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!?

[Alex]

SFBM sounds like perfect, and IS perfect.
The production is absolutely perfect
There is nothing shallow and a lot to appreciate on SFBM- it's all deep level, and a pretty deep level at that. If you cannot find that is lack of imagination.

Why should it annoy people that not everyone has the same opinions? I absolutely love Live's newest offering and I still love the first four albums. I have just as much right to express my opinion as people that hate the album. Bad for them.... I am glad I don’t hate it, really.

Btw, to the people that HATE the SFBM production... do you know what bad production is? I mean, its a subjective matter but it doesnt change the fact that SFBM is nicely produced with much life and feeling.

Lol, ywot? That didn't even make any sense... were you trying to be clever? Look, please tell me what I'm supposed to find on another level about SFBM. With lyrics like these...

On a crystal clear blue morning
There is a peace that only you can know
It is truth and love and it is always there
Even if you fall down
Even if you fall down
Love Shines

Oh it shines
Like an eternal sun it shines
Oh love shines
Like an eternal sun it shines

Think of gentle Jesus
Think of the Buddha underneath his tree
They taught the world about love and how we all can be
How we can all be free
Open our hearts and see
Love shine

and the most typical boring chord progressions you can come up with, what am I supposed to find? Do you think it makes you more intelligent because you can apparently appreciate something beyond these pathetic lyrics and uninspiring melodies?

[FishOutaWater]

Lol, ywot? That didn't even make any sense... were you trying to be clever? Look, please tell me what I'm supposed to find on another level about SFBM. With lyrics like these...

On a crystal clear blue morning
There is a peace that only you can know
It is truth and love and it is always there
Even if you fall down
Even if you fall down
Love Shines

Oh it shines
Like an eternal sun it shines
Oh love shines
Like an eternal sun it shines

Think of gentle Jesus
Think of the Buddha underneath his tree
They taught the world about love and how we all can be
How we can all be free
Open our hearts and see
Love shine

and the most typical boring chord progressions you can come up with, what am I supposed to find? Do you think it makes you more intelligent because you can apparently appreciate something beyond these pathetic lyrics and uninspiring melodies?

Anybody can look at the liner notes of any album by any artist and pick out the most obvious lyrics with the least amount of metaphorical interpretation, and then genralize that into a statement that the entire album is simple and lacks creativity. I could do that with any album. But there is a great deal of depth on SFBM as a whole. And even the lyrics to Love Shines, while perhaps lacking in double meaning, are ambitious and meaningful and personal. Writing a song about what God is, and doing it well, as Ed did with Love Shines, is no small creative undertaking. Ed is saying that God is not some dogma or set of rules and beliefs to follow and there is no one true religion that has the only path to God. God is the everpresent, radiant love that has existed for all time; it is the love and peace that Jesus and the Buddha and all spiritual teachers have spoken of, that can be found in the stillness of a quiet morning.

If SFBM says one thing to me, it is the following (and this is going to get pretty deep, so I'm sorry for going off the deep end)... These beautiful songs are an artistic expression of the realization that the present moment is all there is, and the full potential of the present moment, as realized through the undiscriminating awareness of pure consciousness, is pefect and vast and one with everything, and is that from which springs infinite love and compassion.

If you read and listen to the interviews with the band, and you yourself read and listen to the wisdom teachings of all religions from which Ed and the band have drawn (which they have spoken about in interviews), then the lyrics to SFBM will not be trite or shallow. They may actually mean more to you than a person who is unaware (or ignorant) of this background and wisdom.

Likewise, I could point to the guitar chords in any song and say "look at those guitar chords, they are simple guitar chords". But I have found layers of music and creativity in SFBM, certainly much more than that in BoP. There is much more there than any one isolated guitar chord sequence you can point to. I think the musical compositions on SFBM compare favorable to TDTH.

If there is one problem with SFBM it is the producer. Just like on BoP, the guitars sound like an electric razor, buzzing perfectly, and the whole album is too polished. I think as much as I like these songs, I would be totally blown away by the album if it had a rougher sound, like more of a band just jamming, instead of some great songs that have been filtered, purified, strained and pureed in a cuisinart.

[pizan0]

Anybody can look at the liner notes of any album by any artist and pick out the most obvious lyrics with the least amount of metaphorical interpretation, and then genralize that into a statement that the entire album is simple and lacks creativity. I could do that with any album. But there is a great deal of depth on SFBM as a whole. And even the lyrics to Love Shines, while perhaps lacking in double meaning, are ambitious and meaningful and personal. Writing a song about what God is, and doing it well, as Ed did with Love Shines, is no small creative undertaking. Ed is saying that God is not some dogma or set of rules and beliefs to follow and there is no one true religion that has the only path to God. God is the everpresent, radiant love that has existed for all time; it is the love and peace that Jesus and the Buddha and all spiritual teachers have spoken of, that can be found in the stillness of a quiet morning.

If SFBM says one thing to me, it is the following (and this is going to get pretty deep, so I'm sorry for going off the deep end)... These beautiful songs are an artistic expression of the realization that the present moment is all there is, and the full potential of the present moment, as realized through the undiscriminating awareness of pure consciousness, is pefect and vast and one with everything, and is that from which springs infinite love and compassion.

If you read and listen to the interviews with the band, and you yourself read and listen to the wisdom teachings of all religions from which Ed and the band have drawn (which they have spoken about in interviews), then the lyrics to SFBM will not be trite or shallow. They may actually mean more to you than a person who is unaware (or ignorant) of this background and wisdom.

Likewise, I could point to the guitar chords in any song and say "look at those guitar chords, they are simple guitar chords". But I have found layers of music and creativity in SFBM, certainly much more than that in BoP. There is much more there than any one isolated guitar chord sequence you can point to. I think the musical compositions on SFBM compare favorable to TDTH.

If there is one problem with SFBM it is the producer. Just like on BoP, the guitars sound like an electric razor, buzzing perfectly, and the whole album is too polished. I think as much as I like these songs, I would be totally blown away by the album if it had a rougher sound, like more of a band just jamming, instead of some great songs that have been filtered, purified, strained and pureed in a cuisinart.

Beautiful post! Very eloquent and thorough...plus I agree with much of your point of view.