Unlike many live albums, this release takes tracks from a variety of live shows, rather than being a representation of just one show. This gives the album a better feel for the live experience that The Wildhearts have been famed for during their lengthy existence.
The album kicks off with some big-hitters, with songs that rightly are classed as live favourites. ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’ and ‘Greetings From Shitsville’ are two examples of this band at the height of their song writing powers. Both tracks sound particularly impressive in this live setting. In all, this double disc set features 21 tracks, from a wide range of albums, and also throws in some rare material. New songs, such as the impressive ‘Someone that Won’t Let Me Go’ mix with older b-sides like ‘Girlfriend Clothes’ and ‘Beautiful Thing You’. The mix of songs certainly means this is an album that will be loved by long-time fans of the band. From ‘Caprice’ to ‘Cheers’, this is a set-list that will delight. The only real issue here is a lack of material from ‘Fishing For Luckies’, but then you can’t have everything I suppose.
If you are a big fan of The Wildhearts then you are going to need this album in your collection. However, if this is a band yet to interest you, then this won’t change your mind. The thing with live albums is that they are tailored to a specific market – in this case The Wildhearts large fan base. For them, this is just about everything they could want from a live album.
Mark
www.thewildhearts.com