Ed has no plans to rejoin LIVE, 6/8/11 Interview Options

[SJN1279]

http://166.70.44.73/sltrib/entertainment/5...html.csp?page=1

Q. What is your side of the story about why Live disbanded? Do you ever foresee working with your former band mates again?

A. I had simply come to the end of a chapter in my life and wanted to spread my wings and move beyond what I had been doing, in the same way, for almost 20 years. As far as the allegations that were leveled at me and purported as the reason for the breakup, they were all absolutely untrue. I have no plans to work with those individuals again. The spirit of Live is alive and well in my performances and my new material — come and see for yourself.

[Aitkens]

He makes Meg White sound like Neil Peart.

[FishOutaWater]

I think that on one level, Ed is not saying something hypocritical when he says that he needed a change from doing the same thing he had been doing for 20 years and that he needed to leave Live and go solo - but then he goes on to play Live songs in his shows. Because what he needed a change from is playing with CCP, being beholden to CCP to present the music to them and tolerate their input, and sharing revenue with CCP on albums and touring (which was probably still 25% each). Ed needed a change from the dynamic within Live, the economic deal that Live had and the friction between them. It also sounds like Ed was critical of Chad Taylor's guitar skills and the sound coming from the drums - based on comments made by CT and CG. It got to the point where CT was in tears and Gracey was ripping him a new a-hole for putting him behind plexiglass. Every time Ed presented CCP with his new music, they probably couldn't hold back their gag reflex and probably tried to no avail to get Ed rock the songs up a little. Every time CCP presented Ed with music that had testicles attached to it, like the riffs that turned into Believe and then Honest Man, Ed probably dressed it up in a skirt and put a crucifix on it. That probably turned the gag reflex into full on vomit right in Ed's face. As far as I'm concerned, CCP should have been the ones that should have wanted a change and wanted to move on - but Ed's voice and stage presence were Live and we've all seen how commercially viable it is to start over with a new band. In Ed's mind, all of Live's great music was solely attributable to him and not to CCP. In Ed's mind, he was the songwriter, lyricist, and frontman. It was all him. So in Ed's mind, he is the rightful owner of those songs and the rightful artist to play them and perform them for audiences and use them as leverage to sell tickets and promote his solo work. He didn't want to move on from Live and leave Live music in his past. He wanted to move on from CCP and leave them in his past. Now he has total creative control and freedom, and can take all the money he can for his shows and albums, after paying the back-up band the smallest amount that he can get away with without having them quit.