Album Review: Live in Japan by Glen Campbell

The last few years have been bittersweet for the 76-year-old Glen Campbell, who really is the godfather of the country-pop crossover hit. He's made 70 albums, sold more than 45 million of them worldwide, and had 27 of his singles land in the country music Top 10. After two pretty-darn-good and unexpectedly successful cover albums, 2008's Meet Glen Campbell and last year's Ghost On The Canvas, Campbell's enjoyed a renaissance of sorts and has been, more or less, on the road since 2008.

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The only draw with this rerelease is its previous unavailability outside of Japan, but let’s face it: the internet, or more specifically YouTube, has rendered the “live album” an antiquity. Seriously, Real Gone, what are you thinking? Don’t you understand how unattractive and anachronistic Live In Japan is, or how awkward ambling through this reissue of it is in 2012, even if it was never available in most regions? It hardly has anything to do with the content or the performance, which is what makes insubstantial rereleases of mediocre albums so difficult to review - Glen is in fine form, per usual - it’s the vibe, the “audience track”, the classic rock radio flashbacks and the fact that this is an album that was released almost 40 years ago. .

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