Live Like You Were Dying

Tim McGraw | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Curb Records
• ASIN: B0002IQF7M
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,846 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On the back cover of his ninth album Tim McGraw sits atop a horse, which just happens to be standing in the foyer of an elegant home. McGraw sits backwards in the saddle, looking not at where he's going, but where he's been. The image tips off the theme of this solid, 16-song album--for a singer who doesn't write, it's as close to autobiography as it gets. "How Bad Do You Want It," for example references not only bluesman Robert Johnson's crossroads chat with ol' Lucifer, but also the kind of relentless drive that got McGraw to the top of the Nashville heap. The dryly funny "Back When" finds the man who recently bought a $6.4 million Beverly Hills mansion yearning for a simpler time. "Walk Like a Man" talks about the kind of abusive father McGraw himself had before he discovered he was the son of baseball legend Tug McGraw. The late pitcher is surely the subject of three songs here about death, loss, and carrying on, especially the title track, a big, uplifting affirmation of life. If it's also a little sappy, so be it--singing about the most painful thing he's ever endured, he gives it a dignified, understated reading (and only a week or so after his father's passing). It takes an artist to do that, and while McGraw may not be the greatest of warblers, nobody in country can touch him at conveying emotions too deep to express in words. Look for this to be the album of his career. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

Grammy award winning superstar Tim McGraw will release his ninth album on August 24 2004, Live Like You Were Dying. The album is one of the most anticipated releases due this year and will feature his touring band, the Dancehall Doctors, for their second consecutive project. The album's title track, written by Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols, has become the fastest rising chart single of McGraw's career, breaking into the top 5 in just 4 weeks and # 1 in six weeks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of his best ever, August 24, 2004

By 

Michele Risner "momrisner" (Gibson City, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live Like You Were Dying (Audio CD)

My copy of Tim's new CD, Live Like You Were Dying, arrived this morning and I immediately opened it up and started playing it.

I haven't decided which songs I like best, yet. "Old Town New"; "Something's Broken" and "Open Season on My Heart" have a wonderful sound to them. Of the three, "Open Season On My Heart" is the best. "Do You Want Fries with them" had me laughing; "Drugs or Jesus" is a song with a great message about the choices we make in life. "Live Like You Were Dying" is an amazing song, that will never grow old with me. "Back When" is also funny. Tim shows alot of humor in these songs, along with a serious message.

In "Back When" he talked about how times have changed and it's hard to understand the things people day these days. The Lyrics"

Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
Cracks what you were doing when you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
When you said "I'm down with that", it meant you had the flu

Tim once again recorded this album with his longtime band "The DanceHall Doctors" as well as collaborated with some of the best writers in Nashville.

A nice little bonus was the appearance of his lovely, and talented wife, Faith Hill, singing background vocals on "Blank Sheet of Paper".

This CD may disappoint some, but not this girl. I'm very pleased with it, and also commend Amazon.com for shipping it so that it arrived to me on the release date! Can't get better than that!

Great job to Tim!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McGraw's deepest and most personal album yet, August 24, 2004

By 

DanD - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Live Like You Were Dying (Audio CD)

Tim McGraw is quickly proving himself to be a musical innovator. Along with his band, the superb Dancehall Doctors, he has created his two best albums yet: TIM MCGRAW AND THE DANCEHALL DOCTORS, and this one.

LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING is a ride through progressive, alternative, outlawish country music, with enough radio-friendliness to ensure airplay. McGraw certainly knows how to select songs; all of these are brilliantly written by some of today's best songwriters (Rodney Crowell, Tom Douglas, Bruce Robison, Craig Wiseman, Casey Beathard, the Warren Brothers, Don Schlitz, James Slater, etc).

McGraw deals with depression and hope on "Kill Myself," "We Carry On," and the title track; covers heartbreak in "Old Town New" and "Something's Broken;" eternal love on "My Best Friend" and "Just Be Your Tear;" abuse and recovery on "Walk Like a Man;" and adds in enough sarcastic, sardonic humor in "Everybody Hates Me," "Do You Want Fries With That," and "Back When" to keep this album from getting TOO serious.

One of the most dependable hitmakers, it's easy to pass Tim McGraw off as a one-man act; easy, but not true. His penchant for choosing high-class songs has helped him build a legacy hit after hit after hit. LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING is probably the best--and most personal--album McGraw has recorded yet. In fact, it's quite possible that, decades from now, people will look back on it as a classic example of country music done right.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Album That Will Change Your Outlook On Life, September 28, 2004

By 

Anthony Hopkins (Tallahassee Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Like You Were Dying (Audio CD)

Tim McGraw's latest album "Live Like You Were Dying" is one of my favorite albums of the year, which is a lot to say considering the fact that country music is not my forte. The music on this album is unbelievable at making you want to get up and sing at the top of your lungs, even if you're like me and don't know the words. It's inspirational and fun all at the same time. Every song on the album has that good old country music feeling, all the lyrics are sang with dragged out syllables and typical steel guitar and country instruments.
I'm not going to lie and say I bought the album because I was a huge Tim McGraw fan, the truth is was his first single was so catchy and got stuck in my head for days I had to purchase it just to keep my sanity. It wasn't until after listening to the same song over and over again for about five hours until I ventured off to experience the rest of the album.
Only one song has been released so far off this album but it is filled with sixteen awesome tracks. One of my personal favorite songs on the album is "Back When". The lyrics are basically Tim McGraw pleading with the people listening to the album to somehow bring things back to the "good old days". The great thing about this song is that he does this in a very comical way. The chorus is Tim asking do you remember when "a hoe was a hoe, coke was a coke, and crack was what you were doing when you were cracking jokes". When I first heard these lyrics it brought a smile and a little bit of laughter to my face.
The reason I bought this album though was for the song, "Live Like You Were Dying", the title of the album. The song is about his father who one day was diagnosed with cancer. The song starts off with Tim expressing the confusion that someone typically goes through when presented with information like this, but it makes a huge one hundred and eighty degree turn in emotion when Tim talks about how his father handled it. He lets us know that his father took this as an opportunity to live life to the fullest. Tim asks his dad what he's going to do with his life now that he has this always in the back of his mind. His father tells him he went "skydiving, I went rocky mountain climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Machu", basically telling him that he's going to live his life the way he always wanted to. He then goes onto how he began to care a lot more about his family and friends, and how he appreciated life so much more. To most people these might just be lyrics to sell songs and make money but to me these words really hit home. For the first time in my life after listening to this song it left me with a different outlook in life, it made me a lot more appreciate for the things and people that I have in my life.
You might think I'm just B.S.ing you but think what you want this is how I feel, and I mean what I say. So if you're looking to change your outlook on life and need somewhere to start I would definitely recommend this album. Even if you're not looking for that this album is also just great to kick back and listen to.