That dude Scholmo made a lot of sense.

yeah, he did

And you know what, i am going to a show next month.
..... I'll just hold my ears when they play the River

I find it hard to believe that this is the end of an era. If you are big SS fan (as I am, my favorite Live album, and possibly favorite album of all time), that era ended with TDTH, which is very much like SFBM, in my opinion, except still sounding a bit more eastern, energetic, and Ed's voice still had a bit of an edge. But that was rock/pop just as everything since SS has definitely been.

I have to admit, I am amazed folks are finding this album to be worse than BOP. I don't think it could much worse than BOP, at least for me (and I thought it was an alright album). This is much more crisp, varied, and gives me alot more hope for the future than BOP did.

You know, I hope you are right. I am going to give it some time. Sometimes things need to simmer.

The difference from SS to TDTH was perhaps the greatest difference between any two Live albums. I did not like TDTH when it first came out, I thought that Ed had finally flipped his lid with the whole Eastern philosophy feel of it, he overdid the falsetto on most of the songs, the addition of keyboards, and so on.

But I listened to it a lot and and then I loved it. So what that it wasn't the same as SS or any of the previous albums, because I still have my SS CD and can listen to it whenever I want.

As far as Jennyfoo's 12 years of loving Live, I am certain you don't think that this is a sudden change occurring just recently. TDTH was different from SS, V was different, BOP was different...they have most definitely NOT been making the same music for the last 12 years, nor anywhere close to it for at least a few years, maybe arguably back to 1999. Which doesn't feel like it, but that's 7 years ago. I seriously doubt that SFBM is such a departure from what you've come to expect.

The first time I heard Live I was in high school. Mental Jewlery called to my inner self to find a meaning to my life, religion, and world issues. As the years went by, I felt Live continued searching and growing. Let's face it no one is the same person they were last year, or are they the same person when Live's other albums were released. I anticipate all of their albums and how wonderfully the relate to my life. SFBM to me shows the family, children, mature side of life.
Sofia and Show rock !

i think they have just got better and more refined over the years...you look at any band thats been around for a while and there 1st album is totally different to there last.thats wot makes a band good is that they can change there sound over the years.if every album sounded like MJ they would be a pub band by now or no longer around.Don't like don't listen like scholmo said....

Well I agree with the Tool part. Most definitely. Godsmack, uuuughhh

I don't hate +LiVe+. I still love their music for what it brings to me. But I don't like SFBM.

I have 2 hours of train per day on my way to work and go home again, so I use my MiniDisc player in order to listen to some music. I brought SFBM yesterday morning. It scared me (I really had to force myself to listen to the whole thing without skipping any track, believe me!), so I replaced the tracks by some Dishwalla stuff once I was back home yesterday night.

That's the very first time a new +LiVe+ album scares me like that... V and BOP got alot of plays.

But what you suggest in your list IS exactly what I did or what I'm gonna do :

1. play my favourite +LiVe+ albums and bootlegs again and again.
2. go to one of their concerts for the first time of my life.
3. love their old songs forever.
4. turn myself to other bands that make music that feeds me more.

SFBM = Asleep - The worst of +LiVe+

TDTH is as pop as BoP and SFBM are. What makes TDTH sound a bit different is The Dolphin's Cry. As i see it, TDTH has been mythologised because V came after it. Many Live fans were disappointed when TDTH came out but it was then viewed as great compared to V. I think that BoP and SFBM are comparable with TDTH. The Distance, WFG, Sun, TSUFL, Children's Song, and We Walk in the Dream do not rock more than any song on SFBM (and BoP). Songs like WDWGFH? Sofia and Show have nothing to do with bands like Nickelback and 3 Doors Down.

I strongly disagree that the majority of TDTH is "pop." The Dolphin's Cry, They Stood Up For Love and Run to the Water...yes. They were/are radio-friendly. Yet, the album itself possesses such a feeling of maturity and brightness, still with a hint of darkness. It's so fresh and different from anything they've ever done and that's what I've always respected and liked about Live. They used to re-invent themselves on each album. Sun is pure vintage Live. Deeply rooted. Voodoo Lady and Where Fishes Go are so dark and extremely strange and weird, I love them...then comes Face and Ghost, which is a totally different path and light-hearted, and so forth.

It's hard to convey what you feel towards an album, but when I think back to TDTH, I feel and see the cooler weather, fall weather, the holidays, the end of the 20th century and I, myself, maturing. I've said it before and will again, TDTH is their most "complete" album to date and has a little bit of everything.

Even though I did not care for V in the least, I could respect the fact that it was experimental and they wanted to try more electronics and even a "hip-hop"-like style. I thought it'd was a one-and-done project and they were allowed a "pass" towards making a less-than-thrilling album when the 4 before it were great. I looked forward to 2003...

The problem I have with BOP and now SFBM is that there is very little creativity involved, at least that's what I gather. A song can be as simple as Dance With You and be excellent if it has substance. The songs on the last two albums are simple enough, but contain "fluff." I don't care for the "la-de-da"-like lyrics or every single song stating the same, "lets-do-it-for-the-children-and-for-love." If you're going to conduct those redundant themes, do it differently. Stop with the overly-polished tracks. In short, I think the band is just trying too damn hard.

If these last two albums are not "pop," then they should be classified as "soft rock" played on a station loaded with Bryan Adams, Peter Cetera and Amy Grant. U2's last two albums can be considered "pop" and that might be a good label for them, but the songs on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, with the exception of Vertigo, are not forced. They come together genuinely.

Live is pressing. If you listen to Meltdown and then Home or Feel the Quiet River Rage, then The Sanctity of Dreams, well, you know...

But why have you selected these pairs of comparison? I would say: if you listen to Meltdown and then Show, listen to FTQRR and then WDWGFH?, then I hear that the sound is different, creative, very melodic and the four songs could fit nicely into the same album.

Or say, if listen Show then The Distance, listen WDWGFH? or Sofia then Children’s song… then the latter song from each pair is weak.

The most uninspired and least creative thing in music is when bands repeat their sound, and this is happening with many bands out there, from Metallica to Pearl Jam, and Chili Peppers… surely Live has never done so. The easy way is to write another I Alone. The hard way is to write Sofia and gain new fans. Though, I do not like V overall, I appreciated Live’s attempt to write something very new and I glad that I can enjoy songs like Deep enough and Forever…

I don't think you can say Pearl Jam has produced the same type of music on each album. There's a huge jump between Ten to Vitalogy to Binaural to now.

The Chili Peppers sound is totally different today than before 1999. Funk to Alternative.

Songs like Meltdown and Face and Ghost have more intellect and depth in my opinion than anything else they've done since then. Much, much deeper.

Live's music went from PG-13 to PG. I don't like PG.

And that right there is the best post on the matter yet

I am so glad that the people on this board are so smart and talented that they know what Live should do better than Live does themselves.

And funny that flyersfan should mention Dance With You...if Live has gone pop, that is one of the poppiest songs out there.