Awake: The Best of Live

Live | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B00064AF6O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,684 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Ed Kowalczyk and his band mates guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, and drummer Chad Gracey, first performed together over 17 years ago at their middle school talent show in York, PA. Now at the tender age of 32, with over 20 million albums sold, LIVE continue to be a major musical force. Their success includes two #1 albums on the Billboard Top 200 album chart (Throwing Copper and Secret Samadhi).

Product Description

"Awake, The Best of LIVE", a deluxe 19-song compilation CD spanning the entire 13-year recording history of the acclaimed rock band from York, Pennsylvania.

The CD compilation includes, "We Deal in Dreams," a previously-unreleased track from LIVE's 1994 Throwing Copper sessions. The CD also includes a spirited cover of the Johnny Cash classic, "I Walk The Line."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great track selection for this best of LIVE mix, March 9, 2007

By 

R. Gorham "RCG2" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Awake: The Best of Live (Audio CD)

THE BAND: Ed Kowalczyk (vocals, guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass), Chad Gracey (drums & percussion). Hometown: York, PA.

THE DISC: (2004) 19 tracks clocking in at approximately 77 minutes. Included with the disc is a 7-page foldout containing song titles/credits (no lyrics), band photos, what songs came from which albums, a quick paragraph on each album from Kowalczyk, and thank you's. This compilation follows the band from their 1991 debut through "Birds Of Pray" in 2003. There is an additional 2-disc release (the CD with music, and a DVD with interview and videos) also available. Label - Radioactive Records.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Mental Jewelry (3 songs), Throwing Copper (5), Secret Samadhi (2), The Distance To Here (3), V (2), Birds Of Pray (2), Unreleased (2).

COMMENTS: Outside of "Throwing Copper" (1994), this "Best Of" compilation might be all the Live you need. It absolutely hits on all the highlights of each album. Tracks 1-3 find the band in raw form from "Mental Jewelry"... singing and playing like they had something to prove. "Operation Spirit" and "Pain Lies On The Riverside" were the standout songs and worthy of inclusion here. Tracks 4-8 are from "Throwing Copper" - easily their biggest and most recognized tunes. "Copper" had so many great songs - and Kowalczyk never sang with such conviction. The melodies were most importantly... memorable. And then Kowalczyk shaved his head and went Zen on everyone. For me, "Secret Samadhi" (1997) was the start of the decline for Live. "Lakini's Juice" was my favorite track from this one because of the weird guitar chords. "Turn My Head" was the other good tune from "Samadhi", but the rest of the album was a mixed bag at best. Kowalczyk singing about spirit, his Holiness, angel wings, birds and dolphins crying in the near future was losing audiences. Not to mention the music just not being that strong - outside of a few tracks on each album - all of which are here on "Awake - Best Of Live". The Distance To Here" made some waves but quickly lost steam and fell from the charts. Their fifth album "V" (labeled as "experimental") was trashed by most major music mags. "Birds Of Pray" was a semi return to form, but once again garnered mixed reviews and almost no FM-airplay. The unreleased "We Deal With Dreams" was an extra song from the "Throwing Copper" sessions and is a nice inclusion here. Live's remake of Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line" is nothing out of the ordinary, but still respectable. Missing are a few personal favorites (but by no means essential) - "Iris", "Top", "White, Discussion", "Ghost", "Voodoo Lady", and "Graze". This is a fantastic disc because it has the band's best songs over their 1st dozen years ALL in one place. Despite Live's 2nd half fall from the charts, this is a stellar introduction to the band (5 stars).

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From a great band comes a good greatest hits album, August 2, 2005

By 

John A. Plauche (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Awake: The Best of Live (Audio CD)

I have loved live since Throwing Copper came out in the mid-90's.
I then fell in love with their earlier album, Mental Jewlery.
Both are great, and probably owning the pair give you Live's truely greatest hits.
This album is basically all of the singles, more or less, that made it on radio.
The only thing that I would have added was Iris from Throwing Copper. It is, in my opinion, Live's greatest song.
But if you don't own any Live, own Throwing Copper first, then if you want to expand maybe get this album and then Mental Jewlery. The rest of their albums, I feel, is fairly represented in this Greatest Hits CD. Enjoy.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Life-Theme Record, May 28, 2005

By 

Gypsymama "Kelli" (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Awake: The Best of Live (Audio CD)

Ok, I admit that I pratically "grew up" with Live. I've watched Ed grow chest hairs for goodness sakes. We're about the same age, and I remember being in my very early twenties and hearing Mental Jewelry for the first time, sitting lotus style in a studio apartment in Northern California, my mouth full of coffee as I was reading poetry.

I was mesmorized. And I still am, over ten years later.

I didn't think a band could move me this much. I waited in anticipation for every new album to arrive so I could devour it, each song serving as a delicacy for my ears.

While I have loved them and cite them as a "favorite" band for over a decade now, I must admit with the one review on here that I wasn't as in to their albums after Secret Samadhi. But I still was a devoted follower, always choosing at least one or two songs that I could claim as my own. V was really my least favorite, to be honest.

So when I read on their website that "Awake" was coming out--to include a DVD of their videos--I was beyond ecstasy. I probably ran--I can't remember, it is all a blur now--to the record store and snatched up the last one. I think it's glued to the CD player in my computer as we speak.

Intricate song-writing, even if obscure at times, will draw you in, coupled with a musical style that is all their own. I don't care what others say, Live is a class-act who can not really be compared to anyone else. Maybe I'm biased because their music was just always "there" during my twenty-something years, as I became a witness to their harnessing maturity as well as myself. I just hope they keep rocking for years to come. Buy this record: you won't regret it.