This was the last Level 42 album I added to my collection as I prioritised buying records with new material (new to me at least) ahead of compilations and live albums. As a result, I didn't really get to hear this record until I purchased it a couple of years ago - almost forty years after it was released.
This fees like the first authentic live album I have come across in my collection so far. Admittedly I've only listened to 'live recordings' by Erasure, Jean Michel Jarre and Japan up to this point, but I can't imagine much else in my collection is going to surpass the skill and cohesion on display here.
There is a varied selection of songs on offer from the older jazz influenced instrumentals like "88" to the more recent hit single "Hot Water". Every track is executed with energy and a real sense of fun.
For once, you actually get more material on the double LP compared to the compact disc edition. The CD lacks the afore mentioned "88" along with "Turn It On" and "Mr Pink". All editions feature a new song called "Follow Me" which is a great pop tune that was used as the lead song on the "Physical Presence EP". There's nothing on the EP that isn't on the album, these were just marketing ploys used by record companies to promote live albums back in the eighties. Such ploys must have worked at some stage, but they seem very anachronistic now. 3/5
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