| Mental Jewelry | 1991 |
| Throwing Copper | review #2 | 1994 |
| Secret Samadhi | 1997 |
| The Distance To Here | review #2 | 1999 |
| V | review #2 | 2001 |
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
A few years in the making, Live's debut gives a hint of good things to come - the lyrics are already well-written, direct, making the songs expressive anthems, the melodies are fairly memorable, and there is a considerable amount of live energy throughout. A number of tracks showcase this, like their first classic "Operation: Spirit", which is built around a strong bassline and an infectious chorus, while the second half opener "Waterboy" is lyrically challenging with tremendous punky force that recall the early days of U2. "The Beauty Of Gray" and "Mirror Song" are confident and powerful, spiritually affecting acoustic numbers that definitely show their promise. "Tired Of Me" is also highly singable, and "Brothers Unaware" is a dark ballad with mysterious guitar work giving it a great atmosphere.
The rest of the disc isn't nearly as capable, as it's mostly in the second half where the ballads sound somewhat tired, and the direct rock songs aren't very memorable, particularly the overlong "Good Pain". The opener "Pain Lies On The Riverside", meanwhile, is a decent singalong track but its' way too repetitive song structure makes it seem like it's going on forever, even though it's only a 5 minute song. But the highlights of Mental Jewelry make it very worthwhile, especially for a debut, and things would get a bit more focused and consistent on the next album.
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(Nick Karn's review)
A breakthrough album in every sense of the word, both creatively and commercially, Throwing Copper proved to be Live's huge musical statement which they have yet to come close to. The key strengths of the band were already apparent on the debut - their strong live energy in the musicanship, honest spiritual lyricism, and high-quality melodic work, but here everything is improved on. The consistency is much better (there are no weak cuts throughout), their unfocused song structures have been fixed, and the songs are more convincing and truly memorable. A new trademark is even featured here for the first time - guitar feedback at the end of a song, and it shows up quite a bit.
The singles were all over radio after this album's release, and are of excellent quality. "Lightning Crashes" starts off as a soft acoustic ballad (and is probably the only hit song in rock history to feature the word "placenta") that builds up to a powerful climax with beautiful lyrics and a quality chorus. "I Alone" has undeniably great (and quite creative and intriuging) lyricism and melody (emotional and aggressive chorus), and offers a touch of that mysterious and unsettling guitar feedback. "Selling The Drama" has somewhat profound religious imagery and goes along as if it's an innocent, uplifting rock song, and "White, Discussion" is unbelievable white noise distortion in its' gripping ending with tremendous loud energy and has a nice buildup to it.
The rest of the tracks also hold up excellently, with "The Dam At Otter Creek" getting things off to an incredible start by beginning with odd amplifier noises in the intro before slowly building up from quiet melodic poetry to a brutally aggressive atmosphere. "Iris", "Top" and "All Over You" are solid, catchy workouts that again make you wonder what drugs Kowalcyzk is on with those lyrics. Things get even better in the second half (which includes the aforementioned closer "White, Discussion"), beginning with "Shit Towne", the infectious but vicious "ode" to the band's hometown, "T.B.D." has a memorable bassline with an adrenaline rush of high quality lyrics, while "Stage" and "Waitress" are just all-out rocking live aggression with lots of attitude, simple but incredibly powerful. The brilliant and thoughtful epic "Pillar Of Davidson" is another amazing showcase of Live's power, and is one of many tracks that make Throwing Copper a well deserved success.
Granted, this is the only Live album I've ever sat through completely, but Secret Samadhi seemed rather dull after the the first few tracks, and I've only heard a couple off the new one. And the lyrics on the first album really annoy me. Thats not to say the 'poetry' of Mr. Kowalczyk on this 1994 release isn't strange or confusing like Nick pointed out, but unlike the first album (and what I've heard of the next two) the melodies and dynamics of this album are just positively genius in spaces. I'd even go as far to say as this is easily one of the best rock releases of the 90s. And you certainly don't see an album like this being released by any crappy boy band despite all of their claimed "love of melody".
You want a kickass tutorial on how to write a great melodic progression, Mr. Lance Bass? Or Mr. Adam Jones? Or Mr. Generic (c)rapmetal artist? Listen to this album. Tracks like "Iris" (the best song on the album) and "Top" have just about the most perfect chiming guitar passages this side of U2. Which by the way, a lot of people think this band is a ripoff of. Myself, I see far more of a harder edged R.E.M. influence on them. Anyways, why can't new bands write guitar lines like this anymore? Is it too tough for turn off the distortion pedal? It seems more and more like people are labeled 'soft' or 'pussies' if they show a hint of melody. We all have Mr. Wes Borland to thank for this.
Moving on, I think the most amazing thing about this album, is that even with the incessant overplay of the singles "I Alone" (with about the greatest power chord progression in history), "All over You" and of course, "Lightning Crashes", it doesnt really hurt the appeal of those songs in my opinion. The great songs that didnt make the radio like "Shit Towne" (gee, I wonder why) and "Dam at Otter Creek" both deserve your attention. And man, do these guys know how to write a fucking bridge. Any of the songs I've mention illustrate that in spades.
Now granted, this band is not perfect. The one big problem actually has to do with Ed. At certain times, like the end of "Top" for example, his higher register vocalisms sound remarkably cheesy, like a cartoon character. And again, at times, you'll be what the hell Mr. Kowalczyk is singing about. Although, it never really gets as bad as say, Gavin Rossdale's "attempts at deep, meaningful lyrics". Also, songs like "Waitress" and "Stage" are just too odd for words. But those tracks and small criticisms aside, I'll be damned if this isn't one of the catchiest and consistently enjoyable albums you'll ever own.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (Andrew McQuillan)
Fucking excellent and as you said, "a breakthrough album in every sense of the word". I got this at the very beginning of '96. I'm so glad they decided to play Pillar of Davidson in Vancouver. That's the greatest song. Dam At Otter Creek just totally gets intense before it ends. The singles are solid, worthy for radio and greatly written. White, Discussion is another great successor to Pillar of Davidson. All the songs are damn good. Classic.
[email protected] (John Schlegel)
Good album, pretty consistent. It certainly stands above the revolting abode of overall lameness that was a majority of '90s rock. These songs still have some automotive merit today, and that says something good about a rock band. At any rate, the music on Throwing Copper is more soulful and tastefully energetic than most other rock of its era, which was typically laden with a very commercialized, mall-bought sense of rebellion and Gen-X pessimism. I also love the REM influence, but that should go without saying.
In response to Pat D.:
I was agreeing with you completely until you included Adam Jones in your "shitty musician namedrop". WHAT. THE. FUCK? You wouldn't happen to be talking about the guitarist from Tool, would you. Because he DEFINITELY does not deserve to be lumped in the same category as all those passive angst-ridden mallcore acts and boybands. You want to hear melodic progression? Then fire up "Forty Six & 2", "Parabola", "Hush", "Intolerance", "Crawl Away", "Pushit", "The Grudge", or "Reflection" in your audio output device of choice. Sometimes I just don't get you, Pat.
Oh, and the album: It rocks, 'nuff said.
Hey, thanks for the comment, but i have never been impressed with Adam Jones' attempts at writing melodic guitar lines. To me, he often sounds very monotonous in songs, and i would certainly not put him near the top of the list in melodicism. He does, however, make a lot of interesting effect noises and other variations on what might normally be a generic power chord riff, and for that reason I will agree that he is indeed better than your generic numetal guitarist. I didnt mean to suggest he's a "crapmetal guitarist", if you read that sentence, Lance Bass is also mentioned, and he isnt a guitarist.
Before you reply again angrily, i in no way, shape, or form am comparing the dearth of talent of Mr. Bass to Adam Jones' guitar ability. I just think they both could use a little more melody in their attack. Its not impossible; Chuck Schuldiner wrote some awesome, dissonant melodic guitar lines for a Death/Thrash metal band for years, so the neo-prog of Tool should have no problem in integrating it.
BTW, I do like quite a few Tool songs, and i own Aenima. But Adam Jones often leaves me wanting a little bit more in the melodic department. Danny Carey is one friggin kickass drummer though. Later!
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Following up their heavily successful sophomore effort wasn't planning to be any easy task for Live, and Secret Samadhi is the epitome of the difficult followup, and throughout the band isn't really sure which direction to turn, particularly later on. In the first half, however, Live appears to be completely focused and at their creative height. The odd lyrics of the dark and haunting opener "Rattlesnake" give way to one of the best choruses of their career, the first single "Lakini's Juice" is an incredible epic-sounding ride, built on a harshly direct riff and an even more soaring and larger than life chorus. "Graze" is a little more insignificant, but as a ballad turned rocker, it's still a worthwhile tune, and "Century" is totally infectious, capable of even getting the listener singing along to the lines, 'everybody's here, puke stinks like beer'.
Although "Ghost" is another decent atmospheric ballad helped out by good bass work, and "Unsheathed" starts out as a soothing song but then breaks into a ferocious bridge, staying that way throughout the rest of the song until the end, the second half of Secret Samadhi falls off a whole lot. "Insomnia And The Hole In The Universe", "Merica" and "Gas Hed Goes West" finds the usually capable lyricist Kowalcyzk reciting complete nonsense, and in the backing music, the band seems unsure of itself and turns out an insignificant performance on these tunes, which are far weaker than what they've proven to be capable of. But this half is almost redeemed by a couple of strong hit singles, the intimate and melodically powerful ballad "Turn My Head" and the disturbing lyrics of "Freaks", as well as the good bass-driven tune "Heropsychodreamer".
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (Andrew McQuillan)
I've had this album since '97 but never really started getting into it until now. I've always thought it was only a few singles deep but holy shit, times change. I've always liked the first half of the album as well and wondered why they only played one song from here (Lakini's Juice) when I saw them in Vancouver in '99 during the Distance Tour. Every song holds up. Lakini's Juice (my favourite) was practically a classic the first time I heard it. Good thing if they only chose one SS song to play at that show, it was that one. Rattlesnake is a worthy opener, Graze is a long but excellent song. Century and Ghost are excellent stompers. I like how Unsheathed turns into a violent anti-hippie jolt. Weird shit. Insomnia has an excellent hook, Turn My Head was a great single, Merica is oddly catchy, Freaks was also a good single (weird video that makes no sense though), Heropsychodreamer is good, though I can't quite remember how it goes right now. The only song that doesn't really do much for me is the closer.
[a few days later:]
I was wrong, they played Heropsychodreamer at the show I saw as well. I just didn't realize it at the time.
(Nick Karn's review)
After the total weirdness of Secret Samadhi (some of whose songs completely lost me in terms of purpose and direction), I suppose Live wanted to merge the seriousness of the mood in a more straightforward pop format so they wouldn't alienate everybody. And indeed, The Distance To Here is probably their 'pop' album, with nearly all the songs going for that melodic approach. The problem is, though, the effect of this is a little dull - most of the material isn't bad (it's decent, actually), it just attempts to get by on catchiness and not as much on pure entertainment or interesting vibes. Some of these melodies don't stick in my head that much or create captivating atmospheres - they're just harder edged pop songs mixed with occasional ballads that are sometimes really catchy, but don't do that much to create a lasting impression on me, you know?
With that being said, there are only really two songs I don't care for at all. "Where Fishes Go" tries to be this dreary and depressing slow song (with some kind of backwards guitar sound and such), but ends up being a crappy rewrite of the opening lead single "The Dolphin's Cry" (which is a good 'quiet to loud' rocker, but nothing really that special or unusual - kinda like a lot of the rest of the album). There's also "Feel The Quiet River Rage", an unmelodic bore that pretty much does nothing for me at all. Other songs like "Sparkle" and "Meltdown", though, have decent hooks that are pleasant enough to listen to, I guess, but I just can't get any power from them (same goes with atmospheric tracks like "Face And Ghost"). And the harder songs such as "Sun", with all their darkness, just sound like okay rewritings of stuff the band's already done better, even if this one has a solid chorus.
But still, there are a few songs on this album I really like within the dull periods here. "The Distance" probably stands out over all the rest for me, since the atmosphere of the melody and vocal makes it both creepy and incredibly catchy, and that harpsichord solo in the middle just can't be beaten! I must also make note of the beautifully haunting guitar and bass interplay of "Run To The Water" that later on explodes into a spiritually uplifting chorus, and that melodic buildup in "They Stood Up For Love" alone is worth a fortune (the gorgeous 'we spend all of our lives, going out of our minds' portion that eventually leads to another soul healing refrain).
There's also a decent moody 'sort of' rocker in "Voodoo Lady" (with a great darkness underpinning the opening lines '"Light up a cigarette", she said... "and calm the fuck down"'), and the album does end with two good ballads (the appropriately titled "We Walk In The Dream" and the haunting elegance of "Dance With You", two of the better examples of melody on here), but in all, this album underwhelms me a bit more than anything else in the Live catalog thus far, even though it's not exactly weak. Maybe putting a few more creative embellishments into the songs and ditching those two lesser tracks wouldn't have been a bad idea. But hey, that's just me talking, since if you really get into the melodic side of Live, this could work more for you.
HIGH POINTS: Sun, We Walk In The Dream, Face And Ghost, Sparkle, Meltdown. LOW POINTS: Where Fishes Go.
Man, I'm on a roll tonight. Yours truly just banged out an entire 10 page pointless research paper on Hermeneutics. So, after wasting my time on that irrelevant philosophical babble, I decided to actually write something and have it (sort of) count for something. Oh yeah, I really dig this band Live. Funny thing is, they've been around for years, and I've had access to most of the songs on Throwing Copper, but for some reason, their musical aptitude never hit me till now. These guys combine two of my absolute favorite things in the world, moving, memorable, catchy melodic guitar lines and powerful riffage.
So, you probably want to hear about the album now. It's great. Yeah, I know, but since that 10 page monstrosity of a meaningless term paper, I've been completely sucked dry of colorful adjectives. Anyways, it's damned good. Hard rockers like "Sun" or "Meltdown" kick your ass without sacrificing melody. And thats a very rare combination nowadays, especially outside of underground or somewhat underground metal. Then they go ahead and kick you ass in another way with such beatifully melodic slower tracks like "We Walk In The Dream" or "Face and Ghost". Very consistant album too. Every track is hooky except for the oddly terrible "Where Fishes Go". Why oddly? Well, with the wealth of unbelievable tracks on here, its kind of odd to hear such a blantantly bad hiccup.
Go ahead and check out the songs I've listed at the top. Believe me, I wanted to put more, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of having a "High points" section, wouldnt it? Oh yeah, and anybody who calls me a pop sellout for rating these guys so high can just suck it.
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(Nick Karn's review)
Although some might argue with me, I insist that this album is easily more interesting, melodic, and on the whole more consistent than anything the band has done since Throwing Copper. To put it simply, the lack of a really entertaining atmosphere and overall interesting ideas (or at least moods) that I complained about a little in the last review is not much of a problem here at all. And although The Distance To Here definitely couldn't have been called an 'unmelodic' album, I just happen to think the melodies here are a lot more striking - I could very much remember the flow of almost all of them here within one or two listens, and all of the songs also have personality of their own. I guess that's what I was missing before, but things like meditative atmospheres mixed with Lennon-esque ballads, rap-style vocal deliveries, and the way the lyrics entertainingly veer from total seriousness to nonsense pretty much makes the experience worth it for me.
And the album's pretty darn consistent as a whole. Maybe none of the tracks have a classic status that just scream out their greatness, but all 13 of them (plus intro) range from somewhat good to fairly excellent, and many of them are between 3 to 4 minutes, which is a more reasonable length for interesting pop songs than 4 to 6, in my opinion. They've matured a bit in song construction since Mental Jewelry, eh? Not to mention rockers like "Simple Creed" easily rank among their best, since that killer opening riff works perfectly with the rap delivery (yes, Live has incorporated rap into their music - don't worry, not nu-metal, though, plus we all know how lyrically entertaining Ed can get), and the 'spiritual' side is at its' most haunting on stuff like "Forever May Not Be Long Enough", which merges a chilling piano line, Eastern chanting, electronic elements, and a heavy, Faith No More-esque chorus.
I don't even know where to continue on this album, since most of these songs are pretty even. But maybe I'll say the hard rocking "Flow", with its' brilliantly underproduced, beautiful stripped down opening portion leading into something that sounds like late period Rush in intensity and acoustic/electric guitar interplay effectiveness (vocal approach, too!), is probably the best. The catchy ballad to rocker "People Like You" throws in a gospel choir, as well as a reference to 'Queen, Michael Stipe, Elton John, Bono and Springsteen' in the same phrase (to go with a traditional Live chorus), the slower "Transmit Your Love" has a great mystical quality, the aforementioned Lennon style ballad "Call Me A Fool" has fine introspectiveness, effective organ and a top-notch melody, and "Deep Enough" uses the 'rap' element again, this time with the 'spiritual' music influence. Interesting.
My favorite moment on the album, though, is actually the end of the protypical rocker "Like A Soldier" - check out the 'pinnacle of rap' here: 'let's go to Ray's not to Pizza Hut / let's go to the Pig not to Starbux / let's vote for Nader what are we waiting for / I'm gonna live to be 164 / to the crib then back to the studio / to write a song so good make a midget grow / from the North Pole down to Mexico / if you don't know the words fuck it / let's go'. So randomly laughable it borders on genius, I tell you. And to think this is on the same album as the emotionally draining piano and orchestral ballad "Overcome" (which has become a September 11th anthem of sorts) and the eerie meditative epic "The Ride" makes Edward Kowalczyk all the more mystifying to me. Damn talented songwriter, though, if you're not convinced by the calm closer "Hero Of Love" or the extremely infectious (and profanity laced) funk of "OK?", for example. Maybe this isn't an amazing album, but it's a very very good one nonetheless.
HIGH POINTS: Simple Creed, Deep Enough, Forever May Not Be Long Enough, The Ride, Overcome, Hero Of Love. LOW POINTS: OK?
Okay here is the umpteenth time I have to admit I misjudged an album on first listen. No, this isn't the greatest Live album ever, and in my not-so-humble opinion both The Distance To Here and Throwing Copper are both more consistant and overall superior discs. But the fifth major label release from Ed Kowalcyk and company is far better than the 5 I was originally going to give it. Let me start out by saying that yes, this album is indeed more creative than the last effort. Take the absolutely brilliant use of the eastern scaled sitar progression during "The Ride". Other than the rather cliched progression played via harpsichord on "The Distance", the last release does not approach that level of satisfying newness.
However, when Eddie tries to be creative and add rap to the Live formula, as thankfully he does very rarely on this release, the results are awful. Take the first instance that appears on these 15 tracks, "Like a Soldier". The song starts out well and continues along very catchily with an oddly satisfying pre-chorus and chorus, but then in comes the awful rapping. As a result, what might have been an album highlight ends up being rather painful to sit through all the way. Still, the song is not THAT bad overall. The song that really folds like cheap suitcase because of M.C. Kowalczyk is the pointless "Ok?". It not only accomplishes nothing in its toneless non-rapping sections, but then Gangsta Ed comes in with some awful, circa 1980s Fat Boys style rhymes. The thing that is so frustrating here is that Live has no need for this trash, and I would have to conclude that they did it to stay relevant in today's crapmetal dominated airwaves. Problem is, Eddie boy, no Limp Bizkit/Linkin Park white boy homey wannabe is going to want to listen to a rap about loving each other. A rather irrelevant experiment if you ask me.
The good tracks, thankfully, exhibit little or none of Ed's new apparent ghetto mentality. "Simple Creed" ironically enough, sounds like well, Creed, but done with that Live touch of lightheartedness and melody. "Deep Enough" is very rhythmic with a catchy chorus. "Forever is not Long Enough" has an atmospheric keyboard progression throughout. "The Ride", which I mentioned before, is just brilliant in its poppish execution. You've all heard "Overcome" on the Sept 11th newscasts and the radio. "Hero of Love" despite having a really sissy title, is a good, catchy rock single. The other songs are all decent, even the electronica remix of "Deep Enough" (the hidden track), which pounds your subwoofer with a dance beat.
So, in the end, I would have to give the nod to The Distance to Here, although as Nick probably pointed out, it's not very original. But I see it as a very very solid pop/rock album, with only one bad song. If Ed had ditched the rapping, this release would probably be closer to The Distance To Here in rating than it is. Still, for the most part, a very good album with some good experiments. Oh, I almost forgot: Mr. Kowalczyk seems to be getting a case of the Van Hagar disease with his constant topics of love. It's not quite as bad as Sammy's whiny lovesick-puppydog vocalisms during that era, but i wish Ed (of Live) would find something else to sing about.
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