Alive, Only for those who have actually listened to it please! Options

[OutToDry]

Ok here goes.........I am armed with my sword, shield, templar cloak.....and attorney!!

Drive: Good catchy sound riffs, progressions good, drumming that of a high schooler. Lyrics take me somewhere but I got lost.

Great Beyond: I think Ed's trying to encorporate some BOP sounds here with a take on the lyrics mashed together that I am still lost from the first song. It's def a bit of a different song so I won't bash it too much.

Grace: I always liked the music in this one with the big exception of it getting loud without the players playing louder....yes , there was high production going on here. I wasn't wrong, I don't have faith. Lyrics on here are the best on the album (I will overlook the religous overtones).

Stand: Opening riffs nice, but has too much of southern churchy nonsense going on there. Overall sound here is decent. Lyrics have the V echo. A decent AC tune...nothing more, nothing less....'It's easy Ed' won't get any A's for this.

Drink: Wow, sorry, not my speed, yes this is been rehashed. I've never liked it. I am sure it will hit the correct target market. Jimmy Swaggart, where are you now?

Zion: Good tune, like the dark tones & riffs. Drumming third rate yet again. Zion is a Bob Marley metaphor and the name of too many churches. Ed does reach back for some older sounding Ed in this one, I will give credit. Second best song on the record.

In Your Light: To steal a phrase from superagent Drew Rosenhaus, "Next Question!!" Easy way out on this one.....drumming sucks, the music sounds like SFBM left over cutting room floor scraps.

Just In Time: Weak and weaker. This song could have been done way better. Better progression, et all. This song is the poster child for not taking your time doing songs right.

Rome: Sounds nice with the different progressions. Ed's moaning on this ruin it for me. Has night of nights feel to it. Guitar saves it totally from the dust bin.

Soul Whispers: Hopefully Lindsey Buckingham gets some bucks from this title & musical rip off. I do like the dark intro lead up into something, something that....I do think Ed copied LB here. I've heard LB demos which have this sound and lyrical progression.....original for easy Ed, nope. never. But on the whole, it's a decent song for the reasons (LB), I mentioned here.

Fire on the Mountain: Poor Jerry Garcia, he might be rolling over in his grave. Another title which takes your to other era's. Good lyrical progression with the slower guitar. Decent effort. Nice ending lead out.

Eat Your Love: Communion never tasted so good. Hey, I like this little gem, can't say why. Has that V echo sound which fits this song. More churchy / philosophical vibe to it. I like the speed & progressions, guitar is good, drumming, meh.....sorry Ramy sucks ass. I will spin Eat Your Love on my ipod.

New World: Another nicely put together sounding track. It does sound like some of the other tracks however. It's upbeat, why is this one not part of the regular tracks....it should be on here in place of Just In Time

Overall: Ok so I have been leading the pitchfork and club brigage. This record is not terrible, it's not great or stand out. This record does fit well with the Christian side (I can't believe this has become his target audience), he should think about getting more tracks sounding like the bonus tracks, then AC would come calling as a big seller. It would be a solid A- to B+. I think if Ed took his time here, not rushing the record, it would be much better. My honest opinion. I'd give it a C+ for my musical tastes.

This post has been edited by OutToDry: Jul 6 2010, 9:03 pm

[Liveoneut]

Jeez, I just listened to each of the samples on iTunes...WTF??? It sounds like the same freakin song over and over again. Def a 'no buy' for me. Terrible dude, just terrible (that doesn't count as bashing does it?)

[Pokey]

Lol I was just doing my tax return with the accountants and the radio was on and Grace came on. My middle aged female accountant straight away said "oh turn it off I hate this song". I just smiled, Ed is even losing them. Then I remembered a time I would have said "yeah but the guy who wrote it used to be really awesome". You know a kind of defense. Didn't bother this time

[+Ed+]

Infrequent Poster, OutToDry, well done, both of you!

[OutToDry]

Thank You +Ed+

[FishOutaWater]

I won't post a song-by-song review of Alive. I think that has been done very well by others. I will give my general, high-level impressions.

This CD is the tale of two CD's. It's good (not great). And it sucks.

What do I mean by that? If you totally ignore the lyrics and what Ed is actually saying, this is a pretty good and enjoyable album. I really like the music and the melodies. The riffs are good. There is some good bass and rumming. It works well with Ed's voice. And I love Ed's voice! His will always be may favorite voice. And this album showcases it. This album fits neatly into the trilogy of albums that is Birds of Pray, Songs From Black Mountain and now Alive. They are similar in sound and theme and producing.

But I can't ignore the lyrics. They are in your face and relentless.

Besides being filled from top to bottom with in-your-face Christian preaching, and sappy, happy, joy-filled, nausia-inducing platitudes, it has a couple of other things working against it.

First, there are so many themes, and even exact quotes, from lyrics in past songs, that it is frustrating to wonder whether Ed has run out of new ideas three albums ago. Mona Lisa. What Are We Fighting For. Water. Daughters. Bla bla bla.

Then overlay on top of that the inescapable voice in the back of your head telling you that if the allegations that Chad, Chad and Pat made are even partly true, then all this talk about Jesus and love and grace and the Great Beyond are so hypocritical that it makes me want to throw the CD against a wall. I am not saying the allegations are entirely true. Ed probably has a side of the story that adds a different perspective on the facts. But what I am saying is that with the allegations being out there - unanswered - I can't stop them from sneaking into my head and effecting my views on these Christian, I've found bliss in Jesus, lyrics. At the very least, it seems clear that Ed operates within the music business like he is using the Machiavellian handbook. And I don't want to get personal, but I've seen him at clubs while on tour and I wonder what his wife and daughters would think of his Christian family values if they had a chance to follow him around. So on some level, these lyrics strike me as profoundly hypocritical.

Another point about the lyrics - I've never heard an album with 11 tracks that all make the same lyrical point. Over and over again, it says the same, happy sappy stuff about God and Ed marinating in the flow of God's love. Word after word. Line after line. Song after song. I had to take a break before I got to the end of the album because it was too much. I fealt like I had just spent a whole morning in Sunday School listening to a lecture by a Catholic nun on ecstacy.

So for me, this album could be really good if I block out what Ed is saying and just listen to the tunes without paying attention. I'll keep listening. Maybe it will start to work for me. And as I have done in the past with Krishnamurti and Ken Wilber, I will try to understand where Ed is coming from with his Christianity thing and maybe that will inspire me and influence my own spirituality.

[Pokey]

Another point about the lyrics - I've never heard an album with 11 tracks that all make the same lyrical point. Over and over again, it says the same, happy sappy stuff about God and Ed marinating in the flow of God's love. Word after word. Line after line. Song after song. I had to take a break before I got to the end of the album because it was too much. I fealt like I had just spent a whole morning in Sunday School listening to a lecture by a Catholic nun on ecstacy.

So for me, this album could be really good if I block out what Ed is saying and just listen to the tunes without paying attention. I'll keep listening. Maybe it will start to work for me. And as I have done in the past with Krishnamurti and Ken Wilber, I will try to understand where Ed is coming from with his Christianity thing and maybe that will inspire me and influence my own spirituality.

These are big points, to me the album could be so much more enjoyable (note: didn't say good) if the lyrics just wern't so in your face and in a really bland way. It's a bad combo with the lyrics - themes that do not speak to me at all + creatively lacking.

I do like quite a lot of pop music, it's not my favorite genre, but as I've said I'm a Gaga fan and plenty of others. The difference is a lot of their lyrics whilst not exactly the greatest, aren't out to make a point. Ed's lyrics are like he's really trying to say something so it's hard to ignore how bad they are. When Gaga is singing about disco sticks it's easier to just classify it as pop fun because anyone who spends too long analysing those sorts of lyrics just isn't getting the point.
However Ed is dealing with themes like religion and God and daughters and such, much more "serious" subjects than disco sticks, whilst he's going about it in a happy-go-lucky jovial way the fact that it still is a serious subject at heart just means it's much harder to ignore and enjoy it as simple pop.

[PurdueSteve]

These are big points, to me the album could be so much more enjoyable (note: didn't say good) if the lyrics just wern't so in your face and in a really bland way. It's a bad combo with the lyrics - themes that do not speak to me at all + creatively lacking.

I do like quite a lot of pop music, it's not my favorite genre, but as I've said I'm a Gaga fan and plenty of others. The difference is a lot of their lyrics whilst not exactly the greatest, aren't out to make a point. Ed's lyrics are like he's really trying to say something so it's hard to ignore how bad they are. When Gaga is singing about disco sticks it's easier to just classify it as pop fun because anyone who spends too long analysing those sorts of lyrics just isn't getting the point.
However Ed is dealing with themes like religion and God and daughters and such, much more "serious" subjects than disco sticks, whilst he's going about it in a happy-go-lucky jovial way the fact that it still is a serious subject at heart just means it's much harder to ignore and enjoy it as simple pop.

Pffft.. You just aren't christian enough. I wouldn't expect a thief like you to enjoy such works of art anyway. Team-Christ didn't pick you to be on their dodgeball team, so don't be hatin' on Ed.

[Pokey]

Pffft.. You just aren't christian enough. I wouldn't expect a thief like you to enjoy such works of art anyway. Team-Christ didn't pick you to be on their dodgeball team, so don't be hatin' on Ed.

haha I actually just had this weird thought .. remember a few years ago Madonna "leaked" her album online and it was actually a recording of her saying something like "don't fucking download my music you thief go out and buy it yourself" .. or something like that.

Imagine if everyone who downloaded Ed's album for free got this shitty God filled bland bullshit, but the album selling in stores and online music stores is completely different. Hard hitting, different musicians, old school Ed singing, old school Ed lyrics .. and that the stolen versions of Alive are just one giant troll by Ed.

Actually, the above scenario is probably the only way Ed could actually instantly gain my respect because it'd be an awesome troll.

Wam, pass the wine.

[Aitkens]

haha I actually just had this weird thought .. remember a few years ago Madonna "leaked" her album online and it was actually a recording of her saying something like "don't fucking download my music you thief go out and buy it yourself" .. or something like that.

Imagine if everyone who downloaded Ed's album for free got this shitty God filled bland bullshit, but the album selling in stores and online music stores is completely different. Hard hitting, different musicians, old school Ed singing, old school Ed lyrics .. and that the stolen versions of Alive are just one giant troll by Ed.

Actually, the above scenario is probably the only way Ed could actually instantly gain my respect because it'd be an awesome troll.

Wam, pass the wine.

You gotta lay off the hard drugs.

[OutToDry]

I won't post a song-by-song review of Alive. I think that has been done very well by others. I will give my general, high-level impressions.

This CD is the tale of two CD's. It's good (not great). And it sucks.

What do I mean by that? If you totally ignore the lyrics and what Ed is actually saying, this is a pretty good and enjoyable album. I really like the music and the melodies. The riffs are good. There is some good bass and rumming. It works well with Ed's voice. And I love Ed's voice! His will always be may favorite voice. And this album showcases it. This album fits neatly into the trilogy of albums that is Birds of Pray, Songs From Black Mountain and now Alive. They are similar in sound and theme and producing.

But I can't ignore the lyrics. They are in your face and relentless.

Besides being filled from top to bottom with in-your-face Christian preaching, and sappy, happy, joy-filled, nausia-inducing platitudes, it has a couple of other things working against it.

First, there are so many themes, and even exact quotes, from lyrics in past songs, that it is frustrating to wonder whether Ed has run out of new ideas three albums ago. Mona Lisa. What Are We Fighting For. Water. Daughters. Bla bla bla.

Then overlay on top of that the inescapable voice in the back of your head telling you that if the allegations that Chad, Chad and Pat made are even partly true, then all this talk about Jesus and love and grace and the Great Beyond are so hypocritical that it makes me want to throw the CD against a wall. I am not saying the allegations are entirely true. Ed probably has a side of the story that adds a different perspective on the facts. But what I am saying is that with the allegations being out there - unanswered - I can't stop them from sneaking into my head and effecting my views on these Christian, I've found bliss in Jesus, lyrics. At the very least, it seems clear that Ed operates within the music business like he is using the Machiavellian handbook. And I don't want to get personal, but I've seen him at clubs while on tour and I wonder what his wife and daughters would think of his Christian family values if they had a chance to follow him around. So on some level, these lyrics strike me as profoundly hypocritical.

Another point about the lyrics - I've never heard an album with 11 tracks that all make the same lyrical point. Over and over again, it says the same, happy sappy stuff about God and Ed marinating in the flow of God's love. Word after word. Line after line. Song after song. I had to take a break before I got to the end of the album because it was too much. I fealt like I had just spent a whole morning in Sunday School listening to a lecture by a Catholic nun on ecstacy.

So for me, this album could be really good if I block out what Ed is saying and just listen to the tunes without paying attention. I'll keep listening. Maybe it will start to work for me. And as I have done in the past with Krishnamurti and Ken Wilber, I will try to understand where Ed is coming from with his Christianity thing and maybe that will inspire me and influence my own spirituality.

Fish, bravo, take a bow...your posts are a breath of fresh air, insightful and well thought out!!

[OutToDry]

wow, i do remember the Madonna thing Poke.

Perhaps this was meant for us 'harsher on ed folks'

[dancing queen]

I pre-ordered from amazon and it actually came yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect after reading all of the very different reviews.

I am a Christian and I have loved LIVE in all of their many lyrical/musical stages... musically and lyrically I like the first 4 records more. Lyrically, actually, I enjoy TDTH the most, which is when I started hearing lyrics that related to me as a Christian.

On this album some songs are good (Zion, in particular is maybe one of my favorites ever), but the whole album sounds like Christian rock. As a Christian I've listened to a lot of Christian rock, trying to find some that doesn't stand out as CR without listening to the lyrics. It's hard to do. I don't know how they do it, but CR artists have a way of making every one of their songs sound "just like Christian rock"

That's how this cd sounds. It's better than a lot of CR, but it doesn't really compare to other genres. It's like it's in a different class.
So that said, I like it. For Christian rock, it's decent.

However, Just in Time is a hot mess of a song. Rome is wasted on me. (maybe I'm wrong but it sounds like a Catholic anthem, and I'm not Catholic). I do like Drink. I enjoy Stand. And strangely, I like Soul Whispers. I wasn't sure about it when it started. I am trying to find Eat Your Love and A New World... I'm excited that they might be really good...

[Pokey]

wow, i do remember the Madonna thing Poke.

Perhaps this was meant for us 'harsher on ed folks'

He's saying "Jesus is number 1!"

[Aitkens]

He's saying "Jesus is number 1!"

I always thought he was saying,

"Fuck you Chad, Ramy doesn't bitch about his glass box!"