What should have been a triumphant 21st anniversary concert -- accompanied by the always magisterial, all-female
Electra Strings -- in front of a few thousand at this grand architectural wonder in London's Kensington, July 13, 1997, is just a deflated tire, for two reasons. One, and damningly, the sound is clear but dull, flat, and lifeless as a stopped, waterlogged watch. Every previous live release of this punk-era powerhouse beats this like an average Bulls/Raptors blowout -- if you want to hear how hot this band once was on a stage, proceed directly to (in order)
Live (X Cert),
Live at the Hope & Anchor,
All Live and All of the Night, or
Rare, Live & Unreleased 1974-76 and ignore this like so much e-mail spam. Even worse, hearing some damn great material butchered by vocalist
Paul Roberts is rock & roll sacrilege. Without their 1976-1990 real singer (and guitarist)
Hugh Cornwell, this is no more
the Stranglers than
Radiohead would still be
Radiohead if
Thom Yorke quit and was replaced by
George Michael. It would be hard enough to accept
the Stranglers' legitimacy with a new singer as talented and convincing as
Cornwell (true, like
the Drifters' three or
Black Flag's pre-
Rollins trio, it can be done); but, once again, with this facile, slick hack
Roberts, you want to incinerate this CD rather than hear "Golden Brown" and "Strange Little Girl" so infirm. The lovely string section adds a nice dimension, and the original three members remain solid and fierce (see "Duchess," "No More Heroes," and, especially, "Down in the Sewer"), but between the soulless production and fetid vocal, this CD is as welcome as vomit on the Albert Hall's beautiful red carpets.