Search - Mountain: Sea of Fire on DVD

Bad night

James Demestihas | Reno, NV. United States | 05/20/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was expecting much more.
I eagerly anticpated its release.
This appears to have been a very "off" night for leslie.
I was expecting a performance equal to the Live CD released a few years ago. Its phenominal. Why wasnt somebody videoing that night?
The trick video camera angles I found here were annoying.
The energy just wasnt there this night.

For a West fanatic like me, still a must have.
For newcomers to the genius and uniqueness that is Leslie West......
by the live CD.

Lets hope something better gets recorded and released soon."

I'm a huge Mountain fan, but ...

M. McNeil | oak park, IL | 03/01/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Paganini had his Stradivarius. Segovia had his Ramirez. And Leslie West had his Les Paul Jr., with which he carved a fat tone that to this day excites and induces chills. (He called it "a tree limb with a microphone.") The music that he created with that guitar is legendary. How could he hope to improve on it? Why would he try? I guess it's the nature of an artist to continually seek new horizons. In this case, it just has not worked out.
In this performance, he's playing some sort of Frankensteinberger-style axe, which in itself is not a crime, but then he's running that through a harmonizer FOR THE ENTIRE SET, which reduces his tone to over-processed mush. Horrors! I could barely sit through it. Get rid of your pedals, Leslie!
The performance ranges from competent to sloppy. He's played these songs so many times, perhaps he feels he can drop whole lines from a verse here and there and it doesn't matter? In any case, a disappointing music experience. If you want a high-water mark Mountain viewing experience, check out some of the outtakes from Woodstock on YouTube. They shot SOUTHBOUND TRAIN. It's great. Why it was left on the cutting room floor I'll never know. (maybe it's his chaotic dental situation)."