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Okay, some apparent facts come first. With this release Sepultura have put a lot on the table. Both a 2CD and a 2DVD version are available. The CD version consists of 21 tracks from the beginning of the band's career through 2003. The first disc of the DVD version presents the same concert visually with a pair of bonuses. In addition to an 11 minute 'making-of' piece is an 18 minute band biography featurette that focuses perhaps too heavily on vocalist Derrick Green. On the second DVD is another documentary, 3 video clips ("Mind War," "Bullet The Blue Sky," "Choke"), and 3 additional live tracks ("Nomad," "Desperate City," and "Territory"). The disc is rounded off by a slide show and closing credits.
Shall the review portion begin now? Certainly. Right off the bat, why is there a 2CD version? The audio content of this concert would fit on a singular CD (unless there is some unclocked audio material) and the pair of DVDs might also fit on 1 disc.... Regardless, Sepultura had to cull material from 2 decades of studio recordings on 1 night (April 3, 2005), which is a considerable feat in and of itself. As such, some hits have to appear next to what could be seen as misses. The intro to this album (and later on some of the songs) is primarily in Brazilian Portuguese, perhaps necessarily so since this album was live from São Paulo, but these bits are rendered largely indecipherable to non-Portuguese speaking people.
The songs here are energetic enough, the crowd certainly "into" the band enough, and the members of said band definitely competent enough, but something seems to be amiss. Maybe the production is missing punch? Could it be a 2nd guitarist? Green has played guitar before so maybe that's an answer. Some will argue that Green is no Max Cavalera and vocally this is immaterial. However, in terms of charisma this is quite significant. One man had more than he knew what to do with, thus leading to him being ousted, perhaps, and the other seems to almost completely lack it. Green tries, but that's the problem -- charisma is natural. See Jim Morrison for irreplaceable charisma. See George Fisher for replacement done right.
In other news, the cover songs completely fail for me. Why Public Enemy and U2? Because Green is a black man does that mean he can or should have to rap? No. Is that U2's best song and does it work as a Metal version? Not really. All that said, can you say "Classic Sepultura Reunion" boys and girls? That does seem to be the current trend in music these days, after all, doesn't it? (See Judas Priest and Anthrax.) Alas, this probably will not happen soon in light of Soulfly's newest release. Bottom line about Live in São Paulo: I wanted to like this more than I do. I suggest that you play Chaos A.D. and remember this band the way you should.
Bonus rounds: (1.) The "Dazed and Confused" breakdown in the middle of "Biotech is Godzilla" is pretty cool. How much horse did Jimmy Page earn for that, I wonder? (2.) The over-used "um, dois, três, qua" [the last word short for "quatro"] that was started by former front man Max is not cool. Not. At. All.
| Tracklist |
| Disc 1: |
| 1. Intro |
| 2. Apes Of God |
| 3. Slave New World |
| 4. Propaganda |
| 5. Attitude |
| 6. Choke |
| 7. Inner Self / Beneath The Remains |
| 8. Escape To The Void |
| 9. Mindwar |
| 10. Troops Of Doom |
| 11. Necromancer |
| Disc 2: |
| 1. Sepulnation |
| 2. Refuse / Resist |
| 3. Territory |
| 4. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos |
| [Public Enemy cover] |
| 5. Bullet The Blue Sky [U2 cover] |
| 6. Reza |
| 7. Biotech Is Godzilla |
| 8. Arise / Dead Embrionic Cells |
| 9. Come Back Alive |
| 10. Roots Bloody Roots |
: 78.18
| Buy other Sepultura albums |
