Band:	Cradle Of Filth
Album:	Live Bait For The Dead
Style:	Extreme gothic metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	2002
Guest review by:	Spyroid

01. Intro - The Ceremony Opens
02. Lord Abortion
03. Ebony Dressed For Sunset
04. The Forest Whispers My Name
05. Cthulhu Dawn
06. Dusk And Her Embrace
07. The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh
08. Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids
09. Her Ghost In The Fog
10. Summer Dying Fast
11. Interlude - Creatures That Kissed In Cold Mirrors
12. From The Cradle To Enslave
13. Queen Of Winter Throned
14. Born In A Burial Gown [The Polished Coffin mix version]
15. No Time To Cry [Sisters Of No Mercy mix version]
16. Funeral In Carpathia [soundcheck recording version]
17. Deleted Scenes Of A Snuff Princess
18. Scorched Earth Erotica [original demo version]
19. Nocturnal Supremacy [soundcheck recording version]
20. From The Cradle To Enslave [Under Martian Rule mix version]
21. The Fire Still Burns
+ Enhanced Part: Screensaver And Toolbar
+ No Time To Cry (video)

I must say this is maybe not the album in my collection I am the most proud of, but when I saw that no one had reviewed it I thought that I had to give my opinion. Live Bait For The Dead was bought in my metal period and mostly because it was cheap. Before I tell you about the actual album, I have to warn you - don't pay more than a normal album just because of the bonus CD. It's always nice with limited editions, but the bonus CD in this case is really nothing to bother with. The cover of Sisters Of Mercy's 'No Time To Cry' is one of my favourite Cradle Of Filth recordings, but the rest is just soundchecks (live performances without top notch quality or audience) and awfully bad techno-remixes. 'Deleted Scenes Of A Snuff Princess' makes it into my top 50 worst tracks ever recorded.

To the album - well, I couldn't complain about the setlist. Almost all the tracks are personal favourites (of tracks released before 2002 of course), and the common public probably have the same good taste as me, because it's many of their most famous songs. The crowd is great, and after an awesome intro Lord Abortion, one of the better tracks, kicks in. Classic track upon classic track follows, and the album is finished of with the epic 'Queen Of Winter Throned'.

The performance is cool, Dani is a real geek but his talking between the songs is fantastic and his introductions to the songs are wonderfully cliché, not to mention his unique voice. I do miss Nick Barker but Adrian does well. The greatest flaw of Live Bait For The Dead would be the guitarists which both seem to get a bit sloppy towards the later half - maybe they got tired wrists? I also would have liked the album to be better produced. The pretty raw sound fits well with the music but since there is a lot of keyboards it might have fitted with a cleaner sound. It is over average for a live album but could've been better.

I'm not a huge Cradle Of Filth fan, thus the rating. I also think it's a cheap trick to release and album with a bonus CD that is so awfully bad. Although, this is actually a perfect album to start your Cradle Of Filth collection with - it contains many good songs and it's a cool live performance, and most of all it gives you a good idea of what Cradle Of Filth's music is about.