Lived

On the opening track of 'Lived', psychedelic drugs guru Dr Timothy Leary introduces Babes in Toyland to the crowd at Lolapalooza '93 as "one of the greatest bands of the 21st century". Perhaps the late Dr Leary's doors of perception were open just a little wider than those of the rest of us, but on the evidence of this compilation they are, at the very least, an excellent live band.

The collection spans nearly a decade of performances, and it's clear that beneath the big hair and go-go boots image, Babes In Toyland possess an array of strapping rock songs. With the wonderful atonal singing voices of Kat Bjelland and Lori Barbero adorning songs like 'Handsome & Gretel', 'Sweet 69' and 'Ripe', I reckon the band have been sorely underrated.

One of the best moments is from the Chicago Metro in '91, not just for the Patti Smith-esque delivery on 'Dogg', but the audible exchange before the song as Lori calls for her dad to get her a drink. You can hear Mr Barbero ordering a Heineken, then a fan addressing him ("You're Lori's Dad? I went to highschool with her!").

The two studio takes here, from the Babes Do Macbeth, come complete with comedy crone voices, which don't sit very well with the live material.

On the basis of the live stuff, however, I think I might be prompted to check out the Babes' back catalogue. Maybe old Tim had a point.