LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Label: Madfish

Family's fourth album was recorded half in-concert and half in-studio. Rather than setting out to create a concert souvenir, the band uses the stage as a forum for presenting all new material. Family was always equally comfortable in live and studio settings. While these songs could have worked in the studio, it's a testament to Family's strength as a performing ensemble that this is a definitive album experience.

"Good News, Bad News" opens the album as it would have opened a concert. The studio-recorded closer, "Live And Ladies," is a tour-de-force--hypnotically powerful, and flush with melancholy passions and a broadly humane emotion base. Play this song for any music lover, and he or she is sure to become a Family fan.

Track Listing:

1. Good News - Bad News 8:06
2. Willow Trees 4:39
3. Holding The Compass 4:28
4. Strange Band 3:34
5. Part Of The Load 4:41
6. Anyway 3:28
7. Normans 4:21
8. Lives And Ladies 6:35
9. Strange Band (Alternative Live Version) 2:31
10. Part Of The Load (Live) 9:43
11. Lives And Ladies (Live)