When you listen to a record from The War on Drugs, you imagine how good those songs will sound live. That's a quality that I also find in albums from Spiritualized and Bruce Springsteen, two artists who've clearly influenced Adam Granduciel. Adam's been leading The War on Drugs for very nearly two decades now, and the band's back with their second live album, Live Drugs Again, released today.
The epic Dylan-esque ramble of "Harmonia's Dream" segues neatly into "Burning" from 2014's Lost in the Dream. This still punches above its weight, with Adam and band really giving this one more heft than atmospherics. This live version, while in debt to the Boss, for sure, feels like a single we might have heard from the late great Michael Been and The Call some decades ago. That sort of big music vibe, mixed with an obvious affection for Eighties tropes is what makes this a seminal track from The War on Drugs, studio or live. Elsewhere, "Old Skin" from 2021's I Don't Live Here Anymore is more plaintive still, based as it is around a keyboard hook, while the more familiar "Come to the City" from 2011's Slave Ambient still works up a vibe magnificently U2-ish. The spacious sound of this live rendition gives the yearning in this one a real widescreen feel.
In a live setting, Adam Granduciel's compositions work very, very well indeed. I'd almost prefer this live version of "Under Pressure", to use one example, than the one on 2014's Lost in the Dream. The tune, like so many on Live Drugs Again, has a scope when played live that is diminished on the studio recording. There's a real grandeur to these songs here, and that's an adjective one doesn't really read too much in writing about modern rock records. So on those terms, Live Drugs Again is an enormous success for those who were already fans of The War on Drugs. Heck, this one might even convert a few new ones too.
Live Drugs Again by The War on Drugs is out today. Details below.
[Photo: Charlie Hardy]