Babymetal – Live at Wembley

The Japanese are efficient, aren’t they? We saw at the end of last year how rapid they go about their roadworks and then, a little over eight months after three of their hottest exports released their second studio record AND set the UK alight, the first live album from Babymetal was unleashed onto the world. Simply called Live at Wembley, the album consists of the majority of Babymetal’s set from Wembley Arena in April this year, the opening night of their ‘Metal Resistance’ World Tour that culminated with two nights at the legendary Tokyo Dome in front of a combined 110,000 people.

As one might expect, the album focuses heavily on material from the girls’ second studio effort (the quite brilliant Metal Resistance), with some of the bigger hits from their debut self-titled album rounding things off. The first thing noticeable is the voices – the girls really can sing. You can put all the effects and tunings on in the studio but it’s in a live setting that the wheat is sorted from the chaff and on the basis of this Su-metal, Moametal and Yuimetal are three strong ears of corn that will make the greatest of beers. Su in particular is already sounding like a superstar: if she were to ever leave the group by one means or another, she wouldn’t be out of work for long as a plethora of bands would be lining up to take her on for vocal duties. Just listen to Amore, it’s absolutely stunning. Secondly, the notion that the songs were built for arenas is finally justified; the whole set sounds MASSIVE. Karate lives up to its name by firing riff after riff out of the speakers like a true master of martial arts whilst the punch of established favourites Megitsune and Gimme Chocolate! is enough to make anyone convert to the ways of the Fox God.

However – and there is a BIG however – this could have been so, SO much more. For a start, a third of the set is missing, and whilst it’s all songs from their debut album (showing the band’s intentions to concentrate on the newer material), it does make for a somewhat compromised listening experience. Secondly, the gaps of silence in between each track are incredibly jarring and stop the album from flowing, which is a huge factor on live albums – you want to feel like you’re actually there, almost able to see the band performing in front of you for the duration. By contrast, you’re brought back to reality every few minutes and that does have a significant effect on the enjoyment of the record as a whole. If they’d taken a bit more time on knitting the tracks together and allowing the album to seamlessly transition it would have improved things considerably, but it only takes the shine off; the sheer craziness of Live at Wembley is still very much intact for all to behold.

Babymetal lineup

Su-metal: Vocal, dance
Moametal: Scream, dance
Yuimetal: Scream, dance

Kami backing band

Takayoshi Ohmura – guitar
Mikio Fujioka – guitar
Isao – guitar
Leda – guitar
Boh – bass
Hideki Aoyama – drums
Yuya Maeta – drums

Track listing

BABYMETAL DEATH
Awadama Fever
YAVA!
GJ!
Doki Doki ☆ Morning
Meta Taro
Amore
Megitsune
KARATE
Ijime, Dame, Zettai
Gimme Chocolate!!
THE ONE (English Version)
Road of Resistance

Links
http://www.babymetal.jp
http://www.babymetal.com
http://www.facebook.com/BABYMETAL.jp
http://www.twitter.com/BABYMETAL_JAPAN