Many live albums are put out just for the hell of it, as a way to milk a band's current popularity for financial gain or to fulfill a contractual agreement (a la Sunny Day Real Estate.) But a few live albums truly capture a snapshot of a band at a particularly poignant point in their career -- and such is the case with the Smoking Popes' posthumously released Live.

Recorded on November 25, 1998 at Chicago's Metro, the performance wound up being the seminal group's last. After seven years, the band decided to call it quits in the wake of lead singer Josh Caterer's decision to pursue a life devoted to the service of God (though this was not made public until a few months after the show). This fact, if nothing else, makes Live nearly indispensable to anyone who ever played air-guitar or weeped along with Caterer and Co.

The gusto the band mustered for this performance is the stuff of legends, playing each song as if it were their last -- which, ironically, was indeed the case. Over the course of 22 tracks, the listener is treated to a compelling and nostalgic mix of tunes from each of the group's three albums, as well as older gems dusted off and once again shown the light of the stage. Fan favorites like "Under the Blanket" and "Brand New Hairstyle" are delivered with gleeful precision to the delight of both band and audience, and even standard set tunes like "Rubella" and "Double Fisted Love" seem revitalized as they're bashed out in rapid succession amidst furious amp howl and Caterer's sweet croon. But the true highlight doesn't come until the show's/disc's end, when a clearly moved Caterer delivers a beautiful acoustic version of "I Know that You Love Me," in which he asks the crowd to "sing along if you know the words."

Because I live in Chicago and attended this show, Live has special meaning for me. As I grew up, and especially during my awkward teen years, the Popes spoke to me -- they always seemed to be able to say exactly what it was that I wanted to say but could never put into words. I know I was not alone in these thoughts, as the Popes' posthumous fanbase continues to widen across the US and UK. In their absence a new generation is being affected by their music. With that fact in mind, find yourself a copy of Live, and reminisce about a band that, to so many of us, really mattered.