Live (X-Cert)

rock groups often benefitted from the concept, since so much of their appeal was found in the energy passed between audience and performers. This expanded edition of The Stranglers\' 1979 live album includes not just powerful performances recorded at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, and Battersea Park in 1977 and 1978, but bonus tracks from the Nashville in 1976 and the Hope and Anchor in 1977. Singer Hugh Cornwell is in his expected role as \"punk\" agitator, riling up the masses in between songs, but he also brings a sharp passion to songs that already sounded plenty powerful in their studio versions. The Stranglers were always more than punk, with their sights set far beyond the genre\'s limitations. Yet when called to action, The Stranglers performed marvelously. Fans of *Rattus Norvegicus*, *No More Heroes*, *Black and White*, and the singles of that era should find that these live versions are like hearing the songs from a slightly different angle, with everyone less mannered and reveling in the fearlessness of youth.