Ed Kowalczyk address Lawsuits and LIVE, Article 8/27/12 Options

[Merica]

Bringing Ed back into Live would be a terrible decision. He's not interested in (or capable of?) writing the kind of good quality music we want (source: Alive), and his performances are cringeworthy and often embarrassing. The casual fans who want Ed back are wrong, and for me their views don't count. They don't understand the situation - they're ignorant. They're always welcome to join in, but shouldn't have a say in anything like this. They're not suitably equipped to weigh in. The 20 year die hard veteran should always come before the casual hits-junkie.

I'll be horrified if they bring him back. With Shinn, even with the re-recorded classics, it suddenly felt fresh again. Like a real band, not an ego (who ruins his own songs) and three musicians. It's new, it's exciting, it can be raw, collaborative, powerful, unpredictable. Live with Shinn is absolutely the way to go. To hell with any fan who just wants to turn up and see the grinning bald man sing Lightning Crashes.

[Wambangalang]

why are we even debating this (apart from the fact ed suddenly decided to respond to the media instead of his friend chad taylor who has been trying to contact him for a year without a response) when Live is currently recording/mixing/whatevering their brand new album!!!!

[+Ed+]

I think this thread could be merged together with that huge thread about the copyright infrigement.

[+Ed+]

whatevering

This one goes into my vocabulary.


"Sorry, I can not answer the phone. I am whatevering"


"Nah, I am not going to the gig with you. I plan on whatevering my girlfriend"


"Stop whatevering in public, son!"

[SJN1279]

The majority of fans want Ed back, Ed now wants to come back, and Chad Taylor has said that Ed is always welcome back. Things have gotten interesting.

They can work with Shinn on a project and release whatever music that the are working on, but LIVE should be the four original members. This is the time for the four of them to work it out and collaborate on a new tour.

What killed LIVE was overtouring in the later years, now the guys have side projects where they can still be LIVE and do other things.

This post has been edited by SJN1279: Aug 28 2012, 7:15 am

[Wambangalang]

just rep me up and we can call it even steven's

[Wambangalang]

actually what killed Live was ed leaving and declaring that he had done "the same old thing" and that it was an "end of chapter" and that he was "really excited" about his new phase in life.

but i digress, i like Ed a lot, love his voice and a couple of songs he's done. Just dont want him associated with, or spoiling this new incarnation of Live.

Live Live's!!! (as in livs) - new album title?????

[SJN1279]

actually what killed Live was ed leaving and declaring that he had done "the same old thing" and that it was an "end of chapter" and that he was "really excited" about his new phase in life.

Ed never intended to leave LIVE. He was actually writing solo music and new LIVE concurrently. His decision to release a solo album wasn't popular within the band, and it was the catalyst for their rift.

That said, that was over three years ago. They aren't getting any younger, and they should at least consider reforming and see if things can be worked out. They are stronger together than apart.

[Aitkens]

What killed Live was Ed. Plain and simple, Ed poured gasoline on Live, Ed lit the match. Ed walked away and watched it burn. Fuck Ed.

He didn't want anything to do with Chad, Chad, and Pat for the last few years. Wanted nothing to do with Live, as long as he could still play Live's music and bill himself as EK from Live. Now that he can't bill himself falsely, he wants to come crawling back. He's a complete piece of shit.

[OutToDry]

actually what killed Live was ed leaving and declaring that he had done "the same old thing" and that it was an "end of chapter" and that he was "really excited" about his new phase in life.

but i digress, i like Ed a lot, love his voice and a couple of songs he's done. Just dont want him associated with, or spoiling this new incarnation of Live.

Live Live's!!! (as in livs) - new album title?????

Let's stop this charade already. Ed wanted gone, solo, he had his direction, he had control, he gave them an ultimatum to leave unless the contracts were reworked. Now he's saying he never intended to leave. What he have here is when a person like Ed is pushed into a corner and made to face the music, he's looking silly. He'll say anything to the public to make it look like the other 3 are the ones holding this back. It's quite the contrary as the article states at the bottom. It would boggle the mind, it's a spin of epic proportions. Im not at liberty to say but just imagine a few things in the nature of behavior, control, delusion and ego.

[possum]

Fortunately for us CCP called Ed's bluff and moved on. Holy shit - there is life/music without Ed.

Ed claiming he wants back in Live should only help us out. Maybe we get a tour date, single or something a little sooner then expected? Hopefully these walls still have eyes & ears.

This post has been edited by possum: Aug 28 2012, 8:10 am

[Merica]

The majority of fans want Ed back, Ed now wants to come back, and Chad Taylor has said that Ed is always welcome back. Things have gotten interesting.

They're mostly casual fans who are ignorant to what's actually gone/going on and as such shouldn't be listened to. I don't care if this seems to be belittling fans who aren't as die hard - because it's true. Casual fans don't know that Ed is now a God-loving embarrassment who is light-years removed from the talented front man he once was. They'd prefer THAT over the potential for Shinn with CCP? As I say, ignorant, and not to be listened to.

They can work with Shinn on a project and release whatever music that the are working on, but LIVE should be the four original members. This is the time for the four of them to work it out and collaborate on a new tour.

What killed LIVE was overtouring in the later years, now the guys have side projects where they can still be LIVE and do other things.

No, Live is now CCP and Shinn - Live hasn't been really Live with the four original members since 2000. Ed changed and slowly killed the band. Ed returning does not take Live back to the glory days. It takes them back to the embarrassing WHAT THE FUCK days where Heaven / The River is a single and Ed takes centre stage to a ridiculous degree and Live are a has-been joke.

That said, that was over three years ago. They aren't getting any younger, and they should at least consider reforming and see if things can be worked out. They are stronger together than apart.

Incorrect. The latter Live albums with all three sucked absolute balls compared to the earlier albums where they actually were working *together* - something which Ed made clear in their latter days that he wasn't interested in. Since Ed left, the gulf in talent has only become clearer. Ed is rubbish, CCP can bring the goods. Bringing Ed back into Live would be serious regression in terms of the music itself, which is all that matters. Commercial pursuits should mean absolutely nothing when it comes to making this decision. Not a single thing.

CCP are a strong core. With Shinn in the fold Live is refreshed, unpredictable, a real band again capable of making great music with integrity and depth. With Ed, they're taking on a serious weak link which will hamper progression.

[alexou]

When you are commited to a band and to your fans, you don't play the same setlist night after night after night because you are too lazy to get to a room and to rehearse some of your old songs. For a band like Live, it is even harder to forgive because you can't say that the songs need a high technical level to play them. Who do we have to blame for that? Everyone for sure. So we can say that the band wasn't very commited since at least 2000. Even the setlists for the TDTH tour were pretty static.

I read a nice interview with Mike Mccready (Pearl Jam) about their desire to play different songs every night. This is commitment, communication and shows some effort to rehearse a couple of weeks per year prior to touring.

Ed is out, and, whatever if he was pushed or did it himself, it helped CCP to gain their creativity back. TGF show they were still capable to create without being controlled. Because if you listen to SFBM, no doubt that CCP were castrated. They should have fled from this, they didn't and sadly for them, it is on their CV forever.

I will always give a listen to Ed, because it is my favorite voice to hear, not the best, only my favorite. But I don't want him back, I want to hear what the guys can produce without having him dictate everything, because I don't believe they can collaborate like old times. Blood was spilled and damages are irreversible for me. A reunion after one record...maybe I'm not all closed to it, but I want to hear Live with CS once. The March show was too good. I want to see more of it with more darker songs.

[FishOutaWater]

What killed Live wasn't Ed leaving Live. Live became brain dead and was put on life support long before that. What killed Live was the end of collaboration between all four members - and that was caused by Ed. Ed saw himself as the sole driving force and talent behind Live and its success and he drove CCP out of the creative process. As a result, we got the last three albums which are clearly distinguishable from the first four. What followed next was the ultimatum, the financial disparity, the break-down in communication and cooperation and then the Ed solo tour, and then the hiatus, and then the break-up and then the lawsuits and then Chris Shinn as the new lead singer. But I know that I am not the only one here who thinks that The Band Live was brain dead when we got Birds of Pray and a tour setlist that was identical at every show, and the band did not arrive at shows together, sit together in the dressing room, leave together or travel together any more (meaning that CCP and the roadies and everybody else did, but Ed went his separate ways), and Ed was taking home 75% of the profits. The difference between Throwing Copper and Birds of Pray and SFBM is the difference between being alive and being dead. And Ed was the main cause of that.

BUT - you know what else is dead right now? Live's public relations and promotion around the new album. I was thinking about it this morning. I follow Chris Shinn on Twitter. I hope and eagerly await some sort of comment from him about Live. The guy is the new lead singer of his favorite band and my favorite band - Live! He just recorded vocal tracks in the studio for a new album. You would think that he would be excited and he would try to get some promotion. And I'll be DAMNED if I haven't seen more tweets about his f*cking cats and about his friends' bands playing local clubs than I have seen him mention his own band Live, or the excitement over the vocal tracks, etc. Why doesn't he point that iPhone with the Instagram app in the direction of a Live band member every once in a while?!?! Now I admit that I am not on Facebook and maybe Chris Shinn is promoting the hell out of Live's new album being recorded for all the world to see - but I find it a little odd that he seems to be going out of his way to keep his supposed excitement and experiences with Live a big secret. What kind of way is this to get any momentum with the fans of Live? I am really frustrated with the apathy this band shows its fans. What is going on?!?!? I think the whole way that Live is handling its fans during this period is a little wierd.

This post has been edited by FishOutaWater: Aug 28 2012, 9:04 am

[thefunkyredcaboose]

They're mostly casual fans who are ignorant to what's actually gone/going on and as such shouldn't be listened to. I don't care if this seems to be belittling fans who aren't as die hard - because it's true. Casual fans don't know that Ed is now a God-loving embarrassment who is light-years removed from the talented front man he once was. They'd prefer THAT over the potential for Shinn with CCP? As I say, ignorant, and not to be listened to.
No, Live is now CCP and Shinn - Live hasn't been really Live with the four original members since 2000. Ed changed and slowly killed the band. Ed returning does not take Live back to the glory days. It takes them back to the embarrassing WHAT THE FUCK days where Heaven / The River is a single and Ed takes centre stage to a ridiculous degree and Live are a has-been joke.
Incorrect. The latter Live albums with all three sucked absolute balls compared to the earlier albums where they actually were working *together* - something which Ed made clear in their latter days that he wasn't interested in. Since Ed left, the gulf in talent has only become clearer. Ed is rubbish, CCP can bring the goods. Bringing Ed back into Live would be serious regression in terms of the music itself, which is all that matters. Commercial pursuits should mean absolutely nothing when it comes to making this decision. Not a single thing.

CCP are a strong core. With Shinn in the fold Live is refreshed, unpredictable, a real band again capable of making great music with integrity and depth. With Ed, they're taking on a serious weak link which will hamper progression.

Merica - why bother?