Album Analysis VI, Radiant Sea:A Collection of Bootleg Rarities and 2 New Songs Options

[Hoodstock]

This is the album analysis for Radiant Sea: A Collection of Bootleg Rarities and Two New Songs.

You know the drill, here's the album:

1. The Beauty of Gray

2. Pillar of Davidson

3. Shit Towne

4. I Alone

5. Lakini's Juice

6. The Distance

7. The Dolphin's Cry

8. Nobody Knows

9. Sweet Release

10. Overcome

11. Beautiful Invisible

12. Radiant Sea

Album Summary:

This post has been edited by Hoodstock: Feb 20 2008, 9:01 pm

[Hoodstock]

I know some of you are thinking that this really isn't an album and it's not worth reviewing, but I've thought about it for a while and created this post because I want to make a statement about Radiant Sea.

Live is at their best when they perform live, and if you look at the albums that Live has actually released, I believe that THIS IS THEIR BEST ALBUM to date. That includes comparing it to TC, SS, MJ, TDTH, BOP, V, Awake, and SFBM.

Here's my argument:

1. The Beauty of Gray: One of the best songs off of MJ. This is a great opening to the album because it is oldschool and it is the second best version of this song that I have heard (next to MTV Unplugged).

2. Pillar of Davidson: I have never been a huge fan of the TC version of this song, but when I heard this for the first time I was blown away. This version of POD is one of my favorite Live songs, even though I never liked the song and still don't like other versions of it to this day. It completely changed my perspective and I find this to be a truely awesome performance.

3. Shit Towne: This song was meant to be played in concert. For anyone who's ever heard it you know that the crowd always jumps up and down when they play this and this version takes you back to it. Awesome track and way better than the studio recording!

4. I Alone: I think this is Live's most overrated song, but again it rocks, especially in concert. This is one of the best versions of I Alone out there and it is much better than the TC track.

5. Lakini's Juice: This cd keeps getting better. Lakini's Juice is totally awesome, but Lakini's Juice live is the shit. "GET THE FUCK UP!". Listen to the difference between the SS version and the RS version. It blows SS out of the water, which is hard to do since it already rocks!

6. The Distance: This is the only song where the studio version is better simply because Ed is talking about the new Millennium. It seems to make the CD feel old. It is cool, however, to talk about how awesome concerts are in the summer time. The song, itself, is great and Live sounds awesome.

7. The Dolphin's Cry: Best version of this song I have heard. A great song and great to hear the crowd with it.

8. Nobody Knows: This is the lowest point on the entire album and almost every album by any artist has one. I don't really care for the song, but it sounds way better live than off of V. An definate improvment over the studio version.

9. Sweet Release: This is the best version of this song that I have ever heard and it is one of my favorite Live songs. It completely blows the studio version out (which again is hard to do) and if it were released as a single like this after Heaven it would have been all over the airwaves. Fucking awesome song (an iPod must).

10. Overcome: I think Live tried to cash in with the V version of this song and I really can't stand to listen to it, but the version on Radiant Sea is brilliant. It has a great sound and is a major improvement over the original.

11. Beautiful Invisible: I know there is a lot of mixed opinion about this song from the Live community but I absolutely love it! This is one of my favorite songs on the album and the more I listen to it the more I love this song. It was great to hear Live put a song out with this type of sound, it really shows the diversity that they can have. I would say this alone made the album worth purchasing, but the rest of it rocks to much to say so.

12. Radiant Sea: The first time I heard this song I thought it was decent, but the more I listen to it the better it gets. The song truely rocks and shows the edge that I hope Live goes with in the future. Cutting out the background rap by fading out the left speaker really makes this song go from great to phenominal. It's almost as if they did to much and should have left it as less. If I could get an edited version I would be totally stoked!

Album Summary: This is simply the best complete album Live has ever released. Almost every song on this album is an upgrade over the studio version, and even the songs that aren't my favorites in studio really shine on Radiant Sea. Many of the versions on this album are the best versions of the songs I have ever heard. The quality of the live recordings are fantastic. The two new songs on the album are a great addition to the Live library, and if you do not have them yours is not even close to complete.

Live is simply awesome live and it shows here. They seriously should drop the studio and record everything in concert!

This post has been edited by Hoodstock: Feb 20 2008, 9:11 pm