Well… on Paramore.net… they asked fans to review the new live album. So I did. Now I am posting my review here… I got the deluxe edition… so you get to hear about all the extra stuff… ENJOY!
DVD:
Awesome. The performance was great. It was recorded in my hometown… so that is some extra awesome points right there. The power the band gave was awesome. They were very energetic and it made it a pleasure to watch. Not once was I wanting it to just be over. Though… some of the visual effects I could of gone without. Most of the time they were cool… sometimes they just got in the way of the show. The documentary was both informative and funny. It is interlaced with the performance very well and it always leaves you wanting more. The special features on the Deluxe Edition… to tell you the truth… were kinda a disappointment. The extra director’s cut footage was kinda smaller then I thought and most of it was just parts in the regular documentary that was elongated to show you all of it… not saying that’s a bad thing… I just thought that maybe… MAYBE there could of been a BIT more… just a TINY bit. But what they had there was awesome. The photo gallery was pretty cool. There were some real nice pictures there set to some real good music. Now… the thing that disappointed me the most out of all the extra stuff… not saying it was bad… it was awesome… was the music video for “Let The Flames Begin”. That is pretty much my favorite Paramore song and I thought it would be really cool to see a music video for it. Then I saw it and realized it was basically what I just finished watching. The live performance of this song was amazing… don’t get me wrong… but I was just kinda expecting more. The thing that bugged me the most about it is how there was almost a time machine effect in it. In one clip… you would see Hayley get down on her knees for the outro… but then the next clip… you will see the same thing happen again… just at a different angle. Now… that is just me being completely honest. Overall though… it was freaking awesome.
CD:
Also awesome. The quality was real good for a live album and all the intros and outros added to the songs live just SCREAMED for a live CD to come out… and it is awesome to be able to have those extra tid-bits of awesomeness in a CD form so you can have it at awesome quality and officially.
Packaging:
When I looked at the case for the Deluxe Edition… right off the bat… I knew it was something special. I pulled out the art book and looked through it… it was awesome. The pictures in there were either artistic… cool… or just plain funny. It looked just like the tour program so you don’t really feel like you were missing out on anything if you got this. The special long case for the CD and DVD really helps keep them safe and non-wiggly. Though… it sometimes is a pain to get the disks out and put them back in without having to worry a bit about scratching them. The laminate was a nice touch… really makes you feel special… but it could of had a better holder. With my OCD… I always have to keep things from CDs where they were… slipcases… extra stuff… pretty much anything. Every time I opened the CD case… or even took it out from the slip case… the laminate would just fall out. But… still… it was some awesome extra stuff.
So all in all… it was awesome. Totally worth the $35. It is/was limited to 5,000 copies… so if you hurry up… you may still be able to grab the deluxe edition. Yeah… I just checked… the deluxe edition is sadly sold out. BUT: the regular edition is selling at Target for $15. It just has the CD and DVD in a regular CD/DVD case. It does come with a regular booklet… but not with the art book.. photo gallery/director’s cut footage/”Let The Flames Begin” music video extras on the DVD… the fake backstage pass… or the special longer packaging.