Live - V

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Live - V

When Live debuted in the mainstream in 1991, Mental Jewelry balanced energetic emotional lyrics with aggressive guitar work. On the band's fifth album, aptly titled V, the earnestness has seemed to dim a bit. The album finds the band working with the husband-and-wife production team of Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider, who helped write and produce Chris Cornell's solo LP, Euphoria Morning. Live worked at the production team's home studio for about two weeks. Lead singer Ed Kowalczyk told MTV News "[We] just got really, really creative and were writing songs in the morning, tracking them in the afternoon."

The album opens with a brief intro with British trip hopper Tricky repeating the lines "Some One" over and over in his I-just-gargled-with-gravel-and-glass voice. It’s followed by the first single "Simple Creed" preaches understanding and getting along with one another with a chorus of "I wait for you to take my hand/cuz we need each other/we gotta love each other." Tricky crops up on this track again reprising his role from the intro.

"Deep Enough" finds Kowalczyk making fun of a rival with sexual double-entendres. "Like a Soldier" harkens back to older Live songs musically, but the lyrics concern things like voting for Nader and not drinking Starbucks coffee, and then fully implodes when Kowalczyk decides to try his hand at rapping a verse.

"People Like You" is also vintage Live, keeping the verses light and airy before rocking it out for the chorus. The song also manages to name check Queen, Michael Stipe, Elton John, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen. "Transmit Your Love to Me" is a bit of a misstep for the band. The song is basically about going to a Live concert and what Kowalczyk gets out of the fans enjoyment of the show. "Forever May Not Be Long Enough" is a bit more adventurous, incorporating bits of electronica, strings, and Middle Eastern influences.

"Call Me a Fool" is probably the simplest song on the album and is one of the better tracks because of it. The song has no samples or drum loops just the band playing and Kowalczyk singing about being in love. "Flow" is an up tempo track that starts out as a jangly rock song and finishing as a thrashing feedback laced rocker. The track features backing vocals by Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz, Kowalczyk told MTV News "We wrote it in the morning, and then Adam was having a really bad day, so I talked to him on the phone [and said], 'Why don't you come over and sing? It'll make you feel better.' He came over and put this really cool background part down, so it was fun." Kowalczyk continued on the possibilities of future collaborations with Duritz "I think our friendship is something that will grow and continue on because we both live in the same city. We barbecue together, so why not write songs together, you know?"

"The Ride" is another Middle-Eastern tinged track that details the power of meditation. "No Body Knows" is another one of the simple tunes that seems to rise above the more "experimental" tracks the band worked on. Once again the song goes over the trails of love and keeps it simple, with Kowalczyk not trying to force every ounce of emotion out of every word like he seems to do on some of the other tracks. "I’m Ok?" harkens back to the earnest rockers of Mental Jewelry, and is great until once more Kowalczyk decides to slip some rap in there and fails miserably.

"Overcome" is the album’s next single, Radio programmers across the country have adopted "Overcome" to reflect last week's devastation and the subsequent confusion consuming the nation. The song is Kowalczyk singing about being overcome by everything going on in his life, as he is backed by a slow melancholy piano and a weeping, surging string section. With the opening line of "Even now/the world is bleeding/but feeling just fine/all alone in a castle" and the only other verse in the song being "These women in the street/pulling out their hair/my master's in the yard/giving light to the unaware/this plastic little place/is just a step amongst the stairs" and the simple chorus of "I am overcome, yeah I am overcome/holy water in my lungs, yeah/I am overcome" seems to detail the tragedy pretty well even though the song was written over three years ago. The documentary Web site CameraPlanet.com created a montage of New York rescue scenes and relief efforts and combined them with the Live song. The resulting video has been aired repeatedly on VH1 beginning two days after the attack. "My wife and I woke up, flipped on the TV and the video came on," recalled Kowalczyk to Sonicnet.com. "I was shocked and overwhelmed by how striking the images of the rescue workers were. It was amazing."

Once unrelentingly serious purveyors of three-chord diatribes of spiritual longing, it seems that Live has finally lightened up somewhat. On some of the songs ("Overcome", "Call Me a Fool," and "Nobody Knows") it seems to have worked well, while on others it seemed to fizzle ("I’m Ok?" and "Like a Soldier"). How much life is left in Lives commercial success may depend on which direction they choose for it’s next album.


	Steamer Trunk \| home stuff about me \| album reviews \| PS2 game reviews \| pictures \| web watch \| getting in touch Rilo Kiley - Take Offs and Landings \| Slipknot - Iowa \| Ozma - Rock and Roll Part Three \| Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs \| Lit - Atomic \| Garbage - Beautifulgarbage \| The Strokes - Is This It \| Live - V \| Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls \| Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American \| Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket \| Weezer - The Green Album \| Alkaline Trio From Here to Infirmary \| Alkaline Trio - Hell Yes \| American Hi-Fi \| Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines \| Aerosmith - Just Push Play \| Dave Matthews Band - Everyday \| Blue Meanies - Post Wave \| Weston - The Massed Albert Sounds \| U2 - All That You Cant Leave Behind \| Green Day - Warning \| Offspring - Conspiracy of One \| Everclear - Songs from an American Movie Vol. 2 \| Radiohead - Kid A \| Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water \| Smashing Pumkins - Machina II \| Superdrag - In The Valley Of Dying Stars \| Voodoo Music Festival Live - V When Live debuted in the mainstream in 1991, Mental Jewelry balanced energetic emotional lyrics with aggressive guitar work. On the band's fifth album, aptly titled V, the earnestness has seemed to dim a bit. The album finds the band working with the husband-and-wife production team of Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider, who helped write and produce Chris Cornell's solo LP, Euphoria Morning. Live worked at the production team's home studio for about two weeks. Lead singer Ed Kowalczyk told MTV News "[We] just got really, really creative and were writing songs in the morning, tracking them in the afternoon." The album opens with a brief intro with British trip hopper Tricky repeating the lines "Some One" over and over in his I-just-gargled-with-gravel-and-glass voice. It’s followed by the first single "Simple Creed" preaches understanding and getting along with one another with a chorus of "I wait for you to take my hand/cuz we need each other/we gotta love each other." Tricky crops up on this track again reprising his role from the intro. "Deep Enough" finds Kowalczyk making fun of a rival with sexual double-entendres. "Like a Soldier" harkens back to older Live songs musically, but the lyrics concern things like voting for Nader and not drinking Starbucks coffee, and then fully implodes when Kowalczyk decides to try his hand at rapping a verse. "People Like You" is also vintage Live, keeping the verses light and airy before rocking it out for the chorus. The song also manages to name check Queen, Michael Stipe, Elton John, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen. "Transmit Your Love to Me" is a bit of a misstep for the band. The song is basically about going to a Live concert and what Kowalczyk gets out of the fans enjoyment of the show. "Forever May Not Be Long Enough" is a bit more adventurous, incorporating bits of electronica, strings, and Middle Eastern influences. "Call Me a Fool" is probably the simplest song on the album and is one of the better tracks because of it. The song has no samples or drum loops just the band playing and Kowalczyk singing about being in love. "Flow" is an up tempo track that starts out as a jangly rock song and finishing as a thrashing feedback laced rocker. The track features backing vocals by Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz, Kowalczyk told MTV News "We wrote it in the morning, and then Adam was having a really bad day, so I talked to him on the phone [and said], 'Why don't you come over and sing? It'll make you feel better.' He came over and put this really cool background part down, so it was fun." Kowalczyk continued on the possibilities of future collaborations with Duritz "I think our friendship is something that will grow and continue on because we both live in the same city. We barbecue together, so why not write songs together, you know?" "The Ride" is another Middle-Eastern tinged track that details the power of meditation. "No Body Knows" is another one of the simple tunes that seems to rise above the more "experimental" tracks the band worked on. Once again the song goes over the trails of love and keeps it simple, with Kowalczyk not trying to force every ounce of emotion out of every word like he seems to do on some of the other tracks. "I’m Ok?" harkens back to the earnest rockers of Mental Jewelry, and is great until once more Kowalczyk decides to slip some rap in there and fails miserably. "Overcome" is the album’s next single, Radio programmers across the country have adopted "Overcome" to reflect last week's devastation and the subsequent confusion consuming the nation. The song is Kowalczyk singing about being overcome by everything going on in his life, as he is backed by a slow melancholy piano and a weeping, surging string section. With the opening line of "Even now/the world is bleeding/but feeling just fine/all alone in a castle" and the only other verse in the song being "These women in the street/pulling out their hair/my master's in the yard/giving light to the unaware/this plastic little place/is just a step amongst the stairs" and the simple chorus of "I am overcome, yeah I am overcome/holy water in my lungs, yeah/I am overcome" seems to detail the tragedy pretty well even though the song was written over three years ago. The documentary Web site CameraPlanet.com created a montage of New York rescue scenes and relief efforts and combined them with the Live song. The resulting video has been aired repeatedly on VH1 beginning two days after the attack. "My wife and I woke up, flipped on the TV and the video came on," recalled Kowalczyk to Sonicnet.com. "I was shocked and overwhelmed by how striking the images of the rescue workers were. It was amazing." Once unrelentingly serious purveyors of three-chord diatribes of spiritual longing, it seems that Live has finally lightened up somewhat. On some of the songs ("Overcome", "Call Me a Fool," and "Nobody Knows") it seems to have worked well, while on others it seemed to fizzle ("I’m Ok?" and "Like a Soldier"). How much life is left in Lives commercial success may depend on which direction they choose for it’s next album.