Should Live Call It Quits?, Is it time? Options

[Hoodstock]

I am a huge Live fan. I have enjoyed every CD (except V, which I can't even listen to except for Simple Creed) but I'm finding that the band has lost originality. I tried making a CD of my favorite songs recently and had trouble placing songs in order since every song is about love or includes water in it in some way. I miss the fun songs like Waitress and Shit Towne, they are lacking from newer live CD's. Instead we get songs that include earth elements, are about love over and over again, and sorry attempts to protest the war in some way. I would appreciate a new live CD that did not include songs about love, and had nothing to do with water (streams, rivers, ect.) or the sun, and did not mention the war (those songs especially never even seem to be very good at all) (p.s. I am not stating this as any type of comment on the war). Unless Ed can come up with lyrics on original topics that are radio worthy in the U.S., or that make me want to turn up Live and rock my speakers again , maybe live should hang up their hat and do greatest hits tours ever so often.

The newer Live seems stale and old before I even replay the CD.

[SJN1279]

I'm not quite convinced yet that Live should call it quits.

They still put on a solid (though repetitious and predictable) live show, and they still seem to be genuinely happy playing music together. And, despite the mediocrity of their last few efforts, they have put out a few songs (Night of Nights, Like I Do, Overcome) in recent years that have been mostly adored by their fans.

However, it is clear to even the biggest fan that their creativity has taken a big hit in recent years. This is not only true on their albums, but in their live show as well. Despite the tightness of their performances, playing the same set over and over again is eventually going to dwindle their fan base to smaller and smaller numbers. Without any promise of newness or unpredictably to a show, it becomes less and less likely that fans are going to get as excited for shows, and less and less likely that they will be willing to shell out $35 or whatever to attend. This has already happened to myself and a handful of other fans I have chatted with.

There is a simple principle of economics that I can apply to this: the law of diminishing returns. It basically states that the more you get of something, the less desirable it becomes. This is true in all aspects of life (food, sex, sleep, etc.), but especially to things we have to pay for. To apply it to Live -- the more we get of the same old lackluster songs, and the more we get of the same old predictable setlist, the less likely we are to be interested in the band.

So, I fear, if Live continues on its current path, eventually the band will be FORCED to call it quits due to a shrinking fan base that ultimately makes it unprofitable for them to make music at all. Call me a pessimist, but I truly believe that it's a path they're already treading on.

The solution? In my eyes, Live needs to take 5 or 6 years to work on their next album. They need to make sure that the entire band comes together to create a set of songs that will blow people away. They need to give more songwriting duties to other members of the band (hey, even Pearl Jam has songs on each album with music/lyrics written by guys besides Eddie Vedder, and he's known to be pretty controlling). They need to put their entire heart and soul into EACH AND EVERY song on their next record, and not to settle for mediocrity. I'm a firm believer that if a talented band puts enough time and effort into perfecting a song, eventually it will be something solid, if not spectacular. It's obvious that they didn't take the time to do that with SFBM or BoP (or V for that matter).

In the meantime, they need to also work on re-learning some of their older stuff so that they can pull out surprises during their next tour. I guarantee you the enthusiasm and excitement level from us fans here would shoot up 1000% if we only had some new songs in their performances to discuss and gloat about. That doesn't mean pulling out 2 or 3 songs and playing them every night, but sprinkling in different songs from show to show so that we keep coming back here to see what's new. It's not like it would take a whole lot of effort on their part, either.

As a whole, they need to start caring again. Not just caring about being happy and making simple, mindless music, but about rediscovering who they are and the reaching for the ceiling of their creativity. If they can do that, they can make a comeback in a big way. If not, I'm afraid they're time may be running out.

They have mixed up their sets quite a bit during this past tour. I don't think that setlist argument holds much merit anymore. The biggest problem is that they have toured non-stop for over a year, and the law of diminishing returns(as you said) is begining to take effect. You can't play the same area multiple times a year and have the fans as excited as they were for the first show. They need time off(not 5-6 years) but maybe 1-2 to figure out their direction. Taking off until you are 40 years old is never a good move.