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It’s a bold, enchanting and captivating record that is of genuine interest to hear, as opposed to a long drawn out chore, which an album like this it could have so easily been.
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While the recording and performance are at times a little ragged in voice and tone, the band’s earlier semi-punk instincts ring through and its taste remains impeccable.
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The notion of a 2xCD set of rehearsal recordings smacks of unnecessary indulgence, but whether you take this as an alternative canon of R.E.M. music or a document of a band working hard to find its future by revisiting its past, the album is successful in providing a new perspective on a classic group desperately in need of a new narrative thread.
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In 39 tracks over two CDs, the punk-fuelled folk-rock group that had ruled the ’80s along with U2 magically reappears.
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A tighter, cleaner band than the scruffy renegades of the '80s, but still the same band, which is evident here in ways it never was on the perfectly fine R.E.M. Live. That was a production. This is rock & roll.
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Given the quality of the performances and the depth of the song selection, Olympia is not simply a for-fans-only vanity project or an excuse to revisit an album that's just over a year old, but it stands as an essential addition to R.E.M.'s catalogue.
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Though it isn’t a concept album, Live At The Olympia does tell a story about the remarkable staying power of one of the best rock bands of the past 30 years.
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Q MagazineLive At The Olympia more than stands up as a vital, vibrant document in its own right. [Dec 2009, p.118]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 21 out of 24
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Mixed: 0 out of 24
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Negative: 3 out of 24
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Mar 29, 2012
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MiguelA.Oct 30, 2009Amazing live album, great set list, good sound and top performance.
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JimmyR.Oct 30, 2009A real treat for fans, and a great intro to the band for new fans.