If there was such things as a one album wonder, then Throwing Copper by the band Live would be one. Yeah, they have had a couple good songs since, but they have since been unable to release a complete album that rivals the intensity of their breakthrough album. It is almost surprising to find out the band has recently released their fifth album since with the release of Songs from Black Mountain.
The new album follows along the line of the last couple Live albums in that it has one or two decent song while the rest is pretty much you standard modern rock filler. This album’s decent song is The River, not that it’s too easy to distinguish from last album’s Heaven. Both have that bland, maybe it sound better live (no pun intended) vibe. Then it takes to the end of the album before something else comes close to making an impression on me with Night of Nights where the band actually mixes things up reminiscent of songs on Throwing Copper.
In between is your run of the mill modern rock that has bored true rock fans since the death of grunge and alternative rock but has given careers to such throwaway bands as Nickelback and Creed (granted Ed Kowalczyk is a much better singer than those frontmen). During Get Ready, it sounds like Ed is even bored with the song until the choir shows up and he picks things up. Home is your token anti-war song even though they say they are putting “politics aside” in the song. Sophia is the token love song, well, that’s if you like being told that you are needed “like a junkie need a vein.” Yeah, that’s romantic.
Then for some reason, they threw in the subtitle A Song for My Daughters about God for Love Shines. Did we really need this clarification? Could this been something revealed in interviews or in the liner notes? Basically it looks like a desperate attempt to crack into the Christian music market. Overall Songs from Black Mountain is mediocre, which sometimes is worse than being bad for a band that used to write classic songs.
Song to Download - The River
Songs from Black Mountain gets a
![Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iVFV0hXCTSYP16K_V0Rrxp3GqFrtBIJKeTUyQ2LpxZQ9XKHFj6QGtqqa7oxhLadLV8vUj8R84AftD8IKUSfN0u_u0CYDtJwhrpCPN2DBWquAIDv0jbVlhZL0mDFKlPKluGyxw/s400/small_elevated.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
This has nothing to do with the album, but I'd love to see these guys release a live album. Of course, it would be called Live Live. Fans would spend endless hours wondering if the band's name is the first word or the second.
ReplyDeleteI have the first cd...I love that cd. Think I will not waste bucks on any other one of theirs going by this.
ReplyDeleteB-B made me come here.
Cheers.
Live Live, I got a good chuckle from that. I actually saw Live, um, live circa Secret Samadhi and they do rock live. if they do put out a live album now, I just hope they stick to their earlier stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have Throwing Copper, and it's awesome - once you can get past track one, why did they put that one first? It's not very good, but the rest is pure gold. I shall be adding "I, Alone" to the gym-tracklist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, it's all too often I neglect the older CDs in my collection, and that's just a crime.
I found my iPod is a great way to get back in touch with my older CD's, plus I can eliminate all the filler by just ripping the best songs.
ReplyDeleteI love The River so I had a bit of a listen to their new album to see if I wanted to get it. T'was okay but had a couple of other CD albums on my list so decided against buying it for now.
ReplyDeleteSecret Shamadi was also a good album.
ReplyDeleteI DONT KNOW WHAT YOU PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO,LIVE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS OF ALL TIME, ED HAS A GREAT VOICE AND THE LYRICS ARE INCREDIBLE. I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO ALL THEIR MUSIC
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