Alter Bridge is releasing a new live album September 7th, Live at the Royal Albert Hall: Featuring The Parallax Orchestra. The Parallax Orchestra is a fairly new orchestra, established in 2015. It was founded with the idea of bringing together the best and most versatile musicians, encouraging collaborations, such as the Alter Bridge album, and fusing heavier music with classical instruments. A portion of all proceeds of this album go to the Future Song Foundation.
To be honest, I’m normally not a fan of live albums. I do love live performances, but that’s one of those things that you need to be there to really feel the performance, and live albums don’t always capture that, and the audience noise can just be distracting. Live performances often show just how heavy a band is that their studio-recorded albums can’t quite capture. This live recording was able to capture the heavy instruments, and the audience noise was kept to a minimum and fades into the background without being too distracting. The collaboration with the orchestra was done so beautifully, the strings section blended with the guitars so well that at times it was hard to distinguish the two, but made a beautiful, heavy sound throughout the album.
The very first track, “Slip to the Void” starts off the set with nearly 45 full seconds of cheering. After the applause fades, though, I forgot it was a live album. Everything was so crisp, and all the instruments were so heavy that it was easy to get caught up in the set. Although there was some audience noise throughout the track, it was barely noticable.
“Words Darker than their Wings” is a song that the band has never played live, and they included it on this album. The orchestra amps up the normally mellow song. “Broken Wings” is one of the songs that has a new arrangement, giving the song an electricity, and then the entire audience sings the chorus in one unified voice that sent chills down my spine.
This album is amazing! From the unique arrangements, to the orchestra collaboration and the rare tracks to the Future Song Foundation benefits, this song should be high on your list of albums to add to your library. To order this album, and keep up on their news, head to their website and social media pages. www.Alterbridge.com and www.facebook.com/AlterBridge
Tracklist:
1. Slip to the Void
2. Addicted to Pain
3. Before Tomorrow Comes
4. The Writing on the Wall
5. Cry of Achilles
6. In Loving Memory
7. Fortress
8. Ties that Bind
9. The Other Side
10. Brand New Start
11. Ghost of Days Gone By
- The Last Hero
13. The End is Here
14. Words Darker than their Wings
15. Waters Rising
16. Lover
17. Wonderful Life/Watch Over You
18. The Side of Fate
19. Broken Wings
20. Blackbird
21. Open Your Eyes
