I'm sorry....but didn't Live used to be a rock band? Options

[jimmatz]

I've been listening to the new album for the last couple of days and I have to say I'm quite disappointed. Didn't Live used to be a rock band? All of their songs have now become Pop songs. What happened to songs like the Stage, White Discussions, Lakinis Juice, Feel The Quiet River Rage, Where Fishes Go, actual rock songs? Live seems to have lost all of it's edge.

I will always love Live but this album seems to be a big step back to me.

Just my opinion.

[flyersfan62379]

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...