Bullet – Live
9/10
Every one that has ever seen Bullet live knows that they are a damn good live act. Even people who doesn’t like the band admits their quality on stage! So for this band to follow up six studio albums with a live one seems not only just about right, but even a little too late! On top of that, they go all in and makes this a double album, with recordings from three shows collected into one powerhouse product! It seems like the ideal Bullet product. And surely enough, it is.
As soon as this album breaks out with the powerful Storm of Blades, I’m completely hooked. What follows is a collection of the bands very best work, reminding me of the strength of the bands greatest hits and classics. Riding High, Turn It Up Loud, Dust to Gold, Bang Your Head, Bite the Bullet… Just wow! These songs have all been great before, but bundled together with a perfect live sound and unbelievable energy, they go through the roof and makes me wanna scream and shout all throughout the 76 minute running time. Even songs that haven’t been any favourites through the years, such as Rambling Man, Speed and Attack and Hammer Down, comes across as undeniable heavy metal classics! Just listen to the way the instruments work off each other in the instrumental last part of the bands very best song Rolling Home, or the chanting at the end of Bang Your Head, and feel the goosebumps rise all over your body. So damn good!
The sound is also an absolute powerhouse. It has never been more clear to me what a fantastic guitar duo Hampus Klang and Alexander Lyrbo is. In full honesty, I haven’t heard heavy metal twin guitars like this since Tipton/Downing! Klang and Lyrbo make every single song sound like a classic track from the early days of classic 80’s metal. It’s just marvellous! Together with a great foundation consisting of an engine in Gustav Hjortsjös drums and Gustav Hectors fueling bass, everything comes together beautifully. The only downside I have is the way Hell Hofers voice comes across. Don’t get me wrong, Hell is a fantastic frontman and he works absolutely fine on the studio albums, but here he feels a little undynamic. Of course, it’s hard to do the same things in a live performance as you’ve done in a studio, but when we don’t see his great stage act before our eyes, his live performance becomes weaker and it sounds as if he tries to be at the top of his vocal range all the way and doesn’t slow down and start using the dynamics that’s highly necessary to make his voice fly as high as the rest.
But apart from that, Live is just the ultimate Bullet release. I have been hesitating on my final rate. Giving this a nine star review would generally throw this up among the legends Bullet always have been looking up to. Is this really as smashing as Scorpions – World Wide Live or UFO – Strangers in the Night? Well, in the end, I gotta admit it almost belongs up there. I mean, this is great. Really great! It’s the best live album I’ve heard in years and years, probably since Halford – Live Insurrection (2001), and I love every single thing about it! An eight star review is just too weak, this must have nine stars! And so it is!
Final analysis, will this become a timeless classic like World Wide Live or Strangers in the Night? Probably not. I rather think this will pass below most people’s radar and that Bullet will move on doing their stuff on the same level for years and years to come. But I sure do hope it will be recognized for the powerhouse it is, and I definately hope it will become one of the great heavy metal live classics or at least a celebrated cult album! And if it had been released in 1984, I’m quite confident it would have been too! Just listen to it and feel the power for yourself. And turn it up loud!
Band: Bullet
Title: Live
Label: SPV/Steamhammer
Date of release: 10/5-19
Time: 76,39
Rate: 9/10
Stand out tracks: Bang Your Head
