When Mssrs Turner (drums), Millard (bass), Hoare (Guitar) and Ward (vocals) told the world that in 2012 after, what, 17 years together and having just dropped a career best album on us, they were going full time, I bet I wasn’t there only one who did a little clenched fist “Yeah!” and wished one of the UKs best live bands all the luck in the world. Well they’ve just stormed Oz and laid siege to fortress USA with Clutch (is that a bill to drool over or what?) and now thanks to the very generous folks at Candlelight I find myself listening to and watching what was essentially my soundtrack to 2012 with this poignantly named album.
So what do you get and is it worth it? Well the latter is an emphatic “Hell, yeah!” if you’re a fan. The CD is a fine recording of the Goblin’s Sophie Lancaster stage set at Bloodstock last year and is a setlist I know well (though thankfully I also saw them add ‘Stand For Something’ twice); twelve tracks including perennial favourites like Quincy The Pigboy and The Ballad of Solomon Eagle with Red Tide Rising and The Fog from ‘Eulogy For The Damned’ and eight others. The sound on the CD is crisp but does have the genuine sound of the band in the raw and not studio deadened; the tightness of the band and their talent for just making it sound so human. In other words to me it sounds like my memories. The band are tight and grooving, lovely ragged edges and all, and the charisma mountain that is Ben Ward is on fine emotional form. If you caught them last year, this is what you heard. The DVD is the same set and is a nice if dark shot film with good angles and close-ups that backs up the impression from the CD that the band were on excellent form and loving it. There is a second set on the DVD from Hellfest which is essentially the same set minus Time Travelling Blues and Round Up The Horses, sound maybe not quite as good but still capturing the spirit of their blues drenched heavy (fuckin) metal and celebratory performances. Add in a short but sweet and down to earth Road To Hellfest documentary and a promo/making of video for Red Tide Rising with photo slideshow and you have a nice snapshot of Orange Goblin 2012.
Kind of a nice scrapbook aimed squarely at existing fans which just happens to have a fine live set on it. Oddly enough I also reckon those new to Orange Goblin could do worse than stick on either the CD or DVD as it is a fine “Here’s the band, this is why they rock” kind of package that covers old and new material rolled in to a nice to the point flowing set. Yeah it would have been nice to have an older, different setlist snuck on here somewhere and a longer interview but without it, it is still a fine reminder of why this unpretentious band are so bloody good and had such a great year last year. They live this: As likely to be in a crowd as on a stage but on a stage they are just heavy metal blues personified. Thank fuck for Goblins…
(7.5/10 unless you were there, then 9/10! Gizmo)
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