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.

[mrmcpheezy]

your missing my point.

God fucking dammit.

why cant they just say, 'fuck that' we'll make what we want and those who like it, listen to it, and those who dont, dont.

They, of course, can, but it doesn't it bother you at all that they want to make completely predictiable crap?

Fucking think about it. There are song structures and chord progressions and rhythmic patterns and etc etc etc that have been used a million times before. Doesn't the thought of them sitting down and deciding to use nothing but these typical, overused, standard, generic, thoughtless things bother you even a little bit? Sure, you enjoy the music in spite of this, cool, but still, doesn't it bother you that they're not doing anything that requires even the smallest bit of thought or creativity or originality or technical ability?

They're not putting any thought into what they're doing. None. At all. Every aspect of their music has been predetermined by other artists that have done it all before them, over and over again. You talk about how music shouldn't be about following rules, and then you stick up for "artists" like live who do nothing but follow the typical pop-rock template. How does this not bother you? Do you enjoy the music so much that you're willing to knowingly blind yourself to these facts?

Face it: anyone could do what live is doing right now. They're not doing anything but filling in the small gaps in the standard pop-rock set up.

and if they are still enjoying what they are doing they from there point of view their is no reason why they would quit or change.

Of course they're not going to stop doing something that they enjoy, but whether or not they will isn't the issue here: it's wheter or not they should.

so you dont like the last few albums, thats fine, there were a couple of songs on their that even i didnt connect with. i feel home was cheesy. but other songs like river and wings i loved. that may be me being cheesy, but i dont really care, it makes me happy and thats all that matters.

Of course music and its creation is all about enjoyment. But I find the fact that you enjoy the music just as irrelevant as the fact that I don't enjoy it. What actually matters in the discussion we're having is the manner in which it was written. Had they written the last few albums differently, maybe I'd like them and you wouldn't. Whatever. Whether or not any of us like, love, dislike, hate, or feel indifferent toward their music isn't really important. What is important is that they have stopped doing everything that sets artists apart from the rest of society: they've stopped inventing, they've stopped pushing the limits of their art form, they've stoppped trying new things, the've stopped pushing themselve to improve, they've stopped putting thought into every single detail of every song the put together: they've stopped trying.

they cant just make what everyone else wants them to for the sake of making good money, that would be what you call selling out. this is not a job for them, its a passion, their passion.

They have sold out and it's pretty clear that they're no longer passionate about what they're doing. People who are passionate about art do all of the things I mentioned above, and they're not doing any of those things anymore. Stop fooling yourself with empty statements like this.

thats the beauty of opinion. art/music/creativity is what ever you want it to be.

No, it isn't.

This post has been edited by mrmcpheezy: Oct 26 2006, 4:26 pm