Lady Bhang - What Will It Mean? Options

[fightingwithclay]

Is this self produced? It's unskilled, muddy uninspired stuff. Songwriting is not the greatest either. Sounds 717-esque.

It was produced by Zak Loy and Nick Jay, but they both have backgrounds in producing before they started touring with Live...I think the production sounds fine, nothing bad stuck out to me.
Song was written by Ed.

[717raised]

meh.... Didn't do anything for me. At least the song picked up on the second half.

[Plive]

A good song …but I still miss the old low tempo intro but yet aggressive and then… BAM uptempo releasing all feelings escalated together with Chad Gracey crazy good drumming into an explosion of pure rock!!!

[mattyeagles]

I like the song a lot, it’s a solid rock song with a bluesy feel. I agree that it doesn’t sound like +Live+ but I’m definitely enjoying it. Hope Ed explorers more spiritual topics on the upcoming album but we will see.

This is not important but I could actually see this song doing decent on the radio. That won’t happen because it’s not 1999 but it is catchy and is fun to listen to in the car.

[Pingfah]

He's got to be fucking with us with all these water analogies. I was just joking the other day about how there are still a few water related things he hasn't mentioned yet, and lo and behold he's found one. I think this is his first mention of a levee.

God his lyrics are just bloody terrible.

This post has been edited by Pingfah: Aug 16 2024, 12:08 pm

[PaulZAR]

I like the song a lot, it’s a solid rock song with a bluesy feel. I agree that it doesn’t sound like +Live+ but I’m definitely enjoying it. Hope Ed explorers more spiritual topics on the upcoming album but we will see.

This is not important but I could actually see this song doing decent on the radio. That won’t happen because it’s not 1999 but it is catchy and is fun to listen to in the car.

I'm enjoying it too. Some nice slide guitar work in there

[Merica]

You know what, I actually quite like this. I dig the blues rock vibes, which kind of feels like something Live almost touched on a bit over the latter years. Walk The Line, Purifier, even things like Radiant Sea, Like I Do(?), some of SFBM's more interesting moments like Sofia. When they split, you had the bluesy rock of TGF, and Ed's early acoustic Zion is one of the best things he did. This feels in that same area to me. It's not particularly inspired musically or lyrically, sure, it's a well trodden path generally (and specifically with Ed and the water again), but to me it comes off like a reasonably successful go at what it's trying to be. So I'll give him props.

As for the whole is it Ed or Live thing, well... I've no idea to what degree it's changed since the Goose Blackstone original, who has or hasn't written on it then or now (if it *has* been changed) etc. God knows. But it's released as Live, so it's Live whether you like it or not. In the same way The Turn is. Is it worthy of the Live name? Maybe that's a better question. For me, it's comfortably better than Local 717. And like, what can you reasonably expect a Live song to sound like in 2024, given it's essentially Ed solo, and all the time that's passed since 'Live' released anything good (outside of the The Turn).

Basically, my current feeling is: this is a step in a better direction. I'm interested to see what follows, and will try to enjoy it for whatever it's worth.

[Voodoo Lady]

You know what, I actually quite like this. I dig the blues rock vibes, which kind of feels like something Live almost touched on a bit over the latter years. Walk The Line, Purifier, even things like Radiant Sea, Like I Do(?), some of SFBM's more interesting moments like Sofia. When they split, you had the bluesy rock of TGF, and Ed's early acoustic Zion is one of the best things he did. This feels in that same area to me. It's not particularly inspired musically or lyrically, sure, it's a well trodden path generally (and specifically with Ed and the water again), but to me it comes off like a reasonably successful go at what it's trying to be. So I'll give him props.

As for the whole is it Ed or Live thing, well... I've no idea to what degree it's changed since the Goose Blackstone original, who has or hasn't written on it then or now (if it *has* been changed) etc. God knows. But it's released as Live, so it's Live whether you like it or not. In the same way The Turn is. Is it worthy of the Live name? Maybe that's a better question. For me, it's comfortably better than Local 717. And like, what can you reasonably expect a Live song to sound like in 2024, given it's essentially Ed solo, and all the time that's passed since 'Live' released anything good (outside of the The Turn).

Basically, my current feeling is: this is a step in a better direction. I'm interested to see what follows, and will try to enjoy it for whatever it's worth.

I agree with all of this and I can’t write it any better myself, Merica.

I purposely did not listen to the song early. I waited until this morning. It grabbed me right away. Not to the extent Operation Spirit grabbed me back in the day of course, but this is a different age and time. I listened to Lady Bhang seven times in a row on my commute and it was stuck in my head all day. —All great signs!! Plus, it was totally obvious DeLeo was on guitar and this is cool to hear. My number one and two favorite 90’s bands collaborating. I’ll take it!!
You know DeLeo will jump on stage with Ed for this song and I can’t wait to see that next week. We better see it in the setlist, anyway!!!

[Cardiff_Giant]

The thing I keep telling myself is that my desire to hear Mental Jewelry Volume II or Throwing Copper Part II doesn't jive with the fact the people or persons who wrote those songs that first made me love the music are not 21-year-old boys anymore. Neither am I. They're all in their 50s (as are we, 60s for some), going gray and being family men.

Point is, as much as I (we) would like new music to sound like the LIVE we all love, it ain't happening. There are some bands that keep repeating albums over and over but it doesn't seem like Ed wants to go back to the 90s. He's making new music and it's music that interests him.

The sound the original members of LIVE created morphed and evolved (or some say de-evolved) over time. In some respects, you could say it sounds like the bands that made Mental Jewelry and SFBM are not the same band, even though it's the same four guys.

I want to like the new song. But unlike when I was 18 and heard "The Beauty of Gray" and "Pain Lies on the Riverside" and it felt like Ed was speaking to ME, I hear this Lady Bhang thing and it just ... doesn't do it for me.

[Bremang]

if Ed could do anything like classic Live he would.

[Ecstatic Fanatic]

It’s good…I guess. I like that it is definitely different sounding, and musically I don’t really have any complaints.

I think for me I get lost on the lyrics. In the past Ed could be catch and his lyrics would also make me think and examine my spirituality. That doesn’t really seem to happen any more. Part of that might be me getting older and not having that same wide room of growth, but I think a part is also that Ed’s not really aiming for that now.

But maybe I’ll change my mind. It took like four years for TDTH to click with me and now it’s my favorite album across any band.

[mattyeagles]

It’s good…I guess. I like that it is definitely different sounding, and musically I don’t really have any complaints.

I think for me I get lost on the lyrics. In the past Ed could be catch and his lyrics would also make me think and examine my spirituality. That doesn’t really seem to happen any more. Part of that might be me getting older and not having that same wide room of growth, but I think a part is also that Ed’s not really aiming for that now.

But maybe I’ll change my mind. It took like four years for TDTH to click with me and now it’s my favorite album across any band.

TDTH is an incredible album

[throwing_cheetahs]

if Ed could do anything like classic Live he would.

This is the best explanation of new Live that i have heard. Sums it up perfectly!

[SuperHans]

Thought I'd check in 3 months down the track and read thru this to see who was right and wrong and what sort of impact it had.

Given mine is the first comment in 3 months I think speaks volumes...

[Pingfah]

This is the best explanation of new Live that i have heard. Sums it up perfectly!

I listened to it twice when it came out, that was more than enough, and I am a really big fan of Dean DeLeo, which was about the only interesting thing about it.

Even Dean didn't think enough of it to come out a single time and play it on their co-headlining tour, which they were on when the freaking thing was released.