US band NUCLEAR ASSAULT is a household name in metal circles, quickly establishing themselves as a vital part of the burgeoning thrash metal movement when they appeared in them mid 1980’s with their hardcore fueled take on first generation thrash metal. “Live at CBGB’s” is an archival album, featuring live footage from a concert held a few months before they released their debut album, and was released as a limited edition vinyl LP through Graviton Music Services in 2014.
Live albums can be something of a Gordian knot to approach. They often aren’t all that popular among a band’s regular fan base, but at the same time core fans will deem them as vital and in many cases more important than the studio album. I’ve heard fans wax lyrically about how a live take from this or that concert have taken this or that song to the very next level of superiority, commenting in length about what separates that live version from dozens of others. I have also spoken to fans that really couldn’t care less about live albums, but that will attend a concert to be able to see an artist they appreciate, but not all that eager to be a part of a live concert experience as such. For a band like Nuclear Assault, with their particular intense and energetic take on thrash metal, there’s also the problem of what to focus on.
Those fond of tight performances and the capture of what must have been a fairly intense concert, this album should hit their sweet spot quite nicely. The instrumentalists in the band have a very good day on stage here, where next to nothing is lacking in either energy or instrumental excellence. The riffs are firm and well performed, the bass booming the way it should, the drums are tight, loud and explosive, and the interaction is superb. The drive and momentum is of excellent quality, basically.
While sound and production may often be a sticky point for live albums, in this case the sound is of a surprisingly high quality. Directly captured through the sound board I understand, but even so a crystal clear sound here that does capture the performance in a clarity many might envy them from both a general point of view as well as from a 1986 concert point of view. Especially the latter.
The detrimental aspect though, for me at least, are the lead vocals. Nuclear Assault’s music relies heavily on John Connelly’s aggressive shouts to function, and with his voice and register I’ve always found him to be a tight balancing act between what functions well and what just sounds corny. In this case the latter is much more of a case than the former, and in one of the pauses between the songs we do hear him tell the audience that he is suffering from a cold. Which obviously had an effect on the vocal performance. Due to personal stances I also had to give a big negative to concluding track Lesbians, as that song for me comes across as hate speech. No matter what the intentions of this piece is, the lyrics on this one is just to misogynistic.
For a live album like this one, released almost 30 years belatedly, core fans will obviously be the main audience. And for many of them, this album will come across as an energetic, vital production I suspect. In fact, unless you are among the ones focusing extensively on lead vocals, this is an album that you need to inspect at some point if you are a long time fan. But for others, I’d suggest to get familiar with the studio albums or possibly some of the chronologically later live albums by this band before seeking out this one. In essence: A must buy (or at least must listen) production for long time Nuclear Assault fans, but not all that interesting for those not already intimately familiar with the band.
My rating: 58/100
