Customer Reviews

We Live Here

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by far Pat Metheny's best album. I listned to this album almost non stop for approximately 1 year. There is no other jazz album that has matched this one in its intensity and subtleness. Buy this one today.

This CD has to be the most satisfying of all his releases. Not only does he satisfy the Metheny fan, he makes new fans out of those who enjoy hip grooves. Take your pick on this CD. Title track, To the End of the World, Red Sky, The Girls Next Door; Metheny and his band gives the right touch to this release. One of my favorite CD's!

bottom line - not one bad song on the disc. what's more, tracks 1-3 are great. track 4 is out of this world, a spiritual experience. it moved me nearly to tears as i listened to it while driving through some incredibly beautiful scenery on my way to work this morning up here in north central washington state. what a treat!

I've played guitar professionally for 40 years, only barely like HARDCORE jazz, like mostly rock and I think that this CD is the best CD of all time. I think it beats Sgt Pepper, Led Zep II even Wes Montgomery.
There are two things that make Pat great. His songwriting (or someone's anyway) and his what appears to be extremely high degree of improvisational thought. This last thing accounts for his arhythmic playing (he plays many, many phrases which don't follow the beat, but are more like human speech verbal phrases which don't follow a beat either). This is the height of genius.
I also know that his album 'Still Life' is almost as good as this.
This man's good albums (he has some stinkers) are the best things ever recorded that I've ever heard. Period.

The sounds on this 1995 Pat Metheny Group album are a snapshot of many different musical genres. With the exception of "Episode d'Azur," a Lyle Mays composition, all the songs were written by Metheny and Mays, and represent the styles and elements of the industry. Hip-hop, jazz, funk, rock, pop, be-bop, reggae, grunge, soul, acid, aternative, fusion, electronica, and so much more, all rolled together in that distinctive Metheny Group sound. There's plenty of impovisation and freeform experimental colors thrown in to keep the listener happy. It's all upbeat, fun, and very cool. Sure, some of the tracks skirt the edge of commercialism a little too often, but that's the point. We live here, and this is the sounds of the world around us. Recommended.

Both musically and sonically, this is a magnificent recording. One cut in particular stands out as an example of how good this CD is, "To the End of the World." Starting off quietly, the song builds, and builds, and builds--and then there comes a thunderous climax, a bolt from the blue, and then back into quietude, something like a little symphony for electric jazz ensemble, a masterly composition, a wonder. This is a CD you will find yourself playing over and over, and over and over again, and you'll want to live there, too.

All I have to say is that I'm on my 3rd or 4th CD because each one I've gotten I've worn out! This CD is classic and gets me through the day, it stays loaded in my disc changer in the car.

There are things about this album that take your breath away. To begin having been a Metheny fan for about a decade this was "just another good album." Cool, great sounding, a departure but just great sounding, but then I listened to "To The End Of The World" and was knocked on my butt! I can't put into words how I felt.

It gets better. My one year old son was very hyper and it was hard to get him to settle down. One day I was sorting clothes for the laundry and decided to listen to We Live Here to pass the time. Here to Stay comes on and my son freezes. He's focused on the speakers now. By the time he "To The End.." is finished he's sleep! From that point on he wouldn't go to bed without me turning on We Live Here in his room. It was his music.

Then I bought the DVD of the Japan concert from the same album. He and my infant daughter went through two copies of it!

I could go on about the inspirational stories from this album. There's something about this album (esp. "To The End...") that magnetically draws people to it like addicts. Once I play "To The End..." they're hooked.

You owe it to yourself to give it a try. Buy it used for a couple of bucks if you have to. You'll feel like you really hit the jackpot.

My favorite musicians are Peter Gabriel, Don Henley and Pat Matheny. They are no-noncense about their approach to their creativity and are perfectionists. Metheny's virtuosity is unprecedented and the team (Metheny & Mays) fails not to produce gem after gem.

This album is more 'straight ahead' than the other PMGs (less fusion-y) except when it comes to the title track. This song was made for rural roads, with the top down or for that matter Lakeshore Dr. at 3 am. At any rate, hold on to your seats with this one and crank it up.

I remember buying the CD when it came out- and seeing him live twice on the We Live Here tour at the Beacon in NYC. All I kept thinking is that he is a musical genius- technically and creatively. Each song is great on its own- all stars in an all star lineup. Everytime I fly, as we approach landing I HAVE to be listening to TO THE END OF THE WORLD- the perfect song as the place is descending- even if the attendants tell you to shut off all electronic devices. Overall- a great album from PM's experimental period of modern rhythyms, latin/Brazilian, and other electronic experimentation. One of my all time DIDs.