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[sellingthdrama]

I always liked V and I liked the spirituality of the lyrics.

But something definitely happened between 1999 and 2001. I'd love to know what changed during that period of time. It's like the "on" switch that controlled Ed's ability to write with metaphor and symbolism and depth got switched off. Or more accurately, the fuse blew and he never figured out how to fix the fuse. After TDTH, everything was "this is like that" using writing skills that were barely above second grade-level childrens books.

I've said it before, but the way I track Live's career is:

MJ and TC were urgent calls to wake up and shed your beliefs and conditioning and let go of everything that you've been taught to believe - and discover the truth for yourself.

SS was the album that reacted to the overwhelming commercial success of TC, where they proved to the world that they were artists first and foremost for themselves and their fans and not for the commercial music industry. It was like "Oh yeah? Take this!"

THDTH was no longer angry and rebellious against authority. Ed no longer rejected beliefs and conditioning and organized, formalized structures. TDTH was more like "ahah, I've found it!" Or more accurately: "ahah, I've experienced it!" It was happy and satisfied, but expressed lyrically and musically in a beautiful masterpiece. The last "great" Live album.

And after TDTH, that fuse blew. The lyrics said to all of us "I can no longer express it..." It was one frantic atempt after another to recapture their Throwing Copper audience. Latch on to rock-rap. Try to reclaim the "rock" sound of TC but fail to deliver. Capitalize on Daughtry and American Idol. Put out Paradiso to regain the attention of the fans that lost interest after they realized that SS was not a TC sequel. But all of Live's new music was created using a new recipe. A new formula. Instead f the four working together, in an environement that inspired great new music and allowed them to feed off of each other, it became the Ed show. With adult-contemporary songs that sounded like mayonaise jingles, backed by great musicians that had been totally neutered by their lead singer who gave the ultimatum - play the rythm and drum beat behind my layered chorus of Ed vocals singing la da da - oh Lord, or I will leave Live and destroy your livelihoods. So on they went like that, until Live died an ugly death, and only the last remaining die-hards were left here to remember, like a handful of people floating on a wooden raft with Kevin Costner in Waterworld.

But it sounds like 3/4 of Live have come back from the dead to reclaim the sound and spirit of Live from MJ, TC, SS and TDTH. That was the real Live that made a difference in the world. Oh my how I wish that I could hear a new album that sounds like MJ. If that happens, just watch me let go of all of my reservations about having a new lead singer of Live. Just watch me let go of my desperate clinging to "old" Live. I will keep its memory alive - but move forward with a new Live that I can also love.

It's funny you say that, I just heard about the new Live and new lead singer and I'm totally for it. After reading Chad's letters, I really felt like I was recognizing the spirit of live again. I'm really psyched. Haven't been this excited since the buildup to V (before we knew what it was).