Live In Australia 1990

Ever the careful archivist and completist, Rollins -- who has similarly secured and assembled older live recordings for bands like the Birthday Party -- issued, in 1999, a radio set recorded at Triple-J in Sydney, Australia, by the first version of the Rollins Band. Though two songs from this recording previously appeared on the difficult to locate Hammer of the Rok Godz promotional EP ( "Do It" and "Earache My Eye"), this disc presents the entire show from start to finish, the band -- in incredibly well-seasoned touring form -- working through songs from Hard Volume and road-testing both "Tearing" and "You Didn't Need," two tracks that appeared back-to-back on the band's magnum opus The End of Silence. Recorded near the apex of the Rollins Band's creative energies, the outfit would emerge a few years later with its final recording as a unit, after which bassist Andrew Weiss departed on acrimonious terms. Given the complex scope of his playing -- he is incredibly busy and melodic without noodling (thereby detracting from the material, and collapsing the rhythm section) -- Weiss was an integral part of the Rollins Band sound, after which grows a bit less thunderous and, for that matter, a bit less adventurous. This album, then, is sure to please fans of that era, because, though lacking an actual live crowd to feed off, the Rollins Band ekes out an energetic, gutsy set that provides an excellent counterpoint to Turned On, recorded in Vienna, Austria, months before. ~ Patrick Kennedy|