That's probably the best way for most to approach things. I'm trying to have less and less of an opinion about everything because to take one side or the other is to commit to a half-informed (at best) belief about everything that's happened and is happening. Besides, like you said everything eventually comes out in the wash. I just hope one day relatively soon the wash cycle gets completed and a better version of reality will result from of all this shit.

yeah, I'm just sitting here and watching as well, which is what I've been doing the last... god knows how many years now

the drama is almost too much for me. I'm just gonna remember the great music they made.

USA band The Offspring just completed a highly successful tour of Australia (shows packed out)

Now why I bring that up is they only have 1 original (Dexter Holland) and long-standing lead guitarist Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) left in the band

Long-time drummer Pete Parada was sacked in 2021 over his refusal to be vaccinated.

Bass Player: Greg K (founding member) was also sacked by the band (Dexter & Noodles) in 2018, in 2019 he'd go onto sue his bandmates (Holland/Wasserman).

Despite just having Dexter and Noodles remaining the band sounds amazing.

An earlier performance this year:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzTmRL14vkc

Live is in a similar situation, with band members being sacked/replaced. Only 1 original band member in line up. So it is possible to still tour successfully (albeit we'd love it to be under better circumstances).

Here's hoping for a better 2023 for all concerned!

Not to nitpick, but Pete has medical issues (Guillain-Barre Syndrome) and his doctor advised he didn't get vaccinated in case it literally kills him.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/04/entertainmen...trnd/index.html



I was just thinking about this earlier today, since Candlebox is in the news for releasing a new single in collaboration with This Time Tomorrow:

https://www.thistimetomorrow.org/ttt-14

Kevin Martin is the only remaining original band member. All the other founding band members have long since left and been replaced with some very talented musicians, and their albums are still pretty good. There are countless examples of bands moving on without original members.

In My Humble Opinion, Live's issues have nothing to do with the replaced band members or musical quality as much as they have to do with their internal issues, legal and otherwise. If they would have kept their heads down and continually released music and toured consistently while keeping the drama out of the band, this might have ended different (or not at all), but that's easier said than done for obvious reasons. They probably should have disbanded years ago, but the Live name still sells, so here we are.

I'm very, very curious about what Live officially releases next, if anything at all. From a legal perspective, I wonder if Ed can use the name Live on a recording. I also wonder what label they'd use. Local 717 was on Kavalry Records, but there's nothing but a landing page for that company now. Going back to Candlebox, they released Wolves under Pavement Music, which looks to be a pretty big rock and metal label. I'm sure Live can find a new home very easily. That's the smallest of their concerns at the moment.

Pete Parada was sacked over his vaccination status (regardless of existing medical issues) that's why he was (disgracefully) replaced. Pete should still be in the band IMO.

I wasn't making comparisons to why they were sacked/replaced, purely making the observation that they continue to perform with new members and original lead singer.

Does Live have to release anything new? Billy Joel hasn't put out new music in 29 years, yet still performs.

The music scene today has changed so much. Gone are the days when you'd wait with anticipation to buy a new album. Giants like Spotify have killed off the let's make a new record. Today's punters no longer listen to full albums, rather they pick and choose songs from these apps like Spotify. I don't listen that way, I stick to the tradition of CD/LP.

Of course Līve doesn’t -have- to release anything new, but they -should-.
Ed is smart. I’m sure he knows this.
He already shook up the setlist and gave us Hold Me Up, which is what fans clamored for.
I’m sure he’s got plenty of stuff sitting around on a shelf to pick and choose from.
How about starting with 10,000 Cups?
Wouldn’t bother me at all to see these 3 other guys play it.

If he owns 55% like he said, he should be able to do whatever he wants, so if he wants to release 5 new albums next year, he should be able to. If I was one of the other guys who stood to make money off album sales or stream revenue, I’d encourage Ed to release new stuff.

Great reason to never listen to that band again. Dexter Holland is supposed to have a PHd in molecular biology, but I guess politics are more important to him.



I think there's good with either approach. I'm always waiting with anticipation for any band I like to release a whole album and I'll listen all the way through. But when driving on a trip, running errands around town, or sitting at my computer doing other things I prefer a self-currated playlist of songs based on a variety of categories I have floating around in my head. And I like looking into others public playlists that are put together similarly because I can find music I'd never hear otherwise.

The problem with Spotify, and to a lesser extent some of the other streaming platforms, is that songwriters get ripped off so hard on royalties. Maybe blockchain technology will solve a lot of those problems, but we'll see.

This post has been edited by JonSnow: Dec 17 2022, 4:59 pm

I'm the same way. I still love listening to albums end to end, but if I only have a few minutes, I'll slap on a song I want to listen to to fill the time. Matter of fact I did that this morning with Candlebox's song The Bridge from their Disappearing Live album.

To completely go against this point, I was looking forward to Polyphia's new album after loving all of the singles (Playing God, ABC, Ego Death, Neurotica), but I was disappointed with the full album, so the singles do me just fine.

It's true that most of the streaming platforms don't give artists crap for royalties, but Tidal seems to be doing something about that with their "Direct Artist Payout" program if you subscribe to their HiFi Plus plan for $20/month, plus I think in general their artist payouts are more than the other streaming platforms. I couldn't find hard numbers in a quick search, though.

Thinking on Ed releasing new music under the Live name... I've been wondering what he would release under Live versus what he did under his own name. Like, if a new Live album came out, what would it sound like? Would it be like his solo material? What actually makes it "Live"? Maybe that's a good question for us to mull over as we're about to go through the holidays.

Also, I did a google search for Ed's website and found that this:

https://www.edkowalczyk.com/home

Is *completely* different from this:

https://www.edkowalczyk.com

I got excited for a hot second that Ed was going to release new music, but Ed's not there heh

I've always loved The Offspring, but I was very disappointed with how they left Pete out in the cold. They got a very handy replacement in Josh Freese, a prolific drummer.

Spotify is the grinch that screws the artist over big time. The kids of today are immediately drawn to that platform.

As side note I recently did my own playlist off Youtube. Being an 80's kid I still live in that bubble, can't stand the modern-day music out there.

Here's my playlist for anyone whose looking to go back in time

Gerry Playlist 80's/90's

I think Spotify got lucky to be in the right place at the right time in 2011ish and then everyone else has been trying to play catch-up ever since. Tidal. Amazon Music. Apple Music. YouTube Music. I've got a Spotify Duo plan with my wife and I just don't want to lose my playlists and favorites I've amassed over the years, otherwise I'd consider switching to Tidal because of the artist friendly tone they're taking and their focus on the music. I don't give a hoot about all the podcast nonsense that Spotify has, but I get why they did it. They're the one-stop-shop for most aural goodness.

Gerry, I took a look at your playlist and bio for fun. I'm not that much younger than you (I'm 47), but I'm clearly in the 90's camp, even though I started to appreciate various music in the late 80's (Van Halen, Dire Straits, Poison, Michael Jackson, Weird Al, others) with my bright yellow and waterproof Walkman permanently attached to my belt. I found my own musical taste when Pearl Jam's 'Ten' came out just after my 16th birthday. After that it was all rock and grunge for me, then I found Live in 1996 and that was it. My musical tastes fully formed around that bubble of music.

I personally feel that ever since 2000, music hasn't hit the same for me except for my favorite bands like Live, Candlebox, Dream Theater (until Portnoy left and they seriously haven't been the same since), and a smattering of others. I get recommendations from a few close friends, and I'll listen for a bit, but usually end up retreating back into my familiar musical bubble. There is some good stuff out there now. Lately I've been grooving on Dirty Honey (thanks, Voodoo Lady, for the tip), Paramore (their live stuff is great but I'm not a fan of their studio work), and I watch Justin Hawkins Rides Again on YouTube pretty often to see if there's anything new I should check out. Even if I don't like it, I still learn something new.

A fun side note: Rick Beato interviewed Billy Corgan a couple days ago and it's a fantastic 90 minute interview if you're looking for a cool musical journey and some awesome behind the scenes stories.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAfkxHcqWKI

Apologies for the mostly non-Live content in this post.

This is the thing. Even if Ed is the one you'd say is the most deserving of continuing with the Live name at this point (and honestly, god knows tbh), can he produce music worthy of it? For me, if he did, it would be a massive return to form coming completely out of the blue.



Looks like somebody imported a template and then... get bored?

Since he’s touring as live, I imagine he would release under the Live name as well. No idea about the quality of the new music, however.

Thanks for the Billy Corgan link, will definitely watch it, I'm a big fan of the Pumpkins. I agree with you, 2000 and beyond new music lost its way. Here in Australia, the kids of today are drawn to the government-funded radio station Triple J. Sadly the kids think the music on this station is cool

I must've lost my way in the 90's perhaps still drawn to the 80's. It wasn't until I started band photography in 2009 that I started to listen to more heavier music like Tool. Rather I gained a better appreciation for it once I started to photograph more bands of that genre.

Love the playlist, but got to say with EMF on there I expect to see Right Here, Right Now, by Jesus Jones!! Maybe I just missed it!! I grow up listening to music from the 50’s on but tend to gravitate towards the 80’s and 90’s music myself, but about 95% of my playlist regardless of the genre they are from, have Ray Peterson’s Tell Laura I Love Her on it.