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Retrospective, Vol. 2

Sevendust - Retrospective, Vol. 2 Audio CD

A fair review of the Sevendust "Retrospective, Vol. 2" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Sevendust reviews here, or go back to the Sevendust tabs.

Band: Sevendust
Title: Retrospective, Vol. 2
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-12-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Losing you Studio 2: The Rim Studio 3: Sleeper Studio 4: Hero Live 5: Silence Live 6: Deathstar Live 7: Clueless Live 8: Beg to Differ Live 9: Alpha Live 10: A Day In Life Of Sevendust 11: NEXT 12: ALPHA 13: Pete The A&R Guy

ROCK ON

Anyway, if you like this band get this cd now. I love this band, this cd, is a prety good one, I just would lke it if they put ot two versions, one with dvd and one with out it, the music videos are grea, but the one at the en were they play the jok on the equipment guys jus takes too long.

It's good for what it is.
Based on the reviews I have read about it here on Amazon and from what I've heard from fellow fans who bought it, I promised myself I wouldn't buy it. Let me be brutally honest for a second here: I wasn't going to buy this package, even as an admittedly huge fan of all things Sevendust. But today, while browsing CDs at the local Best Buy, I found myself jonesing for some new 7D material that will hold me over until my copy of their newest studio album, Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow, arrives on April 1st. (I have already pre-ordered it, and if you're a hardcore fan you'll do the same. ) So I grabbed it, and I have to say it isn't quite as bad as it's been made out to be, in my opinion.

First things first: Retrospective 2, in no way, measures up to the quality of the original "Retrospect" DVD the band released waaaay back before Animosity came out. Simply put, there just isn't enough material here for a collection of this type. Both Retrospect and Southside Double-Wide Acoustic Live did this so much better. But I digress. What we have here is, essentially, a CD/DVD package covering the last two and a half years of Sevendust's career and nothing more. Nothing from the pre-Next era is included, but in a way that makes sense because all four albums from that era were on the band's former label, TVT.

Let's talk about the CD portion first. Nine tracks deep, three studio and six live, it's a bit of a meager song collection. The three "new" studio tracks, "Losing You," "The Rim," and "Sleeper" all sound great, despite the fact that "The Rim" isn't quite new. It was advertised as available only on copies of the Alpha record sold at Target, but strangely enough I found it on the one I purchased at a local music store called New World Record. Anyway, I'm going to go on record here and say that "Sleeper" is easily one of the greatest songs in Sevendust's entire catalog. While "Losing You" is certainly good, it doesn't stack up to this song. A near six-minute opus which perfectly covers all the bases of the band's signature sound. "The Rim," from what I can tell anyways, is more of a joke song than anything else. A few friends of mine have suggested that this song be played nationwide on George W. Bush's final day in office, and I couldn't agree more. You'll just have to hear it and read the lyrics if you haven't to get what I mean. The live tracks, two from Next ("Hero" and "Silence") and four from Alpha ("Deathstar," "Clueless," "Beg to Differ," and "Alpha") are all top-notch performances.

Onto the DVD, which is broken up into four basic parts. It opens up with a rather short video montage, called "A day in the life of Sevendust," of the band gearing up for a concert, set to the song "Aggression" (one of my favorite tracks from the Alpha record) in the background. That's about it. "The making of Next" is a tad on the boring side because, well, it is once again old material. It is the EXACT same "making of" segment as shown on the bonus DVD that came with the Next album, right down to the photo gallery-style video for "Failure" at the end. We are then treated to the music videos for "Ugly" and "Pieces," the former of which being the one I prefer due to its somewhat dark and mysterious nature. The latter is merely a collage of live clips set to the studio track. Finally for the Next portion of the DVD, the band performs "Hero" and "Silence" live, both flawlessly. For the Alpha portion, we get a "making of" segment which is done in a vein similar to the one for Next (although the band members make no comments on any specific songs, which disappointed me) followed by a Q&A event featuring fans asking the band questions about the Alpha album, their career, the live show, and the like. We then get the music videos for "Driven," "Beg To Differ," and "The Rim. " Once again, recycled material rears its ugly head, as the video for "The Rim" appeared as an enhanced CD feature on the Alpha record. The video for "Driven" is your typical live clips set to studio music fare (not that this is always a bad thing), and oddly enough the "Beg To Differ" video is actually a live performance. Closing out the Alpha portion of the DVD are three more live performances, "Deathstar," "Clueless," and "Alpha. " My favorite of these would have to be "Clueless. " It is one of the best tracks on the Alpha record in my opinion and sounds even better in a live context. The DVD ends with a new installment of Morgan as "Pete the A&R Guy," who hasn't been seen since the Seasons album came out back in late '03. While funny in parts, this one doesn't stack up to the original, especially considering the wig Morgan sports here. He looks for all the world like the long lost fifth member of the Beatles. (John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Morgan. . . has a nice ring to it, don't ya think? :-D )

So yeah, all in all, not a bad collection. Were there not so much recycled stuff here, I would have given this 5 stars. What Sevendust needs to do, and I think I speak for a lot of other fans when I say this, is release a definitive live concert DVD featuring selections from ALL six (and soon to be seven) of their albums. Kinda like Southside Double-Wide, only not acoustic. Retrospect accomplished this quite well with the band having only two studio releases at the time, and the same goes for their 1999 VHS release Live and Loud, so what's stopping them now? That said, I think Sevendust is going to wow us all come April 1st with the release of the new record. If "Prodigal Son," "Inside," and "Scapegoat" (which you can hear on the group's MySpace page) are any indication, get ready for one awesome album.

Geez, another 7D record
this 'Retrospective' is a few choice live cuts and a couple bonus tracks. I like Sevendust, wont say they are my favorite band, but i buy their records. The DVD is good so If you love Sevendust, buy it i guess, but if your not an avid fan, dont bother. I picked it up and the content is good. The live tracks SOUND excellent!

I dont like the idea of another 'Best of' type record already. Even though the 'Best of Sevendust' CD was from their prior label, this one is legit. They hardly had 'Alpha' under their belt last year and i see this release as questionable. Now i hear they are working with 'Daughtry' on their next record as well as other so called 'guests'. The band really needs to focus on stronger material of their own again as adding guests looks like a sorry attempt to gain audience.

These things urk me. They are a decent band but need to take a break and regain their focus. Looks as if the band is throwing anything it can at the wall and seeing if it sticks. the last Disc was decent enough, but what this band should really do is take some time and make a real kick as* CD. The last 2 were alright but hardly groundbreaking. They really have a lot of product out there for a band with such a brief existence. Some of the fire is missing. Its not like they have a HUGE following, a decent following but not big enough to justify the excess product.

I hate to put the band down, but saturating the market with product is not the way to go. They already have 2 'Best Of' collections now along with 'Double Wide Live' from a few years ago under their belts. I feel sorry for the hardcore fans who want everything. And yet again they will have a brand new CD out in spring. . . I really think they should work more on QUALITY and not QUANTITY. Time to get the hunger back!.

Sevendust is Incredible Live
Sevendust fans should know how often they tour and how incredible their live shows are. I was fortunate enough to have been at the Summerfest show on July 5, 2007 from where some of the live performances on the DVD and all the live tracks on the CD are pulled. With the exception of "Live and Loud" and the first "Retrospect" DVD (which featured the "Live and Loud" performance), there's not a lot of live 7D music out there that is not acoustic (I'm referring to "Southside Double Wide", which was quite awesome in its own way - another great live show).

For any 7D fan who has not seen a live show, this CD/DVD should give you plenty of reasons to see them next time they tour in your area. It covers several aspects of Sevendust's two most recent albums, "Next" and "Alpha," and showcases the fast, aggressive songs as well as some more melodic tracks. Their songs have a slightly different sound live than the studio versions; I think they're more intense.

The 3 studio tracks on the CD are each different and grew on me more and more after a couple of listens. "Retrospecitve, Volume 2"'s CD was in my car for three weeks before I took it out. The CD is almost like a love letter to Milwaukee. The overall message is that Sevendust tours like they do because their fans are supportive and Sevendust appreciates that, and that goes for their fans everywhere. This is why The Rave in Milwaukee and the benches, bleachers and aisles at Summerfest are packed with fans every time they visit. I have no doubt it's the same everywhere Sevendust goes.

The DVD is pretty comprehensive. The making of "Alpha" and "Next" were the same as the documentaries from those studio CDs' bonus DVDs. The Pete the A&R Guy segment is pretty cool, if a bit long, but Morgan Rose is too funny in his character for you to not laugh throughout. The jewels of the DVD features are the live tracks, which continues to showcase how solid, energy-packed, and raw a live show from 7D is, and the Q&A, which gives a taste of how cool all the members of Sevendust are to their fans and vice versa.

This may be for 7D fans only. My advice is to buy this and play it for some friends, because Sevendust fever is highly contagious.

New Songs
And the new tracks are awesome and give a view as to what their new cd with hold in March. This new cd was great to hear for those who can't see sevendust in person to hear their real voice.

You can see a complete list of all Sevendust discography, or go back to the Sevendust tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.