Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Birds VS Distance VS Copper, February 16, 2004
I have read (as of now) all 36 reviews of this album. Firstly I would like to commend ALL reviews (positive and negative) for being detailed, honest, and precise. Generally the same things are being said. So I wont reiterate that Throwing Copper and The Distance to Here are their best albums. You are all right about everything. anyone who actually liked the crappy "V" album will obviously not like this. Here's my 2 cents anywayz:1. HEAVEN (A): Live as only Live can do. This is one of their best songs ever. Joins 'Dolphin's Cry'. Ed has grown in his beliefs. This is beautiful, and I appreciate it. 2. SHE (A): This song kicks butt! I love the rhythm. Was too short, however. This is shaping up to be a good disk. My personal favorite because it's so agressive. 3. SANCTITY OF DREAMS (B+): Another rockin tune. Sounds like any Live song. Still pretty good, though. 4. RUNAWAY (A): A great example of their slow melodies. This one is set for their 'best of' CD. Totaly stands out as one of the highlights of this album. 5. LIFE MARCHES ON (B-): This one is very Live also, but it's that sort of okay/annoying Live. I don't like the guitar riff. 6. LIKE I DO (A-): This seems to be the one everyone likes. There's a reason for that. This one is a throwback to Throwing Copper. I don't feel it is experemental at all. 7. SWEET RELEASE (A-): More classic sounding material. Another favorite because it just sounds so good! The mood established with the simple tabs are stellar. 8. EVERYTIME I SEE YOUR FACE (C+): This one feels a little out of place. Verses are fine, it's just the chorus that's too dancey. 9. LIGHTHOUSE (A): This one is popular. I love it! The verses attack you, and the chorus climbs- and climbs- very strong, very hard. 10. RIVERTOWN (A): Can this album get any better? Haunts a bit with the lyrics. The chorus then just straight rocks out! Traditional orchestration. 11. OUT TO DRY (A): Amazing vocals are showcased here. I thought it would sound too country when it starts, but this religious jolt is too good to not like. Great chorus. 12. BRING THE PEOPLE TOGETHER (C+): Rocks fast and hard like 'Stage' did in 94. But that's not the only thing these two songs have in common- they are BOTH out of place. 13. WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR? (A+): This one feels like the forced 'what's wrong with society' song that has become a band signature. Simple and not innovative. But it gets me everytime I hear it. Very strong- their best closing track ever.
Being a fan of Live since about 1994, I am of the few of my friends to still stick with them. I always thought they were a good band. But now, with this album, they have etched themselves as one of my favorites.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, sweet, sweet redemption, May 22, 2003
LIVE really seemed to get back on the right track after the experimental flop that "V" was. The songs are great, Taylor's guitars are driving alot of the songs, Gracey's trademark drums are as good as they were on "The distance to here", and Dalheimer's bass is.. present (its not bad or anything, i just dont know how to rate bass). The electronic loops were dropped, and it's only the raw rocking sound that is prominent on this album. Since I only bought this album yesterday, i can't write full reviews on all the songs. I will, however, mention my favorite ones so far: "She", "Lighthouse", "Sweet release" and "Like i do". They're all relatively fast, but they have that classic flow that made LIVE recognizable in the past. Kowalzcyk is still the powerhouse of the band, but the other members participated in the composition of a couple of songs, and Taylor provides backing vocals on some tracks. Also, Ed doesn't "squeal" as much as he did on "V", but pushes his vocals to the loud limit.LIVE fans that were disappointed by their previous release (like i was) are going to be very happy with "Birds of pray". It's fresh, energetic and uplifting. I'm happy now :)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
LIVE; experimenting and damn the moneymen!, April 11, 2006
I enjoyed this album as I do all LIVE albums, though it is my least favourite offering so far, if only because some of the songs sounded like they were trying too hard to be 'LIVE-like'...and because unlike most LIVE albums, this one does not read like a book; a progression of songs from one end to the other that tells a consistent story. Instead it seems more like a haphazard collection of songs written while on tour. However it is growing on me, song by song; or rather some of the songs are growing on me at different paces, unlike with, say,'V',where I dismissed the whole first half of the album at first blush, only to have it explode in my consciousness as a whole two listens later as a cohesive narrative of confusion and anger fading to hopeful Love.
For me, 'Pray's progression was of standouts like the powerful 'SHE' and the haunting indictment 'What Are We Fighting For?', then the creepers; the haunting ballad to Jesus, 'River Town' first crawled up into my psyche like a determined mouse and then ate away at my resistance bit by bit (I now absolutely ADORE this song!), then 'Sweet Release' struck me as wonderful. 'Run Away' was already a good road song, only improving with Shelby Lynne's backup/duo vocals n the Best Of version. 'Out To Dry', 'Like I Do', 'Lighthouse', 'Everytime I See Your Face' and 'Sanctity of Dreams' took a little longer, but I've found something to love in them as well, in that order. On the other hand, 'Heaven' has always seemed too radio-friendly to me, and the frantic 'Life Marches On', and overwrought 'Bring the People Together' were the ones that felt like they were trying too hard...the lyrics and melody just never seemed to match up in my mind. This inconsistency for me was the reason this could never be my favourite LIVE album; but then Ed calls it 'the sound of a band restarting its engines'...so here's hoping the progressionwill be smoother in 'Songs From Black Mountain'; an album that already sounds like it will have its commercialised aspects, but also flashes of the old introspective/spiritually inquisitive LIVE I love and treasure.
A lot of people (read: critics) slam this band for,(A) having an 'inconsistent recording history' (a criticism that only holds up in 'Birds of Pray' in my lexicon), or (B) being from the grunge era.
My rebuttal to (A) is: Too many folk in the music business can't seem to get past the biggest selling album disease; they compare all later efforts to the one that broke the charts. I personally wouldn't have remained a LIVE fan of this degree throughout the years if all they had done was release a 'Throwing Copper' clone every couple of years. I happen to LIKE the fact that LIVE gives the money-driven industry the finger and goes on growing and evolving--and letting their music evolve WITH their lives and ideas--without regard to trying to duplicate the public success of their best known effort. This rather punk ethos (for a solid rock band anyway) is called 'not pandering to the moneymen' and 'artistic integrity over public consumption'. The subsequent albums have sold well, though they haven't had the lucky timing that 'Throwing Copper' had to fit so well into what was happening in popular music at the time. Only jaded critics who care only about numbers would call these modest successes 'failures' only because they weren't 'Throwing Copper's with different covers. Far too many bands and artists have been murdered by their labels forcing or pressuring them to recycle, rerecord, and play the same stuff that won them accolades in their breakthrough efforts, regardless of whether they had since grown or changed; in the process losing that edge of anger or wonder or whatever it was that first captured the public imagination. LIVE has chosen to be comfortable with the fans that 'get' them rather than allowing someone to force them into an artistically stultifying mould for the sake of sales alone; this is called 'not selling out', and for taking that risk I applaud them.
As for (B): Though they happened to have emerged into the public eye in the same era as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, et al, LIVE never really fit the grunge model with anything but a tendency to ignore the interview and paparazzi angle of business (ie they refused to whore themselves out to the media, instead preferring to concentrate on the MUSIC, shocking though that may be!), and a wonderful sort of ambivalent anger at the socio-religious status quo. This anger was the reason many folk loved 'Throwing Copper', and dislike later albums, in which the anger has faded to a message of Hope and Unconditonal Love. If consistent anger without growth is what these folk are looking for, then obviously a band that grows and changes is not for them. And for those who call lead singer Ed Kowalczyk a Kurt Cobain wannabe; they have obviously never listened for a moment to the lyrics and melodic spirit of his songs anyway.
Which brings me to another main criticism of LIVE. Some folk are turned off by the overt spirituality of Ed's lyrics, calling it 'preachy'. Critics also slam LIVE for their lyrics, saying "if we wanted preaching, we'd go to church". But EddieK is not preaching; he neverdoes. What he is doing is sharing the most intimate moments of his life: the moments when the Spirit touched him and made him whole; and in knowing how that feels, how uplifting it is in a moment of confusion, I find these lyrics inspiring.
As a long-term Live fan, I find them life-altering; and in fact, this fourth album, 'Distance to Here', quite literally saved my life. Many I've spoken to feel the same way; for though Live as a band name is hard to 'google', the FriendsofLive are out there and being uplifted daily by the work the band, and EddieK with his lyrics in particular, do. They make the world better just by being in it...and by being willing to SHARE! If communication and understanding can save the world, then Live are right on the avant guarde, with U2, the Indigo Girls, and a few others.
So all I can say for those critical minds who find Live's lyrics 'pretentious and sentimental' and 'drippy softcore preachery'... for them I can feel only pity, for as far as I am concerned, the message of Love is one for everyone, if we can but let it in. If the lyrics don't speak to these people, fine; but they do speak to some of us; so deeply that they bring tears to our eyes. So the fact that these critics are arrogant enough tell everyone they meet not to bother listening long enough to make their own decision/connection (or not) with the music, to me, is a sin. Just because they got nothing out of it, doesn't mean we are all alike...thank God! Yes, we are all different...but Love is Love.
Thank you EddieK and Live, for lifting me up.
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