As a ballad of a stalker masquerading as a poet, I've always felt Damien Rice's 'The Blower's Daughter to be on a par with James Blunt's hideous 'Beautiful'. The Blunt association probably explains why I haven't fallen under Rice's easy listening spell and why I give no credence to suggestions that he is in the same league as the mighty David Gray. The Irishman's songs do not provoke the same violent mood swings as those of Blunt but they perilously straddle the line between heartfelt emotion and sentimental twaddle.
His debut 'O' in 2002 had its moments but taken as a whole it has a similar soporific effect as that induced by an over exposure to one of Bob Harris' overnight slots on Radio 2. Five of the eight tracks of this pointless live album are drawn from this album and it opens and closes with the same two songs 'Delicate' and Lisa Hannigan's rewrite of 'Silent Night'.
The inevitable "Can't take my eyes off you" refrain of 'The Blower's Daughter' reoccurs with 'Volcano' and 'Amie' making up the 'O' selections. There's nothing from his second album '9' (what happened to 1 to 8!), just three "never before recorded tracks". Of these only 'Baby Sister' gives prominence to the voice of Rice, the other two give centre stage to one time partner Lisa Hannigan (the two parted company early in 2007).
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Hannigan covers Nina Simone's more bitter than sweet ode to domestic bliss of 'Be My Husband' and she takes lead vocals on 'Then Go' .
The short album (just 36 minutes) comes replete with cheesy canned applause and no between song chatter. It was originally part of a promotional bid in the US and its untimely release now is presumably a stop gap until Rice dreams up some post Hannigan songs.
They will hopefully have more energy and vitality than this painfully dull record.
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