THE MICHAEL LANDAU GROUP LIVE

	The Michael Landau Group Live
	no production credits
	Released on October 9, 2006
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
TC-4051 2 cover [high resolution scan]

I really hate the L.A. session sound. My familiarity with Michael Landau is as a session guitarist on some of the most soulless studio albums I own: In The City of Angels, Read My Lips, Can’t Wait To See The Movie. So I didn’t walk into this wide double-disc with any moony glow on my face. But I walked out with one. Not because of the first disc: blues (which to my mind is one of the lowest forms of musical expression) and alternative guitar rock that belongs somewhere between and below Soundgarden and Mike Keneally. It was on the mellow second side where the moon hit his fingers just right. Jazz and laidback, left-of-center pop are where his songwriting talents lie: “Good Friend,” “Widow” and “The Mighty SB.” Reminds me of Adrian Belew, who appears on some of the most amazing albums I own. Landau isn’t into strange sounds so much as strange sustain: “Untitled,” “A Peaceful Ride” and “Ghouls and the Goblins” feature it. He can play fast and kick up some real dust with distortion, but I like him better when he’s calmer. I can’t recall a single Michael Landau solo from his session work (of course I don’t own anywhere near all of it), so it’s nice to hear what he and his guitar have to say. In a sense, The Michael Landau Group Live is an audition for future work that shows his range as a guitarist. As a singer, well, he’d starve, and as a songwriter I’d rank him alongside The Bears’ Rob Fetters. But it’s nice to hear someone normally confined to the studio stretch out in a live setting with a tight team behind him. Scott Kinsey and Toss Panos (who appeared on the similar View from Bryan Beller) especially caught my ear. From now on, I’ll listen to Michael Landau differently; not as a prog artist (he’s not) but as a variegated rock guitarist with a little wild streak.

TRACK LISTING

disc one

WORRIED LIFE BLUES (Maceo Merriweather)
THE SUN
A PEACEFUL RIDE
UNDERWEAR
6/8 BLUES
BORN IN THE RAIN

disc two
THE MIGHTY SB
GHOULS AND THE GOBLINS
WIDOW
JOHNNY SWING
GOOD FRIEND
UNTITLED

All songs written by Michael Landau unless noted

CREDITS

JIMMY JOHNSON -- bass
SCOTT KINSEY -- keyboards
MICHAEL LANDAU -- guitar, vocals, mixing
TOSS PANOS -- drums
Ronald Bruner Jr. -- drums
Chuck Kavooras -- slide guitar (1.3)
Gary Novak -- drums
Chris Roy -- bass
Robert Brandshaw -- engineer

return to THE MICHAEL LANDAU GROUP discography

REGION	RELEASE DATE	LABEL	MEDIA	ID NUMBER	FEATURES
US	October 9, 2006	Tone Center	2CD	TC-4051

For more discographies visit...