Back in 2006 Down was barely back together again after some time apart, when they decided to come over to Europe for the first time without a new album or without a label backing them. The result of that tour is the live CD/DVD “Diary Of A Mad Band”.
It has a very seventies-feel to it with lots of shaky handcam shots and gritty sound quality. Could’ve been better but that’s cool… Down is a gritty kind of band. And you are treated to a shitload of material from the all-star band’s first two albums. “Lifer”, “New Orleans Is A Dying Whore”, “Stone The Crow”, “Bury Me In Smoke”… they’re all featured on here.
What could’ve been done a whole lot better is the documentary part. Pretty much all it shows is lame backstage footage with inside jokes that are probably only funny to the band members themselves. Oh, and there are a couple of monologues by Phil Anselmo that are pretty much meaningless. Probably a result of whatever he was strung out on at the time.
As a live album, I’m all for this one. But for those of you who were hoping to get a better understanding of what was driving this band at that point in time, you’ll be in for a bit of a disappointment. I’m sure album number four will be a lot better than this one!
Score: 6 out of 10
Down Records
http://www.down-nola.com
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