Comment about the New Album Options

[LiveattheOasis]

Something I have wondered, and I am sure it is true, I just did not know Live real well at the height of their popularity. What I think is the beauty of every new album is hearing how it surprises, disappoints, and excites fans. I am sure TC disappointed MJ fans, and SS freaked out TC fans, and so and so forth. I just assume these things to be true, but maybe someone who has been a Live fan longer than me could let me know. I just think it is a healthy sign for a band to be gaining and losing fans with each album, meeting and eluding people's expectations.

So yes my question again, did Live experience the same bashing they are experiencing now with SS and TDTH? I heard it all around V and BOP.

This post has been edited by LiveattheOasis: Apr 12 2006, 10:35 pm

[Pokey]

Ok I downloaded the album last night and wow, it is terrible. Seriously, if Live want to go down the pop band road that's fine, but at least make your songs less pretenious. Mystery is just an abomination with those strings, rather than working them into the song subtley it's like "HERE THAT! IT'S STRINGS! AND WE'RE LIVE AND WE DON'T HAVE A BAND MEMBER THAT PLAYS STRINGS BUT YET HERE THEY ARE! ISN'T THAT AMAZING, NOW LISTEN TO THEM FOR A SOLID 3MINS TO LET IT SINK IN!!!" .. well that's the way it comes across to me.
Mystery and Where do we go from here both are missing some sort of kick .. in the chorus you just expect that typical Live BANG! but they just rumble along and lack that typical Live charm.
Ed's voice has obviously been worked over quite a bit by Jim Fuck Off Wirt as well, people will probably rave about his vocals on this album but I think it's one of his worst efforts, so many over dubs and tweaks just seem to take the natural feel of a singer singing a song out of it.

The lyrics are just very unimaginative, just bland and uninspiring ... the best thing I can say about the album is that some of the songs are catchy and you do find yourself singing a long a bit afterwards but really that only lasts for a small amount of time.
Night of Nights I don't mind, I mean again it's not exactly breaking any boundries but as far as just a simple pop song goes that is fun to listen to it'd be my pick off the album.
Wings I find probably the catchiest song on the album, but I don't really like it .. I just find myself singing the song later on .. I still maintain that it sounds like the sort of song that would fit into the opening credits of one of those Dawson's Creek type shows.

I don't much mind Get Ready either .. it's cheesey, but it's one of the only songs that still sound like Live, it's not beautiful in the sense that Dance With You was but it's a sweet love song anyways. Which is the problem, singing about love isn't a bad thing, but an entire album of it barring one song (Home) at least I think it's just one song, I just felt myself saying "ok, I get the point".

Jim Wirt has a lot to answer for though .. he is a terrible producer for Live, he just zaps all of that raw energy and polishes it over and makes it as bland as possible. What happened to Jerry Harrilson(sp?) not that I'm one of these "they need to go back to him!" type people because there are plenty of fish in the sea as far as good producers go .. but did Live and him have a falling out or what?

Anyways, like I said this one is my least favorite Live album by a mile, the only listenable songs to me are 'Get Ready', 'Night of Nights' and probably 'Sofia' .. the problem with Sofia is it could have been so much better .. listen to those early live versions of it where Taylor seemed to just do his own little jams along to it, you could imagine no 2 times they played it would it be exactly the same. The guitars were really rip roaring .. but the studio version has been de-sexed, it's the same polished boring guitar looped over and over. The exact same thing happend with Life Marches On.

Here's hoping they learn from this album, I'm still somewhat hopefuly for the next album .. I don't know why, maybe my faith is in them not sitting around going "hey guys, do you wanna make another album of lovey pop songs with Jim Wirt? I reckon that would be a fresh idea!" ... surely they're going to move on from this phase... aren't they?