One of the U.K.'s finest R&B bands was on the verge of its 30th anniversary in 2008, and what better way to kick off the celebrations than with a two-disc package highlighting the environment in which the group has always functioned the best? In concert,
Nine Below Zero remain one of the club circuit's most incendiary sights, even when -- as is the case here -- they leave the electricity at home and go acoustic. Disc one of this two-CD package was recorded live across two nights in Cumbria, with the foursome unplugged but still raising the temperature to a boiling point -- a point that they then drive home with the accompanying DVD, shot in 2006 while the band toured the Balkans. Both of these performances have been released before, after a fashion; the acoustic CD essentially soundtracks the Bring It on Home DVD, and the live DVD adds pictures to the bonus CD included with the Sights and Sounds, Vol. 1 package. But they are an essential addition to the catalog regardless, and here's to the next 30 years!
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Dave Thompson, Rovi