what would have made V better? Options

[fearisnottheend]

Hey ya'll! I'm new to the board but i'm not a new fan. I've been hooked since 95. I saw them for the first time in Birmingham, Alabama in 97. I've seen them 9 times total. I used to post on the subculture of dreams message board. I was so excited when i found out about this board.


My least favorite LIVE album is V. I really feel like there are alot of good things about the album mixed in with a few things that just didn't work for me.

If i could change some things about V, i would start with taking out the keyboards and samples. No offense to Railo but i just didn't like it. It worked on TDTH but not on V (in my opinion).

I would completely remove Deep Enough, FMNBLE, and Ok. Just don't care for them at all. Also, Overcome wouldn't be on it either but more on that in a minute.

I would take out all the rap on the album. All the "puppy scruff", "write a song so good it make a midget grow", "bowh bowh everybody in the hotel", all that stuff. Ed is a great songwriter and frontman. He can and has done MUCH better than that.

Overcome would have the whole band on it instead of the piano and orchestra stuff. I heard a clip of LIVE doing this song at a Tibet House function years back. It was "haunting". Totally different sound from what they put out. I would have put it on TDTH. I met Ed a few years back after a show on the TDTH tour. I asked about Overcome and he said they were saving it for the next album. Wish they wouldn't have.

Anyways, I think V has some GREAT guitar riffs. It could have been a really strong album. I listen to it and try to ignore the lyrics.

What do ya'll think?

Most important

[seriakiLLa]

Hi, welcome!

I think just the combo of good old guitar, bass, drums, and the classic Ed-style of singing would've made this sound more pleasant.

[WaiterAtCliftons]

Oh boy thank god Beau hasn't seen this yet. He thinks "V" is gods greatest gift to Live fans. He will totally disagree about how much anyone dislikes the album.

[beau99]

Oh boy thank god Beau hasn't seen this yet. He thinks "V" is gods greatest gift to Live fans.

Not true at all.

I dislike half of the album, to be honest. I just think the songs I like on it are just fun to listen to.

He will totally disagree about how much anyone dislikes the album.

I honestly dislike the lack of bass and real drums and the bad lyrics.

It's just fun to listen to, that's all.

[serene23]

Not true at all.

I dislike half of the album, to be honest. I just think the songs I like on it are just fun to listen to.


I honestly dislike the lack of bass and real drums and the bad lyrics.

It's just fun to listen to, that's all.

Well, yes, the rapping is crap, but tolerable, and as someone else said, stupid fun. The album is best if not taken too seriously, because it does have some great guitar work. I actually enjoy "Deep Enough" and "Ok"!!! It was different and they were trying for something different. I hate "Call Me A Fool" and not too fond of "Nobody Knows". I heard "Overcome" at the CHameleon at a preview show for "The DIstance to Here" and I thought it sounded brilliant with the whole band and slide guitar. Then at some benefit, he was joined by Natalie Merchant, it was haunting. As it is on the cd its okay, a bit overblown.

I think that they need to hole themselves up for a few months somewhere secluded and write an album TOGETHER as a band and have someone monitor Ed to keep the cheese factor down a bit. They sound best with that dark edgem like " Lakinis Juice" , "Unsheathed", "Voodoo Lady" and "Where Fishes Go". "V" was just too out there and strange. I am a fan of Keyboard and Synth, and it was used well in "Unsheathed" from "ss"

[mattdm11]

as someone earlier said...its a fun album to listen to. i think deep enough has a clever hook to it....not a big fan of people like you or like a soldier....but i really enjoy simple creed, deep enough, FMNBLE, the ride, overcome....its not lives best, but i think it blows away SFBM. at least there was an edge there....not ed saying "love" 10 times in every song.

[Grandpa Grizz]

If half of the songs were as good as the other half, it would have been a lot better.

[fearisnottheend]

Its cool to be able to discuss LIVE with other people that love the band as much as i do.

Call Me a Fool is pretty bad to me. It could have been left off.

Its funny to me.........in People Like You: "Were the boys in Live, were pissing in the main stream...."

Wasn't trying to rap and doing a collaboration with Tricky basically trying to be mainstream?

I will say this, i'd rather listen to LIVE's worst album than most band's best album.

[mfitz804]

Its probably my least favorite Live album, but I do like it.

I've seen a lot of people on this board criticize it, but I think that you have to take it for what it is. If you sit down and overanalyze every note and every lyric, it does not compare to Live's other material. If you just kick back, relax, and listen to it, it is enjoyable.

I've seen people on the board say that it was a "rap rock" record, or that there is too much of a rap element on the album. While I agree that Ed has no business rapping, there's probably about 30 seconds worth of rap-like material on the whole record. It doesn't really offend me very much.

In fact, I wonder if the people on this board who hate SFBM also hate V. the main argument I have heard is too much "love" not enough rock. A lot of songs on V rocked pretty hard.

There were some bad lyrics on V. There are some bad lyrics on every Live album. Probably on every album. Big deal.

So, I view V as a departure from Live's usual material which they thought was a good idea but didn't quite pan out. As I said, its probably my least favorite of their albums. But its still there, it is what it is, and I listen to it and I enjoy it. There are times where I feel like listening to V over anything else.

Someone in this thread described it as weird and out there, and I think that is apt. And I think its ok to be weird and out there sometimes.

[sandkind]

i personally love V and at times it is my favorite, but my favorite constantly changes. a lot of the songs on V have an edge to them that i enjoy. as i have said before, lyrics are the last thing i pay attention to in a song, but when i finally got into the lyrics of V they cracked me up. i still like V overall much better than BOP or SFBM, although i do like those also. i agree that there is very little rap on it, and what little there is for me works, but this is far from a rap/rock album.

[fearisnottheend]

Yeah, i totally agree that the lyrics on V overall are not completely "rap" but there is too much on there for my taste.

I guess its just the overall message of the lyrics. Songs like Deep Enough and Transmit seem somehow average lyrically to most of live's other songs.

How much time did he put in to the lyric "with LIVE its game 7 every single night" ? There are tons of examples like that on the album.

That being said, its fun to crank the speakers and listen to the riffs on most of the songs.
I absolutely love the part in Transmit where Chad goes off when Ed is singing "Tell your leaders love is in town". Unbelievable.

Thanks for the responses.

[Grandpa Grizz]

I will say this, i'd rather listen to LIVE's worst album than most band's best album.

No kidding. That's the way I am with Rush too.

On that other thread where we ranked the albums, V was number three for me. I never even listen to about half of it, because I just really don't like those songs. But the strength of the songs I do like make V a great album for me. This is what I program:

Transmit Your Love
Forever May Not Be Long Enough
Flow
The Ride!
Nobody Knows
Overcome
Hero Of Love

To me each of these are great songs on a global scale.

[beau99]

Wasn't trying to rap and doing a collaboration with Tricky basically trying to be mainstream?

Trying to rap? Yeah.

Collaborating with Tricky? He's everything EXCEPT mainstream.

[Lively Chick]

I absolutely love the part in Transmit where Chad goes off when Ed is singing "Tell your leaders love is in town". Unbelievable.

Thats my fav part of the song. I love,love Ed's vocals also, He just get all gritty with it. Honestly, I listen to that song just to hear that part. And yeah I get to hear it twice cause he repeats it.

[sherocker]

Trying to rap? Yeah.

Collaborating with Tricky? He's everything EXCEPT mainstream.

hell yeah!



for the record...I LOVE V!!

This post has been edited by sherocker: May 29 2006, 3:47 am