Larry Norman And Beam - Shouting In The Storm: Flevo 2 (re-issue)

Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

Larry Norman needs no introduction and the songs on this CD, recorded at Flevo festival, span his career well. The band (Beam) were an energetic guitar-driven outfit from the Netherlands who suited Larry's up-tempo stuff (eg, "God Part 3") better than the quieter ones ("Six Sixty Six" is a case in point here). As you'd expect from a live album, there's nothing particularly new here to add to the LN cannon in terms of songs (except for the superb rendition of "Jesus Freak", a cover that suits Larry's voice superbly). However, some of the arrangements are new - "Shot Down" is far superior to the version on 'In Another Land' (especially with the introduction Larry gives it here) and "Let It Go" is clearly crowd-friendly, although I found "The Rock That Doesn't Roll" a bit plodding. Larry's releases have, as any fan will tell you, been patchy over the years but this re-issue is good to have back in catalogue. I just wish I'd been there!