Defend the Indefensible: Live (the band)

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Combining the insufferable piety of U2 and REM without the melodic bluster of the former or (now long gone) subtle mystique of the latter, this inexplicably long-running Pennsylvania quartet has just released its sixth album, the punnishingly titled Bird of Pray. Singularly humorless and lacking even the slightest semblance of funk or balls or edge, I wholeheartedly blame them for current piffle like Creed, given their shamlessly pretentious exhortations of cack spirituality. And why oh why is their milquetoast guitarist sporting a fuckin' mohawk these days? I can't find a single redeeming quality about them.

Defend'em!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

their first record was produced by jerry harrison of talking heads.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

did THE definitive version of "wardance"

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I was gonna say that (about Jerry Harrison producing their first album)! Fucker! ;-)

Actually I always quite liked a couple jams from their first CD, which was mostly acoustic wasn't it? As they kept adding more loudness into the mix over the years, their sound got more and more watered down...or maybe they just wasted all their good ideas really quickly. I dunno. I always thought their drummer was pretty tight, and I liked their singer's voice every once in awhile (although his lyrics make me wanna stab bibles with dildos sharpened to whale-harpooning excess).

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought "Selling The Drama" was OK at the time. But now I'm reminded of a friend of mine who I fell out with horribly (and whose birthday it is today, oddly enough). Her email signatures invariably came from horribly pretentious Live songs - she really thought they were deep.

Lightning Crashes = worst rock song of the 90s?

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

One of my greatest shames: I played bass in a band in high school that covered that song.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't be ashamed. You were young, and at least you weren't singing.

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

when tricky played on Conan a couple of years ago, Ed Kowalcyxisbf, Live's singer, sang with tricky. he was dressed like a hippy and had a bandana on to hide his balding scalp (he actually had long hair at the time). although the entire performance was horrendous, Ed kept trying to really get into the song, and he was doing this extremely awkward dance and just generally looked like a weenus. i was lucky enough to have caught it on tape (i was expecting tricky to be much better) and every time i watch this tape a can't help but laugh my ass off. i guess that's a defense.

― Felcher (Felcher), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

...at least you weren't singing.

Most of the time. God those were the worst lyrics ever. :-(

ha ha ha ha "weenus"!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

it's Kowalczyk, BTW. which makes me shudder as to how some would pronounce or spell MY last name (or other Polish last names, FWIW).

that the lead singer is a Polack is about the only defensible thing that i can say about Live.

― Tad (llamasfur), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

No! No! No! As a fellow Edward with a Polish last name like the fucker Kowalczyk, I resent it!

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I am chastened to admit I kinda like that "Lightning Crashes" song, but I cannot defend myself, it, or them.

― Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

They once toured with P.J. Harvey, and they suck ever-so-slightly less for playing on the same stage as a Eric Drew Feldman.

Actually, I had the (mis)fortune of being at a show on that tour. At the time, I was the proud owner of a minivan, and five law school acquaintances had six tickets to the show but no ride. Foolishly, I accepted the offer of a free ticket in exchange for taxi service. Buffalo Tom was very boring, PJ was okay but would have been better after dark, and during Live's set I wandered all around the amphitheater so I wouldn't have to watch Live fans dancing. I almost burst into tears of laughter when Ed K. did a solo acoustic cover of some Guided by Voices song.

― J (Jay), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"Lakini's Juice" is actually quite good, though totally uncharacteristic of their style. They were a decent singles band at one point long ago, and I think some of their contemporaries were worse (though most of those contemporaries are long gone, while Live plod on).

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

The singles off of Mental Jewelry were fun. I also liked "Lakini's Juice." Ed joined REM for a rousing version of "Begin The Begin" when REM played at Hersheypark. Plus he's great on that Tricky song.

It's really not fair to blame Live for Creed. U2 (circa Rattle & Hum) birthed them all. Plus in the early period Live also had a distinct REM influence.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i apologize if i offended any polish ILMers. i didn't misspell his name as an attack on polish names, i simply wasnt sure of the exact spelling of the name and decided to show my lack of care for live's music through not bothering to look anywhere to find out how it was spelled. if i hadn't any clue of what his name was i simply would have typed "harry balls (or whatever that formerly bald fucker's name was)." that being said, "dolphins cry" was a particularly horrible song, much worse than lightning crashes.

― Felcher (Felcher), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

On "Lightning Crashes," Kowalczyk's terrible throaty voice sings "Forces pulling through" so it sounded (to me in high school, at least) like "Force in Bolingbrook" -- Bolingbrook being the name of the town I grew up in. Singing along with that was fun, I guess.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

That Vic Chesnutt cover they did on Sweet Relief 2 was alright by me.

― pip, Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

"Pain Lies on the Riverside"... now that's a pretty cool song. The bass even almost maybe kinda sounds funky.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Their fans all emailed me when I roasted their new album for being shite. But they didn't say nice things.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:07 (twenty-two years ago)

"Lakini's Juice" is that really angular single with the and-1 guitar riff on the verses, right? That song is a fucking beast and completely redeems their existence (even though I never really had beef with them).

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked the secret track on the first album. "She rode a horse..." or something. "White, Discussion" wasn't half bad either.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Dan: That's the one.

I'd forgotten the funky bass on "Pain Lies By the Riverside" as well! Not a bad song, that one.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I would like to note that the singles off their last two albums have been unspeakably hideous, far beyond anything from their previous four. Hell, at least "The Dolphin's Cry" was funny.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

"urgent, anthelemic claptrap" I probably spelled that wrong but that was the first spot on description of these weaklings. I hate them, I hate their weak, shitty music, I hate their expensive shitty videos, I hate their gods, their children and their parents. I hope they all contract a disease that doesn't kill them but deforms them so they look like human sized mole-rats (that way they would look externally like the shriveled, oozing, pansy-waists that they are, no doubt, on the inside).
The only redeeming quality these sanctimonious losers have is: they have managed to congeal spineless music into an unrefutable sound/image.
Now if I hate a band I can just say "They fucking suck, like LIVE."
and everybody knows what I'm talking about.

― Brandon Welch (Brandon Welch), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i apologize if i offended any polish ILMers.

hey, no problem at all and no offense taken ... i'm resigned to a lifetime of having people mangle my unpronounceable/unspellable last name :-)

i forgot about "lakini's juice" -- that song was OK. other than that, i'm hard pressed to think of anything else that would redeem this band.

― Tad (llamasfur), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 22:36 (twenty-two years ago)

It should be noted that "Lakini's Juice" had such a horrible title and video that they seemed to be subverting their own peak.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

hahaha "the dolphin's cry" - dolphins can't cry!!! maybe he means like a "cri du coeur." Well, they can't do that either. That's the problem with dolphins, they're supposed to be so fucking smart but that can't figure out how to talk American.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

"I Alone" I quite liked too. I guess they were a band of their time though.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 22:59 (twenty-two years ago)

He managed to use the word "placenta" in a hit pop song that kids were slow dancing to at proms a few years ago.

I also want to say that I liked their first ep and album a bunch in high school, even though when I heard it recently I was cringing at many of the lyrics (lots of blunt desert storm references).

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

They made me fold my laundry faster this afternoon, because the laundromat (as usual) was playing VH1 and after enjoying "The Fabulous Lives of Hot Young Pop Stars" for, oh, the 3rd or 4th time (it seems to be on every time I do laundry -- tho it's not as good as the "ODB on Parole" special, which was on every time I did laundry last month), I found myself subjected to some horrid Live backstage&concert special. My first response was, "Live? Are you fucking kidding?" My second response was to decide that the socks could really wait to be sorted until I got home. Which got me out of the laundromat in record time, for which I'm thankful.

― JesseFox (JesseFox), Thursday, 18 September 2003 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

this isnt really a defense other than maybe making them slightly more interesting, but in south australia a whole bloody community of mass murderers from adelaide's north were recently given life sentences (there were 4 put away - the ones that had managed not to get killed by their serial killer buddies) : the record they liked to put on while chopping people up? live - throwing copper

― minna (minna), Thursday, 18 September 2003 02:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd really like to defend them out of loyalty, as I loved them when I was 18. I just can't do it, though.

― Andrew Frye (paul cox), Thursday, 18 September 2003 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

They had that one brilliant video based on those minimalist stark paintings by whosisface.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 18 September 2003 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yeah, I sorta don't mind that "I Alone" song when it comes on the modern-rock radio station, except that it has a creepy Jesus-Christ-pose aspect to it.

I should also mention, in my own meager defense, that mostly Live makes me laugh and shake my head. The pretentious and drippy singer has said some of the more stupid things I have ever heard coming out of a pop singer's mouth in public. Several years ago, the band was playing some free-Tibet event that was sponsored by Reebok, and during the obligatory MTV (or MTV-esque) stand-up interview, the intrepid journalist asked him what Live fans could do to help the situation in Tibet. His answer was, more or less, "Well, they should buy Reeboks to support companies that see the importance of this issue." I'm paraphrasing, but I'm not making this up. If he was kidding, he's a fuckhead, and if he was sincere, then he's a superfuckhead.

Also, I always had heard the Live guys were kind of tools, but a guy I know who worked backstage on one of their shows at his school corrected me. He said they were "cocks."

― Lee G (Lee G), Thursday, 18 September 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven months pass...

I am a devoted LIVE fan and I think it's pretty sad that you guys have nothing better to do that sit around a bash them. What are you doing with your life???? I think you all just need to get over yourselves! Find something important to talk about.

― Lele, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, Lele, the point of this thread is to DEFEND them. Granted, most of the defenses in this discussion, which has lied dormant for over a year, are pretty left-handed -- people around here just don't seem to share your love. But the name of this board is "I Love Music," and you'll find all kinds of opposing views, so if you've got a spirited defense of your boys to offer, by all means let it rip!

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw them in Central PA right before they got big, in like August 1992, and they played on the back of a flat-bed truck and performed a pretty rocking set in the middle of an afternoon. They confused the frat boys they would in later years convert to fans with their pretentious power-balladry.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

They were ahead of their time in adopting a google-proof name.

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Saw them headline a show which also included ~~Sponge and~~ Love Spit Love. Can an opening band be used as a defense?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:07 (twenty-one years ago)

the fact that i've seen these guys more than any other band in the world is horrifying, humiliating, and should render my opinion about anything else in the future null and void.

live was actually my first concert, age 13/14 with my dad, saw them several years later in a shitty club in Raleigh, NC, then four (!) times opening for the counting crows back when i was dating a girl obsessed with the latter.

i can defend some of mental jewelry (esp. beauty of gray and the mirror song), most of throwing copper (even pillar of davidson, i can't help it, when they played that song in Raleigh i felt like i was in the middle of a Promise Keepers convention, and I strangely enjoyed it), Lakini's Juice is definitely still worthy, and yes Dolphin's Cry is OK (not just for laughs) - haven't heard a thing off the last two albums though, and don't plan to.

band's defining moment : the playing of "dam at otter creek" during a particularly harrowing desert scene in the pauly shore vehicle "in the army now"

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

― Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

the best thing about them is that singer Ed whatever was dating Beth Sorrentino around the time that they blew up. she, of course, sang and played piano with the wonderful acoustic indie-pop group Suddenly, Tammy!, makers of wonderfully sweet and arguably twee songs that still grab me to this day.
as a side note, i discovered ST! while following Suede on their first US tour, for which ST! was the opener...

― heywood jablomi (heywood), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

The video for "I Alone" is so hilariously cheap. I love how the drummer doesn't have drums but he runs around with his drumsticks anyway for some reason. Beavis and Butthead did the definitive mocking of this video however.

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 01:26 (twenty-one years ago)

The post that revived this thread is utterly unique in the history of ILM threads-about-crappy-bands revivals.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, I posted three times without mentioning that when I saw them live on the Secret Sahmadi tour (which EVERYODY was calling Secret Sodomy) I actually enjoyed it except for the ballads, the worst being "Turn My Head" (and cough). For some reason Ed K ran out wearing a feather boa for the encore - it was probably a mid '90s "irony" thing. I got to see it for free since I was reviewing it for the local paper. I'm surprised I enjoyed it at all cuz I got into my first car accident right beforehand, but I did.

My sister and me would always count the number of times Ed K touches his head in the "I Alone" video. It was tricky cuz sometimes it would like he was about to and then he'd change his mind. I think he wasn't used to been entirely shorn yet.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 05:45 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

I have a stupid/simple questsion, how do you pronounce this band's last name? Is it LAIV or LIV?

― Chris Blake, Friday, 12 May 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

they stuck a long vowell mark over the "i" so I in thier logo, so I assume it rhymed with strive.

They were awful.

― bendy (bendy), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:48 (twenty years ago)

Worse name for a band -- "Live" or "The Band"?

― Pessimist (Pessimist), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:57 (twenty years ago)

It was tricky cuz sometimes it would like he was about to and then he'd change his mind.

this is totally hilarious.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 12 May 2006 21:49 (twenty years ago)

"LAIV" ?????

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 12 May 2006 21:55 (twenty years ago)

remember that song tricky did with ed?

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:05 (twenty years ago)

"Now that I understand this right/Let me take it to the mike/This revolution/Has just begun"

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

and so it began

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:07 (twenty years ago)

the revolution

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:07 (twenty years ago)

the great battle of our time

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:08 (twenty years ago)

ed kowalczyk vs. a microphone

― gear (gear), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:08 (twenty years ago)

"Lightning Crashes" sounded pretty good on the radio. Except for the unnecessary and bad-sounding bridge.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:25 (twenty years ago)

I heard from a fan of theirs that they meant the name to be "live" as opposed to "die" but everyone called them live as in perform live, so they just went with it.

In addition to a few mentioned here, "TBD" (for Tibetan Book of the Dead, yes, pretentious) was an OK song. And their MTV Unplugged wasn't that bad.

X-post - I saw them once (and apparently this happens at all the shows) but the audience always claps along to Lightning Crashes, and because it's such a slow song they inevitably get off beat, and the result is a hilarious arythmic jumble.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 12 May 2006 22:31 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

Somehow or other, through all the miscellaneous purges and inadvertent losings of CDs, my copy of Throwing Copper has managed to not quite get thrown out of my crappy little CD binder. I've been spinning it lately at studio and either I'm getting old or it's a little better than I remember. Still drags all over the place, but the highs are genuine highs if you accept the basic templates of alt-rock. Even "Lightning Crashes," which really annoys me, manages to redeem itself with the amazing climax, with the wailing background vocals and all that. Rockin'. But the best by far is that "TONIGHT TONIGHT COME ON *MOTHERFUCKER!*" song, which is embarassing if you're embarassed by that kind of thing but is otherwise one of the best uses of "motherfucker" ever in music. That guy is really wound up!

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

"so they just went with it."

Gad.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:19 (nineteen years ago)

ahh Mental Jewelry! My friends and I thought that was pretty fierce when we were 14, it being a mostly acoustic record that wasn't intrinsically folky... The mega-seller follow-up (and I suspect every successive release) that was perpetually flogged on alt-radio & MTV - duddest of duds. Also, the guy's voice sucked from day one.

― will, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:36 (nineteen years ago)

i had no idea about the Jerry Harrison connection until now.

― will, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:37 (nineteen years ago)

OMG this is so weird. One of my non-ILX friends just wrote this huge thing out of nowhere about Live and now this thread is getting revived here. I feel like the universe is out to punish me!

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

I got in a fistfight with Live once.

― negotiable, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 02:49 (nineteen years ago)

Find something important to talk about.

!

Most disingenuous remark by a disgruntled-Googler ever?

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 08:58 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, I remember kinda liking "I Alone".

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 09:11 (nineteen years ago)

All I remember besides "I Alone" and "Lightning Crashes" is that single from a few years ago where Tricky is all, "SOMEONE should take your microphone/SOMEONE should take your bubblegum." Rest of the song's crap, though.

― clotpoll, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 12:31 (nineteen years ago)

At one point I had the flat of the Throwing Copper cover up in my room, and I don't necessarily change the channel when Lakini's Juice comes on the radio.
That's all I got.

― I eat cannibals, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

Defense:

At the HFStival in '95, it started raining in between sets. Whoever was in charge of the P.A. put on a whole bunch of rain-themed songs, starting with Lightning Crashes. It was a cool move that brought everybody's spirits up.

I loved the hell out of the "Four Songs" ep, which came out a few months before Mental Jewlery. I think I borrowed the whole album from a friend later and was pretty unimpressed, but the ep was dope.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 14:37 (nineteen years ago)

throwing copper isn't completely worthless

everything else, i would suggest, is.

― Charlie Howard, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

i always really liked this song, but mostly because the way he sings the opening line has always made me laugh hysterically. it's like, 'dude, are you consonant-blind?'

our love is like water
pinned down and abused for being strange
our love is no other
than me alone for me all day
our love is like water/angels pinned down and abused
.
all over you, all over me
the sun, the fields, the sky
I've often tried to hold
the sea the sun, the fields, the tide
pay me now,
lay me down

― the table is the table, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

i'd love to know how it's possible to pin down water

― Charlie Howard, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:39 (nineteen years ago)

I always thought it was "I love thee like water."

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 18:08 (nineteen years ago)

"I got in a fistfight with Live once."

i WISH i got into a fist-fight w/ Live. just once...

saw this band SO many times (thanks to living in South Central PA), and none of them were memorable or good. (i guess that's redundant)

― edde, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:00 (nineteen years ago)

I still think "Lakini's Juice" is great.

― HI DERE, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:02 (nineteen years ago)

this video=hilarious with the sound off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHnGWX0kYgc

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:09 (nineteen years ago)

IM SQUISHING MY FACE FOR MY ARTTTTTT

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:10 (nineteen years ago)

albino snake! candles!

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:12 (nineteen years ago)

so deep

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:12 (nineteen years ago)

"deep"

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:14 (nineteen years ago)

i love how his bandmates are half-assedly trying to keep up with his retarded antics

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

i feel bad for them, playing music in an empty forest

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

all alone with just an albino snake

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

the desert makes you do crazy things i guess

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

no surprise that three of the world's major religions started there!

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:21 (nineteen years ago)

Live-ianity,
Liveslam,
and Livedaism

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:22 (nineteen years ago)

Kowalczykasstrianism

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

what crazy religion were they into? some guru guy

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XzJYjZ6Cio

kajangga (3 days ago) marked as spam
when it comes to soul,just trust Ed to do it and he'll deliver a storm

― jim, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

(no utubin' at work for me) wait is that the vid where they all have instruments in video stylee, xcept the drummer, who just has his sticks??

classic beavis and butthead out of that one, iirc

― gff, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 20:35 (nineteen years ago)

"you forgot your drums, dillhole. we're all serious here, and you're just screwing around."

― gff, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 20:36 (nineteen years ago)

this video=hilarious with the sound off:

omg, you just made my night.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 02:43 (nineteen years ago)

Like, someone needs to make some animated gifs from this thing, STAT.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 02:45 (nineteen years ago)

Live's bass player totally swiped all of my shit for their first two albums. Seriously!

― Nubbelverbrennung, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 05:42 (nineteen years ago)

Er, can we ask who you are specifically?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 05:45 (nineteen years ago)

I own Throwing Copper. I used to think Live was one of the best bands ever. But I was, like, 12.

Apparently they're less angsty and more Christian...Actually, I think they're both, even though Ed KowabudsfkDKFX is in his 40s.

"Heaven"

You don't need no friends
get back your faith again
you have the power to believe
another dissident
take back your evidence
it has no power to deceive

I'll believe it when I see it, for myself

I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive

I sit with them all night
everything they say is right
but in the morning they were wrong
I'll be right by your side
come hell or water high
down any road you choose to roam

I'll believe it when I see it for myself

I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive, yeah

darling, I believe, Oh Lord
sometimes it's hard to breathe, Lord
at the bottom of the sea, yeah yeah

I'll believe it when I see it for myself

I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset and I perceive

I don't need no one to tell me about heaven
I look at my daughter, and I believe.
I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth
I can see the sunset
I can see the sunset
I can see the sunset
I don't need no one
Ohhhh
I don't need no one
I don't need no one
I don't need no one
To tell me about heaven
I believe
I believe it, yeah

― Tape Store, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 05:50 (nineteen years ago)

Apparently they're less angsty and more Christian (today)

― Tape Store, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 05:51 (nineteen years ago)

A couple of things in defense:

1) They made beautiful babies with Dave Matthews.
2) Trip timer. Put the CD on. When you start noticing it sucks, you need to get more drugs. Hypothetically and sarcastically with no real world implications.

― humansuit, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 06:30 (nineteen years ago)

I invented emo.

― Nubbelverbrennung, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 09:23 (nineteen years ago)

hahahahaha hi! Nice username!

― HI DERE, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 17:08 (nineteen years ago)

"1) They made beautiful babies with Dave Matthews."

this is NOT a defense. unless yr idea of "defense" is throwing yr weapon down and walking away from it.

any reference to DMB=kiss o' death.

― edde, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:25 (nineteen years ago)

I invented emo.

OMG I LOVE SHAM 69

― David R., Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:27 (nineteen years ago)

I can't really defend them except that I loved "Selling the Drama" at the time.

I remember being disgusted at the price of their tickets during the "Secret Samadhi" tour. I think U2 wasn't much more expensive (maybe $20-40 more) but at least with U2, you got tonnes and tonnes of stupid stuff such as a giant golden arch - so you knew where your money was going. Live just had some large candles.

― I am not afraid of you and you can spank my ass, Thursday, 17 May 2007 08:52 (nineteen years ago)

I remember being disgusted at the price of their tickets during the "Secret Samadhi" tour

anything to keep people away from heir music amirite

― latebloomer, Thursday, 17 May 2007 09:34 (nineteen years ago)

Dated May 18, 2007 - Greenwich Village, NYC

Hey, it's Adam, I just wanted to let all our fans know that Counting Crows will hit the road this summer on a tour of America's baseball parks. We're starting on July 22nd in Wilmington, DE at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium, the Home of the Blue Rocks. We're gonna hit 23 different ballyards all across the country (they're all listed below), mostly in smaller towns.

One of the reasons I'm so excited about this little jaunt we've decided to call "The Rock 'n' Roll Triple Play Ballpark Tour" is that we got really lucky and talked both Live and Collective Soul into coming along for the summer. We've even got Third Eye Blind hopping on for a few shows. Most of you probably know that Live and are both old friends AND old touring partners of ours. We spent the summer together when CC was touring on our 3rd album "This Desert Life." What you may not know is that on Saturday, May 21st, 1994, Third Eye Blind played their 1st show ever opening for Counting Crows at the historic Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. We've never toured with Collective Soul before, but we've played festivals together and...well, they're just a great band.

The other reason I'm really excited about this summer is that I grew up in a college town and I've always loved those kinds of places. That's why Counting Crows has always done so many tours outside the big cities. I'm definitely a city boy myself. Hell, I live in New York City. But this is a big country and, as much as I love a city, too many bands forget that there's a hell of a lot of America out there that's not New York or Chicago or LA. We haven't forgotten that and we're never going to forget it.

So if you live in Pawtucket, Rhode Island or Fargo, North Dakota or Sedalia, Missouri or Sauget, Illinois or any of the other 20 or so yards we'll be playing this summer, then we'll see you there. If not, get in the car and take a drive. Like I said, it's a big beautiful country. You 'ought a see it anyway. That's what I'm gonna do.

Okay. So that's settled. Now on to the "press release" part of this...uh...press release. I didn't write this next part but it's still important (it's got all the tour dates, after all) so read the whole thing. Anyway, this is the end of my personal compositional involvement (note the big word usage). It's been nice talkin' at ya. Here's the rest:

Read the entire Press Release here.

Tickets for all shows begin going on sale towards the end of May, check CountingCrows.com for on sale dates and fan club presales. All children under 12 will be admitted for free! A complete listing of dates is below:

July 22nd - Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE
Home of the Blue Rocks
July 24th - Classic Park in Eastlake, OH
Home of the Lake County Captains
July 25th - Consol Energy Park in Washington, PA
Home of the Wild Things
July 27th - Fifth Third Field in Dayton, OH
Home of the Dragons
July 28th - Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, MI
Home of the West Michigan Whitecaps
July 31st - Jerry Uht Park in Erie, PA
Home of the Seawolves
August 1st - Dunne Tire Park in Buffalo, NY
Home of the Bisons
August 3rd - Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, KY
Home of the Bats
August 4th - Victory Field in Indianapolis, IN
Home of the Indians
August 7th - GCS Ballpark in Sauget, IL
Home of the Gateway Grizzlies
August 8th - Drillers Stadium in Tulsa, OK
Home of the Drillers
August 10th - Sedalia, MO â€“ without Live/Collective Soul or TEB
August 11th - Principal Park in Des Moines, IA
Home of the Iowa Cubs
August 14th - Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, MD
Home of the Ironbirds
August 15th - Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick, MD
Home of the Keys
August 17th - MerchantsAuto.com Stadium in Manchester, NH
Home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats
August 18th - New Britain Stadium in New Britain, CT
Home of the Rock Cats
August 21st - Blair County Ballpark in Altoona, PA Home of the Curve
August 22nd - First Energy Park in Lakewood, NJ
Home of the BlueClaws
August 24th - McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, RI
Home of the Paw Sox
August 25th - Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY
Home of the Hudson Valley Renegades
August 27th - Syracuse, NY â€“ without Live/Collective Soul or TEB
August 28th - Allentown, PA- without Live/Collective Soul or TEB
August 30th - Memorial Stadium in Ft. Wayne, IN
Home of the Wizards
September 1st - Midway Stadium in St. Paul, MN
Home of the Saints
September 2nd - Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, ND
Home of the Redhawks

OF COURSE THEY COME TO SEDALIA WITHOUT LIVE

DAMNIT!

― Tape Store, Saturday, 19 May 2007 02:50 (nineteen years ago)

Does one have to leave the city when Collective Soul and Live get together? Or is it sufficient to spend all night hiding in the closet / in church (depending on your preference)?

― humansuit, Saturday, 19 May 2007 02:54 (nineteen years ago)

You can shove Live where the sun don't shine.

― Bimble, Saturday, 19 May 2007 03:34 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah. I'd rather listen to friggin' Air Supply than Live.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Saturday, 19 May 2007 07:31 (nineteen years ago)

And the classic Butt-head line regarding that video was "I know this video is supposed to be freaking me out, but I'm totally unfreaked."

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Saturday, 19 May 2007 07:31 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah. I'd rather listen to friggin' Air Supply than Live.

Jesus, lord. Even I don't know the answer to this conundrum. But I have to say, saying Air Supply are better than Live is...suspect. Or something. Look I don't want to hear either of them. I refuse to compare them just to come up with a winner. I don't care.

And besides Blur's "Caramel" is sounding about a billion times cooler about now.

― Bimble, Saturday, 19 May 2007 07:40 (nineteen years ago)

They are way better than Dave Matthews Band, Hootie & The Blowfish and Nickleback. If that means something.....

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 19 May 2007 12:12 (nineteen years ago)

i cant stand this band, but am amazed at the consistency with which bands who start out virulently anti-god eventually turn christian. live is exhibit a. smashing pumpkins is exhibit b. more tk.

― smash your phonograph in half, Saturday, 19 May 2007 17:59 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

Was just about to start this thread, and "Live" is not easy to search either.

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 02:09 (seventeen years ago)

― velko, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 02:35 (seventeen years ago)

I was always a fan of Secret Samadhi, but that was about it for me.

"Pain Lies by the Riverside" is a solid tune though....

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 02:36 (seventeen years ago)

Lightning crashes a new mother cries
Her placenta falls to the floor

― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 18:37 (seventeen years ago)

i cant stand this band, but am amazed at the consistency with which bands who start out virulently anti-god eventually turn christian. live is exhibit a. smashing pumpkins is exhibit b. more tk.

yeah I didn't really keep up with these dudes after mental jewelry, because well they're the absolute pits, but I was always under the impression they were definitely not down with the J-man. so when did they get borned again? after mega-success of that retarded song that was played 7 times an hour on MTV circa '94? praise be.

― will, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 18:54 (seventeen years ago)

This basically sums up my image of the typical Live fan.

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 18:58 (seventeen years ago)

ian johnson to thread

― Steve Shasta, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 19:15 (seventeen years ago)

Livealo's reprezent

― StanM, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 19:24 (seventeen years ago)

Simply not possible.

― Finefinemusic, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 19:24 (seventeen years ago)

THIS IS NOT MUSIC

OFF TOPIC

STOP

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 19:32 (seventeen years ago)

dude from young & the restless was in the 'lightning crashes' video

― mookieproof, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 19:42 (seventeen years ago)

so when did they get borned again?

they didn't! the lead singer's always been into eastern religions and shit like that.

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:00 (seventeen years ago)

they were totally featured heavily on VH1's "best of the nineties"

― ian, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:04 (seventeen years ago)

the video for "I Alone" is hysterical, especially with the sound turned off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHnGWX0kYgc

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:04 (seventeen years ago)

the placenta falls to the floor

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:04 (seventeen years ago)

"you forgot your drums, dillhole"

― goole, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:11 (seventeen years ago)

the video for "I Alone" is hysterical, especially with the sound turned off.

"With the sound turned off" is the only way I can stand it.

― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:12 (seventeen years ago)

take my wife, please!

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:14 (seventeen years ago)

wrong thread

― latebloomer, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:15 (seventeen years ago)

THE ANGEL OPENS HER EYYYYYEESS, PALE BLUE COLORED EYES

― res, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:40 (seventeen years ago)

holy shit what an idea to make fun of Live!

― Euler, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:43 (seventeen years ago)

i think making fun of live would take a lot of work

― omar little, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:45 (seventeen years ago)

true

― Euler, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:47 (seventeen years ago)

if I were to try to defend Live, I guess I'd say that their big songs (I've never heard the albums) were full of angry groaning that could conceivably get you pumped up as you got ready to play basketball.

― Euler, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 21:49 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

Car full of high school kids were bumping "Lakini's Juice" at a red light yesterday.

― too many misters not enough sisters (milo z), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:37 (seventeen years ago)

awesome

― the freakish wonder of nature that is "Beat Me" (HI DERE), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:41 (seventeen years ago)

never a big fan but throwing copper earned its massive play. phaser on lightning crashes rules. never douchebags that i've heard of.

creed blame falls squarely on pearl jam bros.

― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:43 (seventeen years ago)

i know a dude with a Live (The Band) tattoo

― GOON carter cash (J0rdan S.), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:44 (seventeen years ago)

Parentheses his?

― homage is parody gone sour (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:45 (seventeen years ago)

that's awesome!

― Satin Lives (Tape Store), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:45 (seventeen years ago)

i think it's their logo

― GOON carter cash (J0rdan S.), Monday, 27 April 2009 21:46 (seventeen years ago)

five years pass...

http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/dave-holmes-top-40-cheryl-strayed-1995.html

37. "Lightning Crashes," Live
True story: Just after I’d moved to Los Angeles a decade or so ago, I met some friends for drinks at Barney’s Beanery, a giant, noisy West Hollywood bro-bar that smells like how they describe Valerie Cherish’s trailer on the new season of The Comeback. It was karaoke night, which it somehow almost always is there, and sometime around midnight we all heard the opening chords to “Lightning Crashes.” “Oh, dear God,” I said. “Who would do this?” And seriously: Who wants to sing a song about death in childbirth underneath a TV with SportsCenter on it? Who gets drunk and sings the word placenta? I turned toward the stage and felt a twinge of recognition, and when he began singing, it hit me: The person who would unleash Live’s “Lightning Crashes” on a karaoke night crowd was Live’s own Ed Kowalczyk. I walked toward the stage in disbelief, as did about half the crowd. And as he sang, we all scanned each other’s faces for cues so we’d know how to react: Like, is this the coolest thing we have ever experienced, or is it unspeakably sad? You guys, I still have no idea.

― j., Saturday, 6 December 2014 21:19 (eleven years ago)

5. "All Over You," Live
Now, if I were Ed Kowalczyk, and I were meeting friends for draft beers and potato skins at a bar that smells like throw-up, and it were karaoke night, and I were determined to sing my own song, I’d go with this one. This is your crowd-pleaser, Kowalczyk; keep your placenta to yourself.

― j., Saturday, 6 December 2014 21:21 (eleven years ago)

two months pass...

http://autoaction.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/E7R3323-700x466.jpg

― how's life, Monday, 2 March 2015 17:57 (eleven years ago)

The "I Alone" video is one of the 20th Century's greatest works of high comedy.

― Potty Stickers (Old Lunch), Monday, 2 March 2015 18:04 (eleven years ago)

Oh my god, that karaoke story is insanely funny

― Poliopolice, Monday, 2 March 2015 18:13 (eleven years ago)

Listening to Ed Kowalczyk sing "drunk on your juuuuuices" in "Turn My Head" is an excellent natural emetic.

― Eggnog On My Kangol (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 11 March 2015 19:25 (eleven years ago)

five months pass...

wa·ter - /ˈwôdər,ˈwädər/ (noun)
1. a colorless, transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid that is commonly pinned down and abused for being strange: "Our love is like water."

― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Thursday, 27 August 2015 15:05 (ten years ago)

I am overcooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome

― you too could be called a 'Star' by the Compliance Unit (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 27 August 2015 17:35 (ten years ago)

The singer's bouncing so-mo rattail in the "I Alone" video has haunted my dreams for nigh-on 20 years.

― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Thursday, 27 August 2015 17:43 (ten years ago)

popular haircut with spanish crust punks

― you too could be called a 'Star' by the Compliance Unit (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 27 August 2015 17:57 (ten years ago)

That performance with tricky on conan is worth a view

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FPkktfthLmo

― nomar, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:04 (ten years ago)

i love how his "intense" wide-eyed stare resembles no one so much as andy kaufman

― da croupier, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:08 (ten years ago)

Can't get enough of this truck you guys.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b3/6f/81/b36f8172dc1af184ccf2fd6719d11cd8.jpg

All flyin' through the air, blastin' Heaven Wore a Shirt.

― how's life, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:13 (ten years ago)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CH3XooFWoAQNHsn.jpg:large

The headlights and grill appear to be painted on these things.

― how's life, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:15 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxuUogulD2M

― how's life, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:17 (ten years ago)

i bought a couple of this bands albums last year from the cheap bins : 'birds of prey' and 'secret samadhi'.
one even came with a live dvd !
not sure i have ever made it through either of them.

― mark e, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:18 (ten years ago)

live gets some props for using the word "placenta" in a pop song. some

― all my friends are vampires (art), Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:19 (ten years ago)

ok, as per the premise of the thread : the opening 3 mins of 'the dam at otter creek' is rather good ..
the rest of the song is standard college rock, but those gated drums and atmospherics in the build up are kinda cool.

― mark e, Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:28 (ten years ago)

I have watched "The Dolphin's Cry" maybe 4 or 5 times this week bcz it is so totally bombastic and OTT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBHmcORu4og

― Y Kant Max Read (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 27 August 2015 18:31 (ten years ago)

I genuinely love "Lakini's Juice"

― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Friday, 28 August 2015 16:01 (ten years ago)

same

great karaoke song

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 28 August 2015 16:04 (ten years ago)

two years pass...

MORE SKIN

― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Saturday, 25 August 2018 19:27 (seven years ago)

four years pass...

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/live-alt-rock-band-crime-lawsuits-1234677011/

― mark e, Saturday, 18 February 2023 19:49 (three years ago)

I wuz bored, so read the whole thing… hard to imagine too many others caring for such a lengthy and meticulous accounting of this band’s dirty laundry.

― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:05 (three years ago)

i read it for 10 mins, after which i gave up.
then i realised that i have 3 albums on cd by LIVE.
2 of which i dont think i have ever actually listened to all the way to the end.

― mark e, Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:11 (three years ago)

(to be clear, I’m not shading you for posting it… just surprised RS would go so deep on this subject)

― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:18 (three years ago)

when tricky played on Conan a couple of years ago, Ed Kowalcyxisbf, Live's singer, sang with tricky. he was dressed like a hippy and had a bandana on to hide his balding scalp (he actually had long hair at the time). although the entire performance was horrendous, Ed kept trying to really get into the song, and he was doing this extremely awkward dance and just generally looked like a weenus. i was lucky enough to have caught it on tape (i was expecting tricky to be much better) and every time i watch this tape a can't help but laugh my ass off. i guess that's a defense.

Had to look this one up. Thank you, YouTubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-eNS8lMltk

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:28 (three years ago)

...he pleaded no contest to felony criminal trespass, felony theft by deception, two counts of felony forgery, misdemeanor stalking, and misdemeanor simple assault, Hynes has been held under house arrest at Live’s former corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:39 (three years ago)

“That ended my creativity in the band,” says Taylor, still pained by the memory. “I felt like a married couple where someone says, ‘I’m no longer going to have sex with you. But we’ll stay married.’ It was one of the saddest moments of my life.”

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:49 (three years ago)

These guys sound more dysfunctional than Fleetwood Mac.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:50 (three years ago)

...he was also willing to fund Taylor’s new band, the Gracious Few — an alt-rock supergroup of sorts featuring Dahlheimer, Candlebox singer Kevin Martin, and Candlebox guitarist Sean Hennesy.

Why couldn't they just call it Candlebox II?

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:03 (three years ago)

Soon, though, the band members had to figure out other ways to supplement their income. Taylor tried producing movies, like the 2010 Ernest Borgnine-Cybill Shepherd film Another Harvest Moon

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:11 (three years ago)

“At first I was like, ‘fiber optics?’ ” says Taylor. “ ‘We barely know anything about real estate, let alone fiber.’ ” But Hynes had an idea to lay down a fiber-optic cable that ran directly from New York to Ashburn, Virginia, bypassing the big cities along the I-95 corridor where Verizon and others ran their cables. “I know this sounds weird, but I was like, ‘OK, that sounds like a great idea,’ ” Taylor says. “Somebody said we went from throwing copper to laying cable.”

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:13 (three years ago)

Taylor isn’t broke to the point where he can’t afford his own bison burger, but he’s grateful for the love.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:17 (three years ago)

Why couldn't they just call it Candlebox II?

They probably couldn't use the name (which also comes up in the Live intra-band disputes).

Kind of off-topic, but I recently watched the Go-Gos documentary – I didn't realize how super dysfunctional and shitty to each other that band was in its heyday. Hard feelings over songwriting credits (and, accordingly, publishing $$ split) was a big part of it (which also comes up in the Live thing). It makes me appreciate how smart (and fairly unusual?) it was for R.E.M. to split all their songs evenly, from the beginning.

― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:21 (three years ago)

We park and walk into Redeux Vintage, an upscale vintage clothing store where a Billy Joel T-shirt from the Storm Front tour will set you back $75. In the early Nineties, this was Live’s rehearsal space. He points to a corner. “Ed wrote ‘Lightning Crashes’ right here,” he says. “And I wrote ‘Dam at Otter Creek’ right over there. It all happened right in this space.”

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:23 (three years ago)

And the Go-Go's collaborated with each other on songs in all kinds of combinations. By the third (and best) album Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock contributed first-rate stuff.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:35 (three years ago)

Kind of off-topic, but I recently watched the Go-Gos documentary – I didn't realize how super dysfunctional and shitty to each other that band was in its heyday. Hard feelings over songwriting credits (and, accordingly, publishing $$ split) was a big part of it (which also comes up in the Live thing).

And even then, the Go-Go's doc didn't get into most of the legal fighting - zero mention of the God Bless the Go-Go's reunion album (with some outside songwriters) and the insane legal fighting where at least every member of the band was trying to be fired by the other four.

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 19 February 2023 00:09 (three years ago)

I saw a recent-ish TV interview with the Go-Gos where Carlisle said something to the effect that one month they'd all be suing each other, and then the next month four of them would be planning a surprise birthday party for the fifth one.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 19 February 2023 00:20 (three years ago)

It was startling to learn that Charlotte Caffey had a serious heroin addiction for years, and the other members (by their own admission) didn’t really give much of an f? Sounded like the new bassist had to interrupt a South American tour and physically haul her back to CA for rehab, to save her life.

(I read afterward that Belinda was also an addict, for decades… I didn’t realize the band’s story was so dark.)

― unknown blues singer (morrisp), Sunday, 19 February 2023 00:26 (three years ago)

couldn't help lolling at this - the rest is just sad

the Reading Outlet Center, which they bought for $1 million in 2011 with plans to renovate it as an apartment and retail complex. The building later collapsed.

― StanM, Sunday, 19 February 2023 00:49 (three years ago)

When I first saw the New Radicals I assumed it was Live due to his baldness

― PaulTMA, Sunday, 19 February 2023 01:07 (three years ago)

incredible article, i really enjoyed that

― call all destroyer, Sunday, 19 February 2023 01:40 (three years ago)

same! what a clusterfuck

― obsidian crocogolem (sleeve), Sunday, 19 February 2023 03:42 (three years ago)

lol I had to hear abt this from Ned on FB because I would not have opened this thread otherwqis

― obsidian crocogolem (sleeve), Sunday, 19 February 2023 03:43 (three years ago)

You could probably do a whole series of sadness on these 90s type bands from second hand stories I have heard that was in the orbits of Saliva, Days of the New and Kenny Wayne Shepard let alone the more public melt downs.

― The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Sunday, 19 February 2023 03:52 (three years ago)

Behind the scenes, however, the band was falling apart. Taylor says Kowalczyk insisted on taking the lion’s share of the publishing money since he was writing most of the songs, causing tension between him and Taylor that never truly went away. On Live’s next album, in 1999, Taylor says, the singer went further, telling the band he would write the songs entirely by himself, using them as mere support musicians. “That ended my creativity in the band,” says Taylor, still pained by the memory. “I felt like a married couple where someone says, ‘I’m no longer going to have sex with you. But we’ll stay married.’ It was one of the saddest moments of my life.”

a The McLennon Thread: what were The Beatles really about? (evidence presented for consideration) moment

― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Sunday, 19 February 2023 04:13 (three years ago)

i am 99% sure i have never heard "Lightning Crashes" until right now, as it plays on youtube as i type this. "I Alone", that one i heard a lot.

― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Sunday, 19 February 2023 04:14 (three years ago)

there's a thread for you now that you've heard it, KM

― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Sunday, 19 February 2023 04:57 (three years ago)

LIGHTNING CRASHES,

― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Sunday, 19 February 2023 04:58 (three years ago)

loooooool, thank you neanderthal!

https://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q686/tinyservants/Screenshot2013-02-04at82712PM_zpsb3e4f4c1.png

― President of Destiny Encounters International (Karl Malone), Sunday, 19 February 2023 05:01 (three years ago)

one year passes...

Lightning crashes
A new mother cries
Giuliani falls to the floor....

Rudy falls to the floor today at the RNC. pic.twitter.com/h5eke6XEXw
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 16, 2024

― Front-loaded albums are musical gerrymandering (Prefecture), Wednesday, 17 July 2024 00:18 (one year ago)

Dude's stewed on that Lakini Juice...

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 17 July 2024 00:46 (one year ago)

MOOOORE WIIIIIINE!

― Front-loaded albums are musical gerrymandering (Prefecture), Wednesday, 17 July 2024 04:04 (one year ago)

“I remember entering the room and hearing him sing the word ‘placenta,’ ” Taylor says. “I was like, ‘What the hell is he singing about?’ But back in middle school, when everyone else was at home trying to find their dad’s Playboy, he was reading Eastern philosophy books. He was singing about mysticism and our spiritual journey.”

this makes sense!

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Wednesday, 17 July 2024 14:21 (one year ago)

the way you're bathed in light

― rick beato meato manifesto (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 July 2024 18:55 (one year ago)

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