Live reveal new EP title - "Local 717" Options

[jonesy]

The first 30-40 seconds of brother is awesome, then the vocals take it somewhere else. Need a week to decide

[dangum]

Is Waterfalls available on youtube or elsewhere so that i can listen to it before i buy? The sample does not help much.

It's all on Spotify. Free to sign up.

For those who want a physical copy you can pre-order CD and autographed vinyl copies of the EP on the freaks4live.com site.

$8 for CD
$20 for vinyl
$50 for autographed vinyl

Won't be available for a while though.

[Costakoui]

The first 30-40 seconds of brother is awesome, then the vocals take it somewhere else. Need a week to decide

I see what you mean. To my ears, Brother, together with LIke I Do, is the best song Live made since TDTH and it would fir perfectly on that album.

[Wambangalang]

It's all on Spotify. Free to sign up.

For those who want a physical copy you can pre-order CD and autographed vinyl copies of the EP on the freaks4live.com site.

$8 for CD
$20 for vinyl
$50 for autographed vinyl

Won't be available for a while though.

I ordered the CD today. After shipping and conversion to $AUD it came to 35 bucks

[Hoodstock]

I ordered the CD today. After shipping and conversion to $AUD it came to 35 bucks

Yes, the shipping being charged for anything from their store is ridiculous.

[Pingfah]

Yes, the shipping being charged for anything from their store is ridiculous.

I'm going to wait and see if it turns up on Amazon or Ebay.

EP is currently at no.15 Amazon Digital Albums chart. Guess it's doing OK.

[Hoodstock]

Have a question for everyone. This is where they left off. If HM was never released and there was a 6th song how do you think this would have fit in on the EP?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZqT0stibWs

Is this on par with where they are now?

This post has been edited by Hoodstock: Oct 13 2018, 7:47 am

[Pingfah]

Have a question for everyone. This is where they left off. If HM was never released and there was a 6th song how do you think this would have fit in on the EP?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZqT0stibWs

Is this on par with where they are now?

Considering it already fitted in just great on The Gracious Few, I would say, I'm glad that's where it fitted in.

It's a great riff, but Kev's vocals made that track.

This post has been edited by Pingfah: Oct 13 2018, 7:53 am

[Costakoui]

Have a question for everyone. This is where they left off. If HM was never released and there was a 6th song how do you think this would have fit in on the EP?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZqT0stibWs

Is this on par with where they are now?

It would be the second best after Brother.

[Merica]

I'm dumb, what's HM?

[Pingfah]

I'm dumb, what's HM?

Honest Man. They reworked it for the Gracious Few album.

It's a good question, but it's too late for me to separate it from that track. In any case Honest Man would be the best track on the EP.

This post has been edited by Pingfah: Oct 13 2018, 8:38 am

[Frasbul]

I finally got to listen to it about 20 times.
For me Waterfall sounds like BOP song. The verses don't sound like an Ed solo album effort at all.
Brother reminds of Vine Street and all those rock songs that got cut off TDTH.

Brother is definitely the best song, and probably the best "rock" song since TDTH.
I still hate the production though.

[SJN1279]

Honest Man. They reworked it for the Gracious Few album.

It's a good question, but it's too late for me to separate it from that track. In any case Honest Man would be the best track on the EP.

I disagree with that statement.

I'm really digging the EP. The songs are all different, and basically give listeners a buffet of music to choose from. Somehow it all flows together too.

[mattyeagles]

I give the EP 6/10. There some high points but overall could’ve and should’ve been much better given how much time it took to be released. If this came out in early 2017 right after the reunion announcement, that would be different. They clearly thought this was their best effort after 2 years and that’s discouraging.

My ranking of songs:

1. Brother - really good song, up there with Lighthouse and Rivertown in regards to quality. Has elements of old +Live+ with a newer sound. The production is bad but everything else is really good. Nicely done. Will be great in concert.

2. Be a Giver, Man - I actually like this more and more as time goes on. The music and chorus is really good. I like when they slow it down at the end and then pick it back up. I cant for the life of me understand how they start the song “with a little tiny baby” line and then”two to tango” in the second verse. Those versus are horrible. Overall a good song though with good energy. Could be very solid in concert.

3. Love Lounge - good rocker, nothing more and nothing less. Doesn’t have any elements of my favorite band but is a solid listen nonetheless. I have no idea why the band thinks this song is so great. Was good in concert but dont need to hear again.

4. Waterfalls - Fine song. Would be average on Alive and one of the worst songs on TFATM. Def a step backwards from TFATM and I have no clue why they would include this on the EP. Again, not a bad song, but its nothing special and very disappointing that this is 1 of4 new songs they decide to release after 2 years. Just another bizarre move by the band since they reunited. No interest in hearing in concert.

N/A Venus in Furs - I really like the mood and the obscure lyrics, reminds me of SS. I would be encouraged if Live wrote this song but they didn’t so its a non factor for me. Given their propensity towards short set lists, hope they don’t perform this in concert. Would prefer literally any song from MM - TDTH plus all the B-sides over this one.

Overall, decent effort I guess. For 2 years together, its just not good enough, and the melodies are weak. They say they are trying to go in a new direction but then include Waterfalls which is no different that SFBM or Alive and worse than Ed’s most recent solo efforts, including The Garden. I will obviously continue to support the band, they are still my favorite, but I was hoping for a lot more. Hopefully they do a headlining tour in small venues, develop sharper song-writing and come out with a more complete LP in 2019.

This post has been edited by mattyeagles: Oct 13 2018, 4:22 pm

[thefunkyredcaboose]

I gave this thing a fair shot and to me it is huge step down from The Turn (which I loved about half of).

What surprised me most of all about it is that Ed isn't really the problem here. I mean, yeah, the lyrics are super cheesy but his voice mostly sounds pretty good. I do feel like the melodies are not very strong, but I don't know that that is Ed's fault.

Where they lost me here is that the songs just come off as aimless chunks mashed together. I can respect trying something new but it is all over the place and not in a good way. Part of it is that the mix isn't super tight, but the larger problem is that the songs don't have the kind of direction that Live usually had even on their worst efforts. I have no idea who wrote what here, but there are a lot of times where it sounds like Ed couldn't come up with a cool melody to go over the aimlessness happening around him.

The other big issue, that I will admittedly probably not listen enough to fully assess, is that most of the time the guitars don't even sound like CT. CT has never been the best guitarist but his big chunky riffs and emotional style is a major part of Live's sound. What's-his-name seems like a good guitarist but his playing is so fucking generic that it is hard to even tell this is Live. It's a shame too because some of CT's moments on TGF and The Turn were the best stuff he has ever recorded to me (Honest Man, Trecedim, By Design).

Now someone could say that CT was paired with Sean on TGF and I loved that (I do!). That was a different band and honestly - you hear WAY more of CT on that record. Those two styles complimented each other so well. And Sean has way more style than generic-guitar-guy-I'm-sure-he's-a-nice-dude-but-who-cares.

Along with that, I don't get the two drummer thing either. It doesn't take me out of the songs like the other guitarist does, but it does make me shake my head.

So even though I pretty much hate this and will never listen to it again (seriously it is down there with SFBM for me), I left my time with it... slightly encouraged? I feel like if they did these simple things:

1. Remember that they are LIVE and the four of them kick ass together without additional members.
2. Get Jerry Harrison in to produce the next record and spend money on the production.
3. Don't confuse "hey look we have loud rock guitars" with the Live rock sound, which was always very melodic above all the meaty riffs. Write songs, not music.

Then they just may have something that would be worth listening to.

I still don't love the rapid dissolution of TGF or the "let's wipe Shinn's work off the earth" moves from these guys, but it'd be nice for them to find their way as the original lineup for the first time since TDTH.