I have mixed feelings about live albums. Perhaps I shouldn't, given that I live in New Zealand, and aren't lucky to experience half the bands that grace the shores of our larger, more Australian neighbour; they are a medium by which we can kind-of-not-really experience our favourite bands in a live setting. Aside from catering to our visually impaired metal warriors out there, I'm not convinced of audio releases of live performance. I love me some band DVD's, and a few are prized among my collection. I think I even have a HELLOWEEN live album on vinyl somewhere, that cost me a few dollars when I was giddy after getting my first turntable, so there's that.

"Back To The Roots" is a new live album from Udo Dirckschneider's band, U.D.O. renamed on this occasion alone to 'DIRKSCHNEIDER' (???). It features a performance of the biggest and best songs from his long tenure in the earlier ACCEPT days, fast forwarded a few decades on April 2 at Kaminwerk in Memmingen, Germany.. Given the occasion, this might just be a live album (note: it's audio only!!!) that isn't superfluous and is worth getting a hold of.

As usual, I expect nothing but the best from German musicians, and as far as musicianship and recording quality goes, this piece is hard to beat. We've all seen the (ironically) shoddy 'professional' recordings of Wacken performances on YouTube, before frantically scrounging for our marginally better version on our DVD copy from, probably, a few years prior. However, if it weren't for the reverb and crowd, I would swear none the wiser that this could have been a studio recording. It is that excellent. In fact, it might just be the most pristine-sounding live recording I have ever heard. The punchy cadence of "Living For Tonite" is a grand example, each rocking thump putting others to shame, the chunk of the guitars and the boom of the kick reverberating off the walls, adding a whole new dynamic. A faster track, "Breaker" is exemplary of the other fast relived songs on this album in capturing the classic, German epicness of old ACCEPT, only losing a little clarity on the guitar riffs, and Jesus Christmas Christ, those solos.

Hearing everything in such clarity, however, also means being able to hear Udo's voice a lot clearer. It's not... As great an accompaniment, and though he is most definitely still flying his ACCEPT flag, without disrespect to the man, his age is catching up to him. He's raspier, he's a little harder to understand, and the high notes are a little less convincing, but he still puts the same calibre of power into his performance as he has always done. What I'm trying to say is... You should've fuckin' been there. We all should have, to experience the product in full, because let's face it; we don't attend rock concerts to fold our arms and stare in derision. We attend to watch the gods of rock through the long, sweaty and bloody hair of our brethren whipping us in the face.