Avatar – 'The King Live In Paris' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. A Statue Of The King

3. Let It Burn

4. Paint Me Red

5. Bloody Angel

6. For The Swarm

7. Tower

8. The Eagle Has Landed

9. Smells Like A Freakshow

10. The King Welcomes You To Avatar Country

11. Hail The Apocalypse

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – live albums can be both a blessing and a curse in this modern age of streaming music – why would you listen to a live recording of music that you can easily access the studio versions of? It has to have a certain special something – an atmosphere or something that you can’t get anywhere else.

And I’m pleased to say Avatar’s “The King Live In Paris” definitely gives off a great atmosphere. Whether it’s the crowd interaction, or just the amount of fun that everyone sounds like they are having, it’s a strong album.

Avatar are a band who’ve always been slightly under my radar. I’m aware they exist, and I’ve heard a few of their songs, but prior to this they weren’t high on my agenda. And that’s the sort of person that a good live album is aimed at – and this is a really good live album. It serves up a selection of amazing songs from throughout their career – serving almost as a kind of greatest hits but with its own feel.

Everyone will have their own favourite moments I’m sure. As a relative newbie to Avatar, I have to say that “Bloody Angel” is an absolute belter of a tune, “For The Swarm” has an absolutely brilliant Riff and the chorus of “Smells Like A Freakshow” had me bouncing around my lounge like an absolute lunatic!

Whenever we talk about live albums, I always feel that I need to mention the production – which is phenomenal here. It sounds of an amazing quality, but still has that raw live edge that gives it the atmosphere you need to have a truly great live album.

There were a couple of slightly lower points for me – one or two average tracks that started to blend into each other in the middle of the album, and obviously any compilation of a bands songs (be it live album or greatest hits) doesn’t often have the connecting thread of a studio album, but it certainly stood out from the crowd – especially when you get to the strange one-two punch at the end of “The King Welcomes You To Avatar Country” (which is just bizarre but in a very entertaining way) and the solid groove of “Hail The Apocalypse”.

All in all, Avatar have produced a live album of which they can be very proud, which will be as entertaining to first time listeners as it will to die-hard Avatar fans, which is kind of the point really!