Bill Hicks - Shock And Awe: Live At Oxford University

The four CDs Hicks released or planned in his lifetime are such a perfect legacy, building from un-PC gut-laughs to death-shadowed prophecy, that the live albums beginning to proliferate look more like random death cult product than anything essential—over-familiar routines here show the thin pickings left unissued. That said, his anti-Bush/Gulf War riffs are strangely affecting, because he could have said them last week, and would not be in the wilderness now. Some very funny 'fresh' routines and Hicks' unusual warmth on the night complete a decent fan purchase.

Rating: 3 / 10