Ed responds to allegations, Well, sorta Options

[Gertjan]

In a recent article Life after Live in a Dutch magazine, Ed responds to the allegations brought forward by Chad Taylor (secret contract, leadsinger bonus). Sort of.

Without specifically denying anything, Ed says he does not recognize himself in the stories. "Lots of misunderstandings and an incorrect picture of my character", he says. "Live split indefinitely. Will we ever reconcile? Hard to tell, but I don't see it happening anytime soon."

Should it not hurt after twenty years of Live? Ed seems liberated other than left alone. "I had an enormous need for change. If you play in the same band for twenty years, you reach a point of saturation. I wanted something new, I wanted to keep developing. That's why I took this road. When all those disturbing stories started circulating, end of last year, I could let it slip easily. I was so focussed on my new album, my new songs, that I barely gave it attention."

http://www.livexs.nl/Joomla/201005036350/E...en-na-Live?ed=3

[+Ed+]

Awright, would it than be better if a holywar online would have blasted?

Doesn't Ed behave well enough in some way not to get it all grown?

Or you all really wanna drown in dirty linnen?

[Pokey]

Awright, would it than be better if a holywar online would have blasted?

Doesn't Ed behave well enough in some way not to get it all grown?

Or you all really wanna drown in dirty linnen?

I just prefer the truth to come out ... it's gone this far.

Again I bring up The Smiths, as they're the only other band who's breaking up I've seen as such a big deal. In a way it was similar to Live where by the initial break up wasn't exactly all that bad, the unrepairable damage came after the breakup when the law suits began.

But it's been years and years now, everyone's side of the story is out, and they are actually all the same story, just with different points of view. No one deny's anything that happend really, it's just everyone has given their reason on why certain things happend, or why they did what they did etc... in a way it's all the truth, it's just up to anyone in particular to choose how they wish to view it. Something like that is the best I could hope for with Live.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

I just prefer the truth to come out ... it's gone this far.

Again I bring up The Smiths, as they're the only other band who's breaking up I've seen as such a big deal. In a way it was similar to Live where by the initial break up wasn't exactly all that bad, the unrepairable damage came after the breakup when the law suits began.

But it's been years and years now, everyone's side of the story is out, and they are actually all the same story, just with different points of view. No one deny's anything that happend really, it's just everyone has given their reason on why certain things happend, or why they did what they did etc... in a way it's all the truth, it's just up to anyone in particular to choose how they wish to view it. Something like that is the best I could hope for with Live.

No man, NO BANDS ever tell why they broke up. Are you stupid or something?

[Infrequent Poster]

No man, NO BANDS ever tell why they broke up. Are you stupid or something?

Oh, I think we'll hear the whole story years from now. Depending on how things play out we could hear Ed's side next year if his album sales aren't up to what he wanted. I have this horrible image of Ed doing a "tell all" article in a few music magazines with the closer being "Oh yea, I released Alive last year, it sounds almost like mid 90s Live. Honest!"

Edit:

He could have posted a simple blog or something reflecting on the band and his friendships, he didn't have to comment on anything specifically. Would have scored him a lot of points, at least with this guy.

Yea, I'll agree with you there. A little reflection on what was would have been nice. Sharing some behind the scenes stories about his old friends even if he hates their guts now would have been a classy thing to do. However, I don't think Ed is capable of such an act anymore.

This post has been edited by Infrequent Poster: May 4 2010, 1:38 pm

[FishOutaWater]

I keep going back in my mind to a conversation that I had with Chad Taylor a few years ago that really told me alot about how much these three guys supported Ed and devoted themselves to Live, even when the creative direction went down a path that they didn't agree with. After SFBM came out, I talked with Chad, and I said to him that I like the new album, but it doesn't have enough "Chad Taylor" in it. I said that I don't just mean that it doesn't have enough guitar or guitar solos, but that it seems to lack what he brings to the band. Chad said "yeah, I know what you mean, it's just not my time, that's all." He refused to say anything bad about it. I could tell that he was creatively stifled and I got the clear impression that he was loyally supporting Live. Even in this private, one on one conversation, he was very loyal and disciplined. I tried to talk with him about Barely Breathing and some other ventures he was involved in and he deflected talking about his other businesses and pursuits because he was there for Live that night and didn't want to distract attention away from Live. I don't mean to say that he brushed me off or anything. I was truly impressed with him and had the impression that he was a loyal band member who was really trying to support the band for the good of the band. I really gained a lot of respect for Chad that night. That happened to be the same night that Ed was unbelievably rude to me and treated me as if I wasn't even a fellow human being. Not very "spiritual" or "Christian". I've been lucky. I have met each member of Live many, many times. And I can say that my personal interactions with all 4 of them strongly inform my opinions of who are the good guys in this whole thing. I've seen Ed treat me and many others like crap. I've seen Chad, Chad, Pat and Adam hanging out together and with the roadies and managers before and after shows and Ed pulling the "rock star" attitude and blowing the others off. I have nothing but positive, impressive experiences with Chad, Chad and Pat. I've met plenty of famous people and I can honestly say that they were the most friendly, down to earth performers that I have met. My limited personal knowledge of the kind of people that Chad, Chad and Pat are have caused me to side with them in this whole thing and have made me biased.

Then I look at the evidence in the music.

I know that Ed took over the creative process from V up to present. That's when Live's music took a turn. Alive seems to be an extension of that. Live lost its way after TDTH - after Chad, Chad and Pat were excluded from the creative process.

I know that Chad, Chad and Pat came to Ed with the music for Like I Do, and when BoP was released, everyone freaked out about how great that one song was and how promising it was that Live might return to old form. That's because the old Live involved those three and they still got it.

Chad Taylor turned Ed on to classic blues music and wrote the music for God Don't Change. As a precursor to the Believe saga, Chad wrote some great music and Ed applied God lyrics to it. Again, after everyone heard God Don't Change, they thought that Live might come back to old form.

Chad, Chad and Pat came to Ed with the music for Believe, and Ed applied God lyrics to it. Again, everyone through that Live might come back to old form after they heard Believe.

Every concert that I have been to for the last 10 years, I have been blown away by the Chad, Chad and Pat moments - Lakini's Juice, White Discussion, etc. Not so much by the shirtless dancing during Sophia and nipple-exposed Wings diddy.

I've heard samples of much of TGF's new album, and it has more creativity and testosterone in one of its pubic hairs than all of The EK's solo music put together.

In other words, from my perspective, following this band way too closely than I would like to admit, I think that virtually everything great that has come out of Live over the last 10 years has been the glimmers of Chad, Chad and Pat's creativity breaking through. And Live's best work occured between 1992 and 1999, when all 4 members of the band worked on the music together and set out to conquer the world.

[SJN1279]

I keep going back in my mind to a conversation that I had with Chad Taylor a few years ago that really told me alot about how much these three guys supported Ed and devoted themselves to Live, even when the creative direction went down a path that they didn't agree with. After SFBM came out, I talked with Chad, and I said to him that I like the new album, but it doesn't have enough "Chad Taylor" in it. I said that I don't just mean that it doesn't have enough guitar or guitar solos, but that it seems to lack what he brings to the band. Chad said "yeah, I know what you mean, it's just not my time, that's all." He refused to say anything bad about it. I could tell that he was creatively stifled and I got the clear impression that he was loyally supporting Live. Even in this private, one on one conversation, he was very loyal and disciplined. I tried to talk with him about Barely Breathing and some other ventures he was involved in and he deflected talking about his other businesses and pursuits because he was there for Live that night and didn't want to distract attention away from Live. I don't mean to say that he brushed me off or anything. I was truly impressed with him and had the impression that he was a loyal band member who was really trying to support the band for the good of the band. I really gained a lot of respect for Chad that night. That happened to be the same night that Ed was unbelievably rude to me and treated me as if I wasn't even a fellow human being. Not very "spiritual" or "Christian". I've been lucky. I have met each member of Live many, many times. And I can say that my personal interactions with all 4 of them strongly inform my opinions of who are the good guys in this whole thing. I've seen Ed treat me and many others like crap. I've seen Chad, Chad, Pat and Adam hanging out together and with the roadies and managers before and after shows and Ed pulling the "rock star" attitude and blowing the others off. I have nothing but positive, impressive experiences with Chad, Chad and Pat. I've met plenty of famous people and I can honestly say that they were the most friendly, down to earth performers that I have met. My limited personal knowledge of the kind of people that Chad, Chad and Pat are have caused me to side with them in this whole thing and have made me biased.

Then I look at the evidence in the music.

I know that Ed took over the creative process from V up to present. That's when Live's music took a turn. Alive seems to be an extension of that. Live lost its way after TDTH - after Chad, Chad and Pat were excluded from the creative process.

I know that Chad, Chad and Pat came to Ed with the music for Like I Do, and when BoP was released, everyone freaked out about how great that one song was and how promising it was that Live might return to old form. That's because the old Live involved those three and they still got it.

Chad Taylor turned Ed on to classic blues music and wrote the music for God Don't Change. As a precursor to the Believe saga, Chad wrote some great music and Ed applied God lyrics to it. Again, after everyone heard God Don't Change, they thought that Live might come back to old form.

Chad, Chad and Pat came to Ed with the music for Believe, and Ed applied God lyrics to it. Again, everyone through that Live might come back to old form after they heard Believe.

Every concert that I have been to for the last 10 years, I have been blown away by the Chad, Chad and Pat moments - Lakini's Juice, White Discussion, etc. Not so much by the shirtless dancing during Sophia and nipple-exposed Wings diddy.

I've heard samples of much of TGF's new album, and it has more creativity and testosterone in one of its pubic hairs than all of The EK's solo music put together.

In other words, from my perspective, following this band way too closely than I would like to admit, I think that virtually everything great that has come out of Live over the last 10 years has been the glimmers of Chad, Chad and Pat's creativity breaking through. And Live's best work occured between 1992 and 1999, when all 4 members of the band worked on the music together and set out to conquer the world.

To be fair, recent meeting that I've had with Ed(2006-on) have been very positive.

The one wild card I see is Adam. Adam has always been very nice upon meeting. If Ed was such a horrible person, would he have made him best man in his wedding and joined his new band? If Ed really did such horrible things, don't you think Adam would have washed his hands clean of the situation and started fresh?

I also found it curious that Chad, Pat, and Chad didn't show at Adam's wedding. They worked with the guy for 10 years, but didn't attend due to a rift with his brother? Were they invited? If so, and they didn't attend, that was just a douche move in my eyes.

[FishOutaWater]

We don't know if they were invited to the wedding. I agree about Adam. He has shown me to be nothing but a great guy. But then again, Ed is his brother and I'm not surprised that he remained in touch with him.

To sum up my long post, here are my thoughts in a nutshell:

We have two sides. Based on my personal interactions with all 4 members of Live, it is my personal belief that there are 3 great guys on one side and 1 a-hole on the other side. The 3 good guys have given an explanation and the other guy hasn't said anything to rebut it. When information leaks out about this, I see it through a bias toward the 3 guys that I think are good, decent guys.

This post has been edited by FishOutaWater: May 4 2010, 3:03 pm

[SJN1279]

We don't know if they were invited to the wedding. I agree about Adam. He has shown me to be nothing but a great guy. But then again, Ed is his brother and I'm not surprised that he remained in touch with him.

To sum up my long post, here are my thoughts in a nutshell:

We have two sides. Based on my personal interactions with all 4 members of Live, it is my personal belief that there are 3 great guys on one side and 1 asshole on the other side. The 3 good guys have given an explanation and the other guy hasn't said anything to rebut it. When information leaks out about this, I see it through a bias toward the 3 guys that I think are good, decent guys.

Pat's a great guy to fans, Adam always very cordial, Chad G. very reserved, Chad T. and Ed have been hit and miss over the years for me(with Ed improving over time).

Fish, when was your last interaction with the guys?