Customer Reviews

Secret Samadhi

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This CD is somewhat of an enigma, I must say. For me, the critical backlash it recieved is almost as interesting as the music itself. I read somewhere Live expected the album to do as well as Throwing Copper did, and while after listening to Samadhi several times I have a good understanding why it didn't pull such numbers, I do not, at ALL, understand how the album recieved far-and-wide poor reviews and had such a staggering decline in sales.

Like so many others have stated here, this is no Throwing Copper. It's far rougher around the edges, the guitars are more distorted, the melodies far edgier and the lyrics don't seem to have the same spiritual/emotional touch that TC had. In short, it's a far darker, more brooding album. It's also a much more jagged album; the songs don't blend together seamlessly like Live's previous album, the the whole seems a lot less coherent. All that said, it still makes for quite a listen.

OK... The first time I listened to Samadhi, my mind shouted "What is THIS?!". A total shock to my system, musically yes, but all that stood out on the initial listen was the lyrics. They sounded trite, ridiculous, unbelievably awful. I'll just say this -- they still do little for me, and where as I find myself understanding and connecting with much of Ed's lyrics on TC, I'm pretty much wholly disconnected from the lyrical nature of Samadhi. So be it.

Musically is where this album shines. "Lakini's Juice" drives harder than any song on TC; likewise "Turn My Head" -- a GORGEOUS, HAUNTING song (note the capitals are there for a reason) that will stand the test of time -- makes the album worth owning by its lone self. Rattlesnake is a hard-edged opener that starts the album off with a bang, while Ghost provides some beautiful textures and female vocals that come as a great change of pace. Really, virtually every song on here is a winner, but they are also songs that won't immediately grab you like TC's did -- ya' gotta give this album time to find a way to your soul.

If you're a fan of Live or alternative music, I find it hard to believe you'd be genuinely disappointed with Secret Samadhi like so many seemed to be. It's far better than you probably think.

I loved a couple songs off of Live's first album, and was then completely blown away by Throwing Copper. Unfortunately TC was SUCH a big success, that nowadays, I can't really listen to Selling The Drama, Lightning Crashes and All Over You, since the unrelenting radio-play pretty much ruined these songs for me. But I still love jamming out to I Alone, Iris, Dam at Otter Creek and (the highlight of the album IMHO) White Discussion.

I remember hearing Lakini's Juice on the radio a few times, and Freaks too, but I never really got around to buying "Secret Samadhi". Just yesterday I finally downloaded all the tracks and gave it a listen and am surprised at what a tremendous album it is.

I won't go into the song breakdown but I will agree with many of the previous reviewers that this is a DARK album. But to me, that is simply picking up where White Discussion left off. Personally, I like the fact that there are no REALLY radio-friendly tunes on this album. And besides DARK can be good. TOOL's album "Undertow" is one of the best albums ever and that thing is dark and creepy as hell.

I also agree that Live was not a "grunge" band per se. They just sounded heavy at a time when sounding heavy meant you were lumped into a ridiculous label of being "grunge". After all if you listen to Soungarden's "Louder than Love", Alice In Chain's "Sap", and Nirvana's "Nevermind", they are all very different. And then are the Smashing Pumpkins "grunge?" What about Bush? What about Tool? The whole "grunge" category is terribly simplistic.

I have always felt that some bands defy category. Live is definitely one of them, and that's what makes them great.

As far as preachiness, I've never considered Ed's lyrics to be preachy. They're obviously very personal to him (is there any better source) but I've never felt that any kindof message was being pushed on me. Perhaps he's just urging the listener to think a little bit more (or in a different way) than usual.

So the long/short of it is, if you loved Throwing Copper because of the radio singles, you probably won't get "Secret Samadhi". But if you dug the darker tunes like Iris, Dam or White Discussion (although that got pretty significant airplay too) then you should check out this album.

One other thing that appeals to me about Live personally, is that they somehow capture the essence of Southeast Pensylvania. Maybe it's simply because I lived around Delaware/Philly when they were at their biggest, but their songs always remind me of the woods and the fields and the sticky summer nights. Probably just because that's where I usually was when listening to them, but it's still pretty cool.

PS- I've also always felt that Ed has one of the most unique (and cool) voices in music. The drummer is great too. Go see them live.

I own every +Live+ cd and count them among my top three all-time favorite bands. I listen to at least one of their cds just about every day while in my car and think all but one (V) are masterpieces. Secret Samadhi was the first Live cd I bought and remains the jewel in their crown. The first time I heard the cd I was happily stunned. It wasn't like anything I'd ever heard before. The energy and passion in lead singer Ed Kowalczyk's vocals wowed me. The lyrics were intriguing, even weird in parts (I can't believe anyone would call them 'trite' -- trite is Mariah Carey's lyrics, people, not Ed Kowalcyzk's!) and the music was balls-out rocking. This quickly became my favorite cd and remains so, eight years later. You either 'get' this kind of intensity or you don't, and frankly I feel a little bad for those who don't.

I know, I know, the lyrics seem trite, ect. I am so tired of people talking about how live has "gone downhill" since Throwing Copper- look, throwing copper was popular because it was CATCHY,and because it came out at the right time...listen to the other stuff that was popular in 1996, and you'll see what I mean. Birds of Pray is just as catchy, but it wasn't a smash hit. Secret Samadhi has some bautiful moments...Its just darker. I don't really see why people think that the lyrics are shallow. They're still just as deep, but their depth takes a different form. Ed K. is singing about more everyday things, and finding the beauty and the ugliness in them...It's strange how so many people have had a miserable, "this puke stinks like beer," I-don't-want-to-be- here moment. But if someone sings about it, it's trite. The Bagels, the oven, the puke...it's all a way to relay a FEELING. This music is meant to get lost in, not just listen to and sing along.This is Sylvia Plath as compared to Anne Sexton...its different, not worse. And the music is beautiful. This an album to absolutely FEEL. If you're actually a LIVE fan (as opposed to a throwing-copper fan), it's a must buy...then again, if you're a live fan, you already know that.

It's really unfortunate that Secret Samadhi didn't get as much attention as some of Live's other work. I agree, the lyrics aren't as spiritually oriented as on Mental Jewelry, and it's not likely to generate a mainstream craze as Throwing Copper did. But Live has done some wonderfull work on this album.

There are some wonderfull songs here. Lakini's juice is great and full of Kowalczyc's lyrical comments on the pitfalls of human nature. 'Merica is an interesting comment on the lost "American Dream" and lost innocence. "Ghost" and "Turn my Head" are musical gems with haunting, catchy rhythims and risque lyrics. Gas Hed Goes West is a powerfull ballad with much the same theme as " 'Merica".

Granted, the songs and lyrics are dark, and Kowalczyc and the guys have a great deal to admonish the human race for. But then again, who doesn't? Secret Samadhi was a welcome departure from Throwing Copper while still remaining true to form. I personally would have been disgusted if Live had followed up Throwing Copper with yet another mainstream happy-go-lucky album.

My advice to potential buyers of this album is, don't give it only one shot and then decide you don't like it. With every one of Live's albums, I've had to own it some 6 months before it hits me, and then I can't get the songs out of my mind. Live's work is much like any other work by a true artist: you have to really examine it awhile, but once the message hits you, it never leaves you.

Let's get this straight right now, Live isn't going to make another "Throwing Copper". Anyone buying this album expecting to hear that again are going to be disappointed.

I was disappointed when I heard this first, but it grew on me. Yes, the album is dark and gloomy. Yes, the quality of the lyrics are questionable. Yes, this album meanders sometimes. However, it is a good album, and it should be heard.

Some songs rock ("Rattlesnake", "Unsheathed", "Heropsychodreamer"), others are mid-tempo ("Graze", "Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe", "Freaks",), and some are just strange ("Lakini's Juice"). "Ghost" is definetely a weak track. However, the other songs all grow on you and are pretty good. "Turn My Head" is a great ballad.

In the end, the best songs on here are the pop rockers ("Century", "Merica", "The Gas Hed Goes West"), which Live has always been best at. However, they don't make up the album. This is a good album, and it is very underrated (as is their new album, "The Distance to Here"). I think people should forget about "Throwing Copper" and stop fretting over what the band used to be. Just enjoy what they've become instead :).

This is nothing like the wonder of mental jewelry or the sometimes mind boggling rythms of throwing copper or the over the top melody and energy thrown into distance but I think any modern day poet could understand that lyrics don't need political commentary and they don't always need to have some sort of world society message, this album doesn't really have it in most songs but I loved it. True, you may not love it like the other albums, but if you take the patience to listen to it, you may love it just the same. The darkness happens upon being like voodoo lady, the dam..., and so on only it extends Ed's ability to write something not so extroverted and Unsheated so to speak. The climactic releases of Unsheathed and the beautiful feel of Gashead and the odd taste of rattlesnake and graze and the familiarity of Insomnia and turn my head are all reasons to buy this album. Every track leaves a lasting impression after a few listens. The guitar is more mature/ the melodies in general, and the fading in and out of chad gracey's slow marches is also very familiar. This cannot be missed by Live fans and I think anyone interested in dark or introspective music would appreciate most of the tracks like Lakini's juice and Hero. This album is unafraid to surrender to its gray qualities and lash out or come to a halt whenever they feel like it. It is not a weak performance and it is no less than a voyage into their blue period as artists and a stop on the way to the shiny, unflawed work of The distance to here. For what this album was supposed to accomplish I think it was genuine and great, but It may not hit with the fans of the acoustic and mystical sound of the first album nor the charged second, or heroic most recent. But all in all for at least a few tracks, any live fan would be missing out without this album no matter what aspect of Live they love the most. The lyrics are completely underrated due to their unorthadox nature, and the darkness blinds people to the complete sense of the album.

Although it is an awful shame that Live's third studio album "Secret Samadhi" has been gratuitously underrated since its release, I am, in a way, rather pleased that it has been treated so unfairly. Since countless Live fans informed me that "Secret Samadhi" is a major disappointment in comparison to "Throwing Copper", I received one of the greatest suprises a compact disc has ever given me when I sat down and listened to "Secret Samadhi" for the first time. Indeed, the entire record, from start to finish, should be thought of as nothing less than a genuinely amazing audio delight. Songs such as the strikingly original masterpiece "Lakini's Juice" and the hard-hitting "Graze" exhibit Live's trademark lyrical ambiguity, whilst incorporating the excellent musicianship that catapulted Live into fame in the early '90s. "Century", a beautiful, acoustic-tinged, gem of a song, is my personal favourite from the album, followed closely by the touching ballad "Turn My Head". I consider "Turn My Head" to be just as good, if not better, than Live's revolutionary rock track "Lightning Crashes", as the melodramatic song sends a shiver up my spine every time I listen to it. Even the minor details apparent on "Secret Samadhi", such as the sweet female background vocals that embellish "Ghost" and the amusing comments made by lead singer Ed Kowalczyk throughout the enjoyable "Freaks", are masterful. To me, the album as a whole is reminiscent of a "best of" collection, so great is the degree to which I adore each individual track. Everybody should have this album; it is the best album ever released by the best rock band in the world.

I hate it when people compare this cd to Throwing Copper. TC was a once in a lifetime thing, something that can never be duplicated again. We need to look at SS as a unique cd, which is what it is. Live's style has grown moodier and darker, which is no less spectacular than TC. The songs take on a life of their own, with longer songs growing themselves. Such unique songs as Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe provide a break from the dark and moody consistency of the first bunch of songs. Century is a suprisingly upbeat song stuck between Graze and Ghost, two of the more philosophical songs. These two songs, (Graze and Ghost) sweep you up in their haunting choruses and briliant melodies. Perhaps the heaviest track, Lakini's Juice, really draws you into the song with the strings and incredible screaming voice and guitars. Turn My Head is an original ballad, providing the softer track that most albums have. This is followed by Heropsychodreamer, which challenges Stage as Live's hardest driving rocker. The weird melodies of Freaks stand apart from the rest of the songs. Gas Hed Goes West is almost ballad like in itself, while still rocking. This album is more consistent than TC, and though it has much variety in more subtle ways, people still compare it and say, "it isn't as good." As a seprate album, however, SS is a spectacular acheivement for Live as well as for music. Rock on!

this album has been wrongly slandered and i don't like that.. this album is very dark, very psychotic sounding, and very good. it's not throwing copper... duh, it's better! i say don't listen to the haters.. give it a listen yourself and judge by your own taste. it's live's hardest rocking cd, and i think it's them at their best, trying something new and dangerous instead of all that "God rock" garbage.