XTC Album: “XTC Live”

XTC transcended the genre(like Elvis Costello)that it was originally a part of: Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding's songwriting shows nuance, depth and an amazing ability, like the Beatles and the Kinks, to reach beyond their influences and establish a sound at once recognizable and yet their own.

This 1980 album is also available as the TRANSISTOR BLAST boxed set but, if you haven't truly dived into XTC's black sea of music, then this is a great place to start to experience the live band. The band breezes through a selection of their early material up from WHITE MUSIC to BLACK SEA. The inspired and melodic guitar playing of Dave Gregory builts on Andy and Colin's unusually structured "pop" songs.

A great album(and one of the few places to hear the band in their prime live) well worth the investment. If you want to spend the extra money, though, TRANSISTOR BLAST is the more complete experience.

In 1980 XTC opened for the Police's Zenyatta Mondatta tour on many of their US dates. This was the first concert I saw after I started college and is still without a doubt one of my favorite college memories. Though no album can replace the energy and emotion of being at the event, this album does what no studio album can. I would highly recommend this for any XTC fan, novice or otherwise.

Wow! As live recordings go, this is among the best ever made. XTC's songwriting continues to improve through the present day, but their touring stopped in 1982. This recording gives an incredible glimpse into the power, skill, and soulfulness present in the band at that time. They are both tight and loose, intricate and simple, sincere and ironic. This recording shows what's possible with just drums and wires and a lot of talent.

To those who didn't catch them live . . .well, this is the best substitute. . .

Never had so much fun seeing them live

DEAR XTC KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, I IN JOYED NEARLY EVERY SONGS YOU HAVE DONE. ONES LIKE TOWER OF LONDON, KNOCKEL DOWN BOYS, SCARECROW PEOPLE,BALL AND CHAIN,SGT,ROCK(IS GOING TOHELP ME),AND ALL OTHERS FROM THE BLACK SEA (CD). STILL BUYING OTHERS WHEN I CAN.