LIVE vs. the perception of SFBM Options

[flaterik]

There is a lot of talk going on about pop or not pop, old vs. new LIVE, etc. I for one am a bit disappointed in the finished product of the SFBM album, but now I realize why. I had heard some early versions of some of the new songs (don't know where ) and saw the boyz play some of the new stuff in New Jersey last November and I was stoked. Then I got my hands on the disk and...well... it tasted like a British Ale...flat and warm! Now on the weekend I saw the Rockpalast broadcast and WHAMO!! It was clear. I always knew the new songs were good (ok, average by LIVE standards, but still light years ahead of standard radio trash ), but the production on the album and the overzealous "accoustic version" marketing just killed them. Made them flat. The songs have their moments but just don't go anywhere. When you see the new songs played in concert you will know what I mean. Totally different energy!!!!

Any thoughts!?

[FishOutaWater]

I’m not here to pick a fight, but I get frustrated by what I read on this site by people who are supposed to be fans that don’t seem to appreciate what Live has done with SFBM. I’m afraid that SFBM is going right over the heads of most of the people on this site. I don’t even post on here any more because I’m starting to think that this site should be renamed from fansoflive.com to fansofthewaylivesoundedtenyearsago.com.

Waaah! Live doesn’t sound like they did from MJ through TDTH! Oh, I think I might like Night of Nights because it sounds kind of like Ghost and I liked that song 9 years ago. Wow, it’s got that cool echo singing and the tempo changes and it sounds dark.

I think that the people who complain about this album would the same kind of people that would stand on a quiet street by a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean on a clear beautiful evening as the sun sets over the ocean horizon, and they would have their back turned to the sunset to stare at a billboard on the street with a bikini clad model selling Heineken, while talking on their cell phone about where to go party with their friends.

SFBM requires some attention and understanding and appreciation. Wings, All I Need, Love Shines, and You Are Not Alone are really beautiful songs about universal, spiritual lessons of love and truth and they are richly entertaining and creative songs. But it doesn’t seem like many people here can appreciate that because you are waiting to be distracted by “shiny objects” like the same sound you heard from Live 7 to 15 years ago. Get over it! What Live is doing right now is really great if you open yourself to it and stop judging the band against your criteria of how it compares to their material 3 albums ago.

From MJ to SFBM, Live has evolved from searching for the path, to pointing out the hypocrisy of others who claim to own the only path, to finding the path, to being happy on the path, to describing to everyone what the path looks like.

Take five of the best songs from BoP and SFBM and you practically have a perfect album. How many other bands can you name that have done that on their 6th and 7th albums?!?!

Let’s look at a few of the songs that I happen to love and many here criticize. Please excuse me, but I am going to copy from a post I made on friendsoflive.com.

Wings Now to me, this is the best song Live has made since TDTH and holds up to any song they have made. I absolutely LOVE the message of this song. It is simple and pure and it makes me reflect. I believe that the lyrics to this song describe one of the basic messages that all spiritual traditions, whether Christianity or Buddhism or Hinduism, teach. And Ed has written it with one of the most clever and brilliant metaphors that I've ever heard. The essence of Wings is that a challenge or a difficult time in life can be the path to awakening, the door to salvation, the means for our transformation. Here are the lyrics:

Weighin' on your mind like a ball and chain
Like a destiny to run from
Division in your soul
Keepin' you from whole
I can't bear to see you cryin'

The weight that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home

Sometimes you've got to die to be born again
Sometimes you've got to fight
Sometimes you've got to learn
Sometimes you've got to burn the old brush out, so the new can grow

The weight that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home

I've heard this principle described a hundred times in books and talks. When there is a difficult person in your life, a challenge to your peace, this may be exactly what you need at this moment to awaken. That weight on your shoulders may really be a gift. And the way Ed describes this as the "wings that carry you home" is just so beautiful. Really amazing stuff. Great song.

Love Shines This is a great, amazing description of the spirit that created and surrounds us all. The ever-present radiant clarity of light and love that is always there and has always been there. The spirit that all spiritual teachers like Jesus and the Buddha have spoken of. I've never heard a songwriter tackle such an ambitious subject in a song. It's a song about what God is. Great song.

All I Need I really enjoy this song. That music in the background that carries the melody sort of reminds me of Genesis or some of the early alternative new wave songs in the eighties or something. I can't put my finger on it but it sounds familiar. I really like it.

I like the line "Open your heart you can find your own way/I found they're all the same". Maybe I'm just looking for some deep spiritual message in Live's music, but I think that on the surface this song might sound like a guy singing to a girl that his love for her is here to stay, but it's meaning is deeper below the surface than that. Ed has said that the album was written about the female spirit as the universe that emanates and shines. Maybe I'm off base but I think that Ed is saying that he has found "love", the spirit of the creator, and it is now with him to stay. Look back at that line "Open your heart you can find your own way/I found they're all the same". Maybe this song is saying that you can pick a wisdom tradition as a path and if it is the right one for you, it will help you to apprehend the love and light of the universe. Ed has realized, as many have, that all of the paths are the same. They all lead to the same love and light. "Now I'm sitting here like a Buddha in this chair/Watch'in your spectacle unfold/I'm sorry I don't mean to stare/But baby now/My love is hear to stay". To me, those lines are directed to the spirit, personified as a female, and the lyrics say that I'm observing the world around me "watch'in your spectacle unfold" and I found love and it is hear to stay. Maybe I'm nuts, but that's what I think this song may be getting at. Anyway, I really like it.

You Are Not Alone Love this song. To me, it's about how so many people in the world go through life, following society, with their eyes closed just "stand'in in line/Tugg'in on society's coat"... "Like they ain't never gonna get old"... "Fak'in smiles, just the rank and file" and they are asleep. Too many people are going about their days asleep, not living in the present, not awake to the beauty and mystery of life. Too many people live each day like they have an infinite number of days on this earth, taking for granted the beauty and the simplicity of the world around them.

As many others here have said, I think Night of Nights is great. I really love Where Do We Go From Here. I think The River is a really catchy tune that I enjoy every time I hear it and I haven't gotten the least bit sick of the song after a thousand listens. I don't dislike the other songs, but I don't love them like the ones I mentioned. So that's about 7 songs that I think are really amazing on this album, which makes it an amazing album. Not everyone will agree with my opinion.

Does SFBM have faults? Yes. Is this an album that will immediately appeal to a mainstream audience and have commercial success like Throwing Copper? I'm don't really think it is. But is SFBM an album that a Live fan can thoroughly enjoy and love? I say absolutely yes!

[Costakoui]

I’m not here to pick a fight, but I get frustrated by what I read on this site by people who are supposed to be fans that don’t seem to appreciate what Live has done with SFBM.

I am with you. I agree with most points. Though, I disagree with your selection of the best songs from SFBM, I have already said that if Live merged BoP and SFBM into one album, it would be one of the best of the decade.

Many fans in this forum have said that SFBM lyrics are not deep and are uninspired but they have never clarified what they mean. Very often a simple straight-forward sentence is much deeper than a metaphoric one which requires interpretation. To me, depth is about giving meaning to people regardless of its form (metaphoric or straight forward).

Live is an amazing band because it still writes catchy songs, offers variety and meaningful lyrics. Yes, SFBM is weaker than TC but compared to TC the vast majority of albums in music stores are very weak.

Keep posting here. It is good when fans have the opportunity to read the other side of the spectrum; it makes them think (I hope it does).