Alive, Has anyone heard the CD?? Options

[LivesMeltdown]

If you like TGF, you probably won't like Ed, and vice versa. The music is totally different.

I like both...bring them both on! I can't wait for July 6th and some random Tuesday in September

[Pokey]

What's with all these 'bonus' tracks? I wish they'd all be on the CD so we don't have to scour the world for multiple copies and multiple editions.

Brings in more $ for Ed 'money' Kowalczyk!

[Pokey]

I can not wait to July 6th. From the samples that I've heard, I know I will enjoy this album. I also don't think it is surprising that Ed made a pop/rock album. I feel certain songs have elements from his Live past, and others are totally different. To me, it is what a solo album should be.

If you like TGF, you probably won't like Ed, and vice versa. The music is totally different.

When you say "his Live past" i assume you mean from 2003 onwards because I ain't hearing a hell of a lot from before that.

[TheBeacon]

Well I am totally digging everything I have heard from TGF!!! I am still waiting to see what comes of Ed's album. I do like Zion and Grace but am very curious what the other songs will sound like. From the reviews so far its another SBFM but I will keep an open mind. I kinda wish Ed would have kept Zion unreleased or played until the album because then everyone would have been blowing up about Zion and how great of a classic LIVE song it is. Instead its old news but still a good song. I liked what I heard of Drive also but will give my final opinion after listening to the album a few days when I get it next week. I will have to track down the extra songs too. I still think he should have just made a 13 track album.

[PurdueSteve]

Well I am totally digging everything I have heard from TGF!!! I am still waiting to see what comes of Ed's album. I do like Zion and Grace but am very curious what the other songs will sound like. From the reviews so far its another SBFM but I will keep an open mind. I kinda wish Ed would have kept Zion unreleased or played until the album because then everyone would have been blowing up about Zion and how great of a classic LIVE song it is. Instead its old news but still a good song. I liked what I heard of Drive also but will give my final opinion after listening to the album a few days when I get it next week. I will have to track down the extra songs too. I still think he should have just made a 13 track album.

No it's not.

To call it another SFBM, would be to over-state it's quality by at least a factor of 2. Not trying to be so brash, but IMO, this is VERY different from SFBM.

[Pokey]

No it's not.

To call it another SFBM, would be to over-state it's quality by at least a factor of 2. Not trying to be so brash, but IMO, this is VERY different from SFBM.

It carries similar themes to SFBM ... God, Love, Daughters, Water, Lord etc.. but it definitely tries to be more Epic than SFBM. It is an attempt at more mainstream pop thatn SFBM. As much as SFBM took the other 3 members of Live completely out of the picture, the instruments seem even less relevant in this than back then.
It is definitely different, and I can not believe I am saying this, but it's different in a bad way. The only thing about this that is better SFBM is his actual singing and the song Zion is better than anything on SFBM.

[tiger]

I can not wait to July 6th. From the samples that I've heard, I know I will enjoy this album. I also don't think it is surprising that Ed made a pop/rock album. I feel certain songs have elements from his Live past, and others are totally different. To me, it is what a solo album should be.

If you like TGF, you probably won't like Ed, and vice versa. The music is totally different.

Speak for yourself. Not everyone has such a narrow minded approach to things they like or things they are open to. I'm all over the map, mainly rock, but will listen to just about any genre of music I think is quality. This is just more of the same old stuff Ed has been doing in the 2000's, minus anything distinct that Live could have brought to the table. Grace and Zion are decent enough and with C,C & P's input could have reached a level of something on BOP. Grace kind of reminds me of Heaven. It's an ok tune, but again, minus the distinct sound that C,C and P brought to the mix. Sorry, but being in Live was the best thing Ed had going for him. Take that out of the equation and his solo effort falls short of even SFBM.

This post has been edited by tiger: Jun 26 2010, 1:19 pm

[Sakhmet2]

I'm with Liveman94 on this one. There are a number of Live songs that are now among my all-time favorites that grew on me rather than be a love-at-first listen thing.
Quoted for truth.

Me too.

[sh4rpz]

Ok so I have it, and before Nick starts demanding to know how anyone outside of Holland could POSSIBLY have it, I'll be honest with you Nick .... I got a knock on the door last night, as I opened it there was nobody there but the album was sitting on my door step.. I looked up to just catch a quick flash of a bald head disappearing around the corner .. Now I'm not saying it was Ed himself, but I can only tell you what I saw.

Before I review this, I'm just gonna say that I'm not doing this to delibritly shit on the album, I haven't even heard it yet and I will type this as I listen to it for the first time. Just honest thoughts.

Drive - Only took about 3 seconds into the album before we got some "ooooooooo'ing", terrible sound and I wish Ed just wouldn't make it. It's not outright terrible, it's generic and very Idol like (I assume this will be used to describe almost every song on the album). The transition from verse to chorus is quite good in an "epic" type of way. Kelly Clarkson did it well too. 4/10

The Great Beyond - There is already a cage match set up, in it is Home, Love Shines, The River, OK?, You Are Not Alone ... now they are being joined by a new one, The Great Beyond, this one is up there with the worst he's ever done. The lyrics are just painful. The upbeat tempo just doesn't work. The drumming serves its purpose I know, it's just there to keep a beat in this song but after so long hearing Gracey pounding the skins and making the drumming in Live songs really interesting it's just sad. 1/10

Grace - We've all hear it, it's generic but not disgraceful. Not much more you can say .. it's a sad state of affairs when the music is so bland that you just can't figure out what more you can say about it. The line "Every time I feel the sun shine I thank the lord up above" is just bad. 4/10

Stand - Man I love Chris Dou... wait it's Ed. I imagine this song and Grace was what Ed thought was "bringing the Rock" on this album. It isn't. It's another attempt at making an epic sounding song. Once again it's epicly generic. It just doesn't rock ... it gets loud, but loudness doesn't equate to rocking. Once again in a song that is SUPPOSED to rock, the drumming is woeful. 3/10

Drink - Wasn't a fan of this one from the accoustic version and nothing much has changed. One thing I must say so far is that Ed's singing has been a step up from the last little while. The production is better too than SFBM. The song is boring, I imagine that if I had JUST met a girl and I was in the process of falling in love that this song might speak to me or something if I was on a new love high. But as Morrissey sang "It says nothing to me about my life". Which isn't a fault with the song, it's just not for me. That doesn't stop it from being generic. 4/10

Zion - Once again I prefered the accoustic version. But this is the first song that seems different and also seems slightly out of place on the album, which isn't a bad thing. I like the vibe that it's a "work song". The piano is kinda a nice touch which wasn't as prominant in the version we all have. The drumming once again lets it down, maybe thats why I prefered it accoustic because Remy or Ramy or whatever the creepy fuck's name is wasn't there to put his big old mark of 1 dimensional drumming on it. Either way, it's not terrible at all and is probably the best song on the album so far. 6/10

In Your Light - I wonder what time Doctor Who airs tonight? It's the season finale and I'm really looking forward to seeing how The Doctor escapes the pandorica. Oh wait, theres a song playing. The fact my mind was able to wander to other things like this when I am listening to an album by someone I once called one of my musical hero's is sad. Once upon a time putting a new album on by one of my favorite artists was a sacred thing. I think there might be a little more space in the cage match. Jesus this is terrible. I bet this never gets played at gigs, it just screams filler. This song also seems to have the honor of being the longest song on the album at an epic 4.24. 1/10

Just In Time - sigh. Is this not over yet? The best thing I can say about this song is that it does have a catchy chorus. I feel like this album is just relentlessly trying to pull my mouth into a smile and it's not working. It's like continuously being beat over the head with nothing at all. at 3.09 this is the shortest song on the album and it's over now, and just in time! 2/10

Rome - This is a little bit more interesting. It's a strange song. For some reason it reminds me of being a really bad TDTH out take. Which I guess is kind of like a back handed compliment. I don't outright hate it. It's just more about love shining and such. I don't quite get why it's called Rome. It could be called just about anything really. 4/10

Fire On The Mountain - For fuck's sake Ed shut up. There's actually a kind of nice musical intro and he's going "oooooooo, ohhhhhh yeah-eeee-yyeeah lord". God damnit. Again it's not terrible, the chorus just makes me think "Wherever you go, Whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you". The fact it reminds me a little of Bryan Adams is not a good thing. 3/10

Soul Whispers - It's a terrible title. I listen to a lot of non english music. A lot of it is chinese, when they do a song in English it's not as if they have broken english or anything, but the titles are things like Soul Whispers, things that they might think would sound good in English but instead sound awkward. wtf is a soul whisper? But the song isn't all that bad I guess. It just doesn't hit me hard and doesn't feel emotional. 4/10

New World - This sounds like every song on the album so far. It all just sounds the same, by the time the chorus is about to hit it could be the chorus of Just in Time or Rome or The Great Beyond, it all just seems so interchangeable. Just a nothing song ... I heard Nick say this song rocks, how he can think this is what rock is but dismiss a song like Closer from TGF blows my mind. 2/10
So in summary ... There's just no god damn substance, no depth, nothing to make me go "damn I'm gonna get more and more out of this on each listen". That's what I love, albums that give you more and more on each listen .. like a really good movie that you watch the second time and go "wow I never picked up on that the first time!" and there is a whole new level of appreciation all over again. This is all just surface deep. It's really sad ... the themes of the album just don't speak to me ..God, Water, Love, Daughters, Church ... they might really hit home to devote Christians, but I'm affraid the man has completely lost me.

38/120

I agree with everything you say here buddy, and I include the bits about how I received a copy of the album.

We shoulda taken that bet with Nick yesterday. Pffft! Oh well.

[sh4rpz]

No it's not.

To call it another SFBM, would be to over-state it's quality by at least a factor of 2. Not trying to be so brash, but IMO, this is VERY different from SFBM.

It's definitely not another SFBM - if it does have anything in common with SFBM, it would be the downward spiral lyrically.

It will stand alone as a truly rushed, badly put together piece of whatever it is. Each song is a generic rip off of itself in a way. I just don't know what to call it anymore.

Truly uninspiring and all-round disaster.

[livefan86]

Since I have no interest in buying the album, does anyone know if there is a torrent online so it can be downloaded?

[Soxwsc]

I'm listening to it now for the first time.. and I'm actually surprised how much I like this.

I was expecting it to be terrible, and first listen through, I'm digging it! Much better than SFBM!

[Badman]

I listened to the whole album front to back. I was desperately looking for something that wasn't soaked in jesus. Part of me feels like doing a little review of each song but that would be a waste of everyone's time. Here is what I've got:

PROS: Most of the songs sound different enough to distinguish them, the album is blissfully short, It sounds better than any album since V? The only song I like is everlasting love

CONS: The lyrics. The hypocrisy. The fact that it even exists

Alright, What bothers me most about this album is that I can tell EXACTLY what he is going through. This is a man who has been horribly greedy (to his bandmates) immoral (Bjs don't count in my family!) and has been without true inspiration since TDTH. Much like a gay republican in the closet, he fervently holds up his goody christian exterior but has a dark ugly secret he doesn't want to live up to. He made this album because he wants to convince himself that he is a good guy still and not the fucker he is. This is also why he never talks about his greed or arrogance... doesn't want to live up to it.

I'll leave you guys with this mysterious lyric that I still can't figure out... I remember back in the day I thought about his lyrics because they were complex and deep. At least we know they are still complex!

"yes the song of my soul is sweet like a blackbird 'gainst a night sky... human eyes can't see. but to feel it is salvation so wild and free, no destiny... no destiny." ~ Soul Whispers

How the hell is a blackbird sweet??

This post has been edited by Badman: Jun 26 2010, 3:22 pm

[Pokey]

"yes the song of my soul is sweet like a blackbird 'gainst a night sky... human eyes can't see. but to feel it is salvation so wild and free, no destiny... no destiny." ~ Soul Whispers

How the hell is a blackbird sweet??

Have you tasted blackbird before? .... me neither.


The lyric that gets me is "like a child falling asleep at the wheel". What the hell is a child doing driving a car?

[Badman]

Fire On The Mountain - For fuck's sake Ed shut up. There's actually a kind of nice musical intro and he's going "oooooooo, ohhhhhh yeah-eeee-yyeeah lord". God damnit.

This is exactly what I thought! I was like "Cool! fire, mountains... This could be a good... ah crap"