Listen to sample clips from Live's new album Options

[NectarDan]

For those interested in previewing Live's new album, 30-second clilps from each song have just been posted to the Sony Music Store. (Credit: DJ Deeney of New Jersey)

[NectarDan]

The strings in Mystery are horrible.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

Ya beat me to it... yuck.

I don't know how much I will like the new album but just from these clips the production is 10x more creative than most of BoP.

The biggest problem I hear is that the tracks do not seem to be ordered very well. The album seems to end with all these fast songs that should have been spread throughout. There are 11 other songs that are better choices for singles than the River, and there are 11 other songs that would be better ways to open the album.

This post has been edited by thefunkyredcaboose: Mar 18 2006, 1:29 am

[J.Sax]

I kind of like the strings on Mystery, but I'd have rather had the guitars fleshed out as compared to the demo instead.

The other songs we heard the demos of all sound better, including Home. Though the song still sucks. Question, Dan--the version of Mystery that you heard (without the strings), does it sound better than the demo like Show and Sofia do? I'm curious about that.

This post has been edited by NectarDan: Mar 18 2006, 1:41 am

[NectarDan]

Dan--the version of Mystery that you heard (without the strings), does it sound better than the demo like Show and Sofia do? I'm curious about that.

Yeah, it's been mixed and such, and I think it sounds much better than the strings version. I'll have to listen to the full strings version once the album is released though.

Another note - atleast 2 of the clips that I have listened to so far sound different then what I've already heard. I wonder how many times the lyrics and mixing was changed around.

[J.Sax]

Yeah, I'm not going to judge it till I've heard the whole song, myself. But even without hearing it, I'd rather have the guitars, too.

And some of this is different from what you heard? That's also interesting...they really have been doing a lot with the CD between all of the delays.

[Wambangalang]

I'm actually stunned, i thought it was gonna suck some major ass but these clips actually reminded me of MJ a little bit, sonically speaking.

my interest level isnt a complete flatline anymore

[onecrowdedhour]

It's actually not as bad as I initially thought...but how many times can you use the word 'love' in an album? I heard it more than enough times, and that's just on the samples...

[fonzyg]

clips sounded great. Night of Nights sounds like their best song since Lakini's Juice.

[Fredrik]

I really don't know how I feel. I can't say I've gotten my hopes up after hearing these clips ... but as always: "you shouldn't judge until you've heard the whole songs...". And so I'll wait ...

[michael39]

show,sofia and the river have grabbed me. need to have a decent listen to the others.hopefully they'll grow on me

[i_live_life]

I think these clips sounds great!! Yes, "Songs from Black Mountain" hasn't got very much to do with rock, but i it sounds much more creative than "Birds of Pray" in my opinion.

[mikkel]

The strings in Mystery are horrible.

Totally agree with you on that one.. oh my God.. the raw demo version wasn't that bad in my opinion.. but woah.. and there is one song more where they've added some strange sounds that don't impress me at all..

[mikkel]

It was Sofia.. hmm sounds like Kylie Minogue was in the studio as well.. hearing Live record and said to them, wouldn;t it be nice if you add a little bit of this and a little bit of that to the song....too bad because the songs weren't that bad if they kept it simple..

[mikkel]

Okay here it goes, my full review based on snippets, live tracks, leaked tracks and acoustics

1) The River - Not a big fan of this song because of all the "la la la's" on it, it makes me think about the Backstreet Boys. But then again it’s quite catchy and not too bad.. reasonable song all in all..

2) Mystery – Thought it was quite a nice song, apart from the high notes on “mysteryyyyhyyyy”. The raw version was promising, but the addition of the strings made the song quite bad. Think I’m going to skip this one a lot, and pick the raw guitar version instead.

3) Get Ready – This song has got some potential, could really grow on me. Simple as it is, it’s quite okay.

4) Show – Probably my favourite song on this album. One of the heavier songs, reminds me a little bit of Like I do.

5) Wings – Not really getting me with this one.. hard to judge because it’s just a short snippet, but it sounds like filler.

6) Sofia – No fan of the lyrics, but the guitar is quite okay! But what the hell? Was Kylie Minogue giving them advice in the studio or what?! The added sounds really upset me.. even V was way cool compared to this stuff..

7) Love Shines – Even though I’m not all that religious, the lyrics do catch my attention. The overall sound of the snippet doesn’t, sadly.. Interested in the full song, but don’t think it’s really going to impress that much.

8) Where Do We Go From Here – Sounds really promising! Nice sound, think it going to be an okay song. Interested in the ‘Fade to Black’-part Dan mentioned.

9) Home – Thanks, but no thanks. This isn’t going to be very good song I’m afraid. It sounds a bit to fake-sad..

10) All I Need – Poppy, but not to bad maybe.. quite catchy.. but what did I hear there? Again those silly sounds.. ah well you get used to it , and on this song it could fit..

11) You Are Not Alone – A faster song, could be quite okay. Maybe the full song makes a difference.

12) Night Of Nights – Not really expected this kind of song from Live, but it sounds quite promising. Maybe another favourite song on this album? yeah could be..

Well.. I wasn’t really expecting a lot here.. it did sound poppy, but I’d expected it to be even worse. It’s got it’s nice songs here and there, so it’ll be an album like any Motorheads album: pick your favourites and enjoy, don’t care for the other songs. This isn’t going to be a life changing record, but it wasn’t supposed to I guess.

To me it sounds like the older brother of V. V was experimental to Live, and now they’ve worked it out a little bit more. Only less edgy, less creative and less rocking. I liked the more simple record BOP, because this one sounds really overproduced. They quite trashed some songs like Mystery and Sofia with their added sounds and strings.

Still think it’s their weakest album, but at least it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.. I can live with it