It was about time... After four successful albums - Earthshaker (1981), Black Tiger (1982), Meanstreak (1983) and In Rock We Trust (1984) - it was time for the San Francisco quartet to unleash another combination of power and passion on vinyl (back then) - and now on CD again (thanks to the Majestic Rock label). It is not usual for a live album to capture nearly 100% of the band's fundamental elements, still Open Fire: Live is the case - except for one con...
With a personal record of four brilliant albums, this live recording features ONLY seven tracks, a nearly humiliating number of excerpts for such a glorious discography! The band was really capable of putting out a double live album, thus a large amount of Y&T's classic cuts are absent - where's Meanstreak, Midnight In Tokyo or Lipstick And Leather, to mention a few?
Leaving the disappointment aside the remaining setlist is surely ideal for the Y&T fan. The Open-ing Fire runs like hell, while the endless overflow of feelings in I Believe In You (maybe the finest example of a passionate U.S. Hard Rock ballad) brings ideal thoughts of sharing these memories with the frenzied crowd. There's a song from the 70's Yesterday And Today, a more bluesy history featured here, 25 Hours A Day, while Summertime Girls is a studio filler (a great radio-friendly song) later appearing in the band's following studio album, Down For The Count (1985).
The performance of the band is of a high level, plus the audience seems to really enjoy sharing the feelings emerging from e.g. the marvellous up-tempo Metal-based riff of Forever. Dave is - as always - the perfect entertainer while the whole band seems to be in great shape!
To cut a long story short: Open Fire: Live is an excellent live album, a fine weapon in the hands of the quartet's followers. Still, it would not be recommended as the first way of getting familiar with Y&T, as it really has such a petite number of tracks. If that doesn't bother you, it's OK!
- Album Highlights: The band itself...