Alive in Studio A + Alive at the Marquee Club
It's pretty nuts how much material we have for this period of Bruce's solo career - a studio album, bonus tracks with alternate takes, a "live in the studio" re-recording of previously released material, and a live concert recording. The last two are actually super enjoyable and I didn't find myself as bored with these songs as I expected.
For one thing, Bruce sounds way better while singing these tracks live. Gone are the issues seen on Balls to Picasso itself - suddenly the man has overcome all the obstacles and is soaring as ever before. "Tears of the Dragon", for instance, sounds fucking awesome now. I wish we heard this on the album proper.
Then there's the band. The Skunkworks ensemble has come together (the fourth band Bruce assembled from the era!) and they are really grooving with each other. I was shocked to hear how cool the rhythm section is here. I love Eddie Casillas and Dave Ingraham, but my goodness are Chris Dale and Alessandro Elena rocking out here. Lots of great parts all across the two records, and the style is a lot looser and a little more fun. It's like the material finally stopped taking itself too seriously.
Alex Dickson isn't quite as good as Roy Z, but he holds down the fort with style. The recording of "Fire" from Studio A is ten times better than the original studio version, particularly because of that sick comedown and build up they've extended in the instrumental section. The three classic Tattooed Millionaire tracks (title track, "Son of a Gun", and "'58") are also here and they're solid. The riff to "Millionaire" proves how killer it is even when not played by Janick. And I love the extended drum intro to "Hell No".
All in all, great stuff. It's cool to hear these songs come to life a lot better when everyone is loosened up and grooving with each other. And Bruce working the Marquee crowd during "Hell No" is fucking great. Fun stuff.