How do you follow up a masterwork like
Borreroak Baditu Milaga Aurpegi
? Being an old-school band devoted to generating live concert excitement much more than layers of studio polish,
Negu Gorriak
opted for a live album featuring the bulk of those songs and a few early favorites to come up with another full-throttle sonic blitz.
Hipokrisiari Stop
immediately dispels any doubts that the Basque bombers could convincingly deliver the complex intertwined guitar lines of
"Bi Doberman Beltz"
and the menacing riff to
"Lehenbiziko Bala"
gets the crowd into
singalong
mode. Accordion gets broken out to mix with
ska
on
"Gora Herria,"
the clipped chords of
"Radio Rahim"
feature guest toasting from
Fidel Nadal
of
Todos Tus Muertos
, and
"Hator Hator"
is a suitably triumphant finale. For most groups,
would probably rank as a best-of, but
has
Borreroak Baditu Milaka Aurpegi
to surpass it. But who can really argue with the chance to hear that material again before a rabid Basque crowd? It certainly passes the live album litmus test with no problem; you wish you'd been there, especially since
Mano Negra
apparently was the opening band. ~ Don Snowden