ALBUM REVIEW: British Disaster: The Battle Of ’89 (Live At The Astoria) – Exodus
By their very nature, live albums aren’t often essential purchases. They make great souvenirs for anyone that actually attended the show and it’s always cool to hear rawer versions of your favourite songs, but they rarely get brought out for repeat plays. There’s been some terrific live albums in metal’s extensive history, but too often they have the unmistakeable whiff of ‘contract obligation’ about them. Yes, No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith, Live After Death and Unleashed In The East are classics, but they’re the exceptions, not the rule.
That being said, British Disaster: The Battle Of 1989 (Live At The Astoria) has more selling points than the average live album. It was recorded on EXODUS’ Fabulous Disaster tour and has remained in the vaults for over 30 years. EXODUS devotees will already be aware of Good Friendly Violent Fun, recorded on the American leg of the same tour, but essentially this was the alternative. The three-decade delay means this is a historical snapshot and while it’s by no means a must-have, it’s still interesting to hear a younger, hungrier version of EXODUS laying waste to a beloved London venue.
It’s also got a much longer track listing than Good Friendly Violent Fun and showcases tracks from all three of their albums to that point. The emphasis is on Fabulous Disaster and six of that album’s nine songs get aired, but there’s plenty of older favourites too. The audience and band sound enthusiastic and it’s so energetic, it could only be closer to a genuine live show if it made crowd surfers spill out of your speakers. The likes of Piranha, Last Act Of Defiance and an especially riotous Toxic Waltz are utterly ferocious and perfectly capture why thrash was such a force in the 80s.
However, it also has a couple of low points. Like Father, Like Son is over-long and self-indulgent, as is Deliver Us To Evil and these two are placed right next to one another in the centre of the album. They’re decent recordings, but also painfully skippable and give a preview of the band’s post-millennium tendency to write tracks that outstay their welcome. The absence of Bonded By Blood is baffling, and there’s no Metal Command either.
Otherwise, British Disaster is a perfectly enjoyable slice of thrash history and it’s terrific hearing these legends tear through their catalogue while still full of youthful enthusiasm. This is going to be an interesting curio for any EXODUS fans who were born too late to attend this show, as well as a bittersweet blast of nostalgia for the older metalhead. It’s great, but despite the wider appeal, it can’t help escape the fatal flaw of every live album; you’ll play it seven or eight times when you first get it, then abandon it forever in favour of the studio versions. Toxic Waltz is freaking savage though, God damn.
Rating: 6/10
British Disaster: The Battle Of ’89 (Live At The Astoria) is set for release on May 31st via Nuclear Blast Records.
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