Laurie Anderson - United States Live

For most musicians and groups, the live box set marks the culmination of a lengthy recording and concert career. Not so for Laurie Anderson, whose United States Live appeared in 1984, following her tenure in academic and bohemian circles and a small handful of releases on Warner Bros. and smaller labels. The release was an unusual event, though perhaps less so for a musician who seeks to upend musical traditions, most notably the distinctions between pop and classical, spoken and sung, live and Memorex. The lengthy set is a recording of a live performance composed of dozens of carefully defined experiments in form and technique, most of them fitting into one or two of these three categories: show pieces for items from her technological music arsenal (like her emblematic electric violin), witty narrative snippets (back when "spoken word" was called "performance art," prior to the rise of the poetry slam), and full-band performances, featuring, among others, Peter Gordon and David Van Tieghem. "O Superman" and "Big Science" are the familiar titles that appear amid the nearly 80 tracks. "Just a slow accumulation of details," her computer-enhanced voice intones moments before the intro to "Blue Lagoon" (later heard in a studio version on Mister Heartbreak). That makes a nice epigram for the collection as a whole, which is essential to understanding art music of the '80s in general and the New York scene in particular. --Marc Weidenbaum Amazon.com

Laurie's Magnum Opus

A vast and sweeping recording, more cohesive than her other albums. The music is challenging and beautifully done and the stories are poinient and at times hilarious. My favorites include "Language Is A Virus" and "Mach 20". Contains versions of her big hits, "O Superman" and "Big Science". Strongly recommended for fans of alternative music. March 8, 2008

Could this be brought back live ?

Would have loved to see this live, Can't start it without devoting hours to it , in order to finish it. A truly unique and special recording from one of modern music's finest October 9, 2007

Laurie Andersons statement

On this beautifull live recording Mrs Anderson shows her brilliant understanding of storytelling and musical basics in her own invented mix of sci-fi, absurdism, folk, modern technology nightmares, andsoforth. You have to hear it, to understand it. March 20, 2007

Music of a time that has past...

I attended the performances of this at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in 1983, over two nights, in excellent seats, well placed to see the visuals. (If you were up in the nosebleed seats at BAM it would not have been ideal.) This was quite a riveting series of performances, and I bought the recordings on 4 cassettes when they appeared. (Note that the original performances were around eight hours, so this is just more than half of the total.)

Laurie Anderson was part avant-garde, part carnival huckster, and you could watch and listen to her and never know exactly which side she was leaning toward. It's easy to dismiss her clichés and simplifications, some of which would almost be stand-up comedy; on the other hand, some of her comments and ideas are much deeper and more complex than they seem.

United States was more of a compilation than a thematic performance. She had been riffing about these ideas for several years, and after the success of O, Superman, managed to tie everything together in this longish performance that took place over two nights. Looking back more than twenty years, some of it still stands up, but much of her music and ideas seems sophmoric. Nevertheless, they are a good reflection of an era: when the Cold War was still alive, when music had just shifted from rock to disco to new wave, when a variety of currents had started becoming mainstream (the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich made it big in those years, notably with a huge Reich retrospective at BAM and a revival of Einstein on the Beach). So there was, even then, a tinge of nostalgia in United States.

I'll agree with what one reviewer says: the visuals were an integral part of this performance. I seem to recall cameras, but I guess there was never enough demand for a video back then. (If it were performed today, there would be a DVD immediately.)

In spite of any negatives, Laurie Andersond had stage presence, had the courage to present some pretty quirky ideas (her style, however, has become mainstream, as can be seen in many movies these days), and was, for a brief period, unique. Unfortunately, after United States, she started repeating the same stuff over and over.

If you lived through the period, and, especially, if you were fortunate enough to see the performances, this would be a good bit of nostalgia. If not, you'll probably be perplexed. It would be interesting, though, to listen to this closely and see just how much the world has changed since then. February 26, 2007

You had to be there

ALL THE BEST SONGS ARE ON OTHER ALBUMS.

This is an audio recording from multi-media presentations. Much of the material is geared around visuals and Anderson's stage personnae. This is like listening to a television broadcast of a football game without the picture. You get the general idea what is going on, but you miss a lot. It is not like listening to a football game over the radio, where the broadcasters explain what you aren't seeing.

Without the visuals to go with this CD, many of the stories and jokes come up flat.

This CD set is about 4 and a half hours long. It was taken from several years of Anderson's live shows that eventually became the United States. Each CD more or less covers a specific "tour". Her back up band changes from CD to CD. You can tell that as time goes on, she gets more famous (and maybe has more money) she is able to add more to the shows (and her backup band gets bigger).

The sound quality is amazingly good. It is sharp and crystal clear. There is almost no audience noise, which does help create a good atmosphere for her stories.

About 80% of the material is spoken word. There is some music. It is probably less than 45 minutes of the total 4 and a half hour production.

The recordings come from early in her career. She later redid most of the best material and put in on other albums.

I would suggest getting her other CD's. Or if you want to see her performance art work, I would suggest searching out the Home Of the Brave VHS tape (I don't think it has been released on DVD). Don't get the Home of the Brave CD. September 1, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...