J.J.'s Top Ten #10

Welcome to J.J.'s Rock Corner. I decided to start things off by writing quick reviews of my top ten favorite CDs in countdown form. So over the next day or two, check back here for new additions to the countdown that I'll be adding at random, sorta. Oh, and these are my favorite CDs of all time, not necessarily the ones I'm listening to now. The ones that really shape the music I like now.

#10: Guster on Ice: Live from Portland, Maine by Guster

I'll be honest, I'm normally not an enormous fan of live CDs. I'll get the occasional one, but moreover, it's just hard to keep track of them all. Look at Dave Matthews Band; they release two live CDs yearly on average nowadays. While the music's good, oftentimes better, I find it easier to keep track of the music and appreciate it more when I know where to find it on the studio albums. There are two exceptions to this for me: Metallica's S&M and this one. Guster on Ice was released after Guster had a mere three (or four, if you include Parachute) albums under their belt, but it was awesome.
Guster on Ice can best be summed up as the Best of Guster So Far. It includes almost all of their best songs, devoid only, sadly, of Keep it Together. I've seen Guster in concert three times, and I've met them twice, and this may be the only live CD I've heard to really capture the real feeling of one of their concerts. To top it off, it has the quality of a studio album without the noises of the crowd being hardly noticeably, muchless annoying. The best part of the album was that the songs, with the exception of Barrel of a Gun, are much better live, and for the most part, don't make you feel disappointed with the music when you go back to the studio work.
About the music itself, it's awesome alternative rock with an almost folky sound to it. It's obvious why Guster was a success even when they were an independent band: this kind of stuff is huge with college students. It's got flavors of all kinds, but manages to be completely unique. So unique that the drummer doesn't use sticks, but bare hands. Very cool, and I'm serious about it. Often cheerful, occasionally heartbreaking, and even chilling at times, they're way better than they have any right to be.
So there you have it; it's my favorite live CD with all kinds of great music outside of that. As a plus, it may be an expensive buy, but it comes with a DVD of the same concert, plus more songs and some bonuses.

Key Tracks: Happier, Demons, Airport Song