Live
Songs from Black Mountain

THE REVIEW

In April 2006, the Live, a rock band from York, Pennsylvania, return to the scene three years after their previous release, 'Birds Of Pray'. The main intent that the group sets for this full-length seems to be to return to the roots of their sound, which since the time of 'The Distance To Here', back in 1999, had been somewhat shelved and put aside, stifled by the band's desire to shift towards more mainstream shores and greater commercial appeal.

Although the opening is entrusted to the catchy, yet overly radio-oriented 'The River', thankfully there are also tracks like the initial 'Mystery', or 'Sofia', where, thanks to the enigmatic and deep lyrics and the intensity of singer Ed Kowalczyk's vocals, you can still sense, 15 years after their debut 'Mental Jewelry', the same enthusiasm and passion that infused songs like 'All Over You', 'Lightning Crashes', 'Pillar Of Davidson', 'Hold Me Up', or 'Turn My Head', which struck me and made me fall in love with this band. Even tracks such as the pacifist 'Home', the passionate 'Wings', and the more rock-oriented 'Show' and 'Night Of Nights' can be appreciated for the goodness and quality of the songwriting, although they lose a bit of edge and intensity when compared to the band's older episodes.

Unfortunately, however, alongside these successful examples, we also find absolutely bland and uninspired songs, such as 'You're Not Alone', 'All I Need', or 'Where Do We Go From Here?'; and among these extremes, ballads or semi-ballads like 'Get Ready', or 'Love Shines', where the vein is really too easy listening, making it hard to see behind a band like Live, although at least 'Love Shines' manages to be appreciated for the passion and emotion with which the singer resumes the themes regarding spirituality, religion, and family, which had characterized what might have been the band's last great song, 'Heaven', from the previous album.

'Songs From Black Mountain' ultimately turns out to be an album neither here nor there, severely penalized by a production and an attitude that are really too soft. An album that will also be the band's last studio effort, before announcing, after the release of the live album 'Live At The Paradiso' in 2008, a two-year break in the summer of 2009, which will then be rectified into a final breakup now a year ago.

Unfortunately, that dream begun in the long American summer of '94 to the notes of 'Selling The Drama' will shatter in the bitterest way, in the courtroom, with an ongoing lawsuit that sees the rest of the band against singer Ed Kowalczyk, due to a 'lead singer bonus' he demanded unbeknownst to the others during a performance at the Pink Pop Festival in 2009; and a secret advertising contract he presumably signed in 2005 with the intent to exclude the bandmates from future earnings. From the ribs of Live, 'The Gracious Few' will emerge, formed by former Live members Chad Gracey, Chad Taylor, and Pat Dalheimer, plus Candlebox's Kevin Martin (on vocals) and Sean Hennesy (on rhythm); while Ed Kowalczyk will decide to pursue a solo career that will lead him, in 2010, to release his first album, 'Alive', which desperately tries to cling to and keep alive the memory and sounds of his original band, saving them from oblivion and the relentless test of time.