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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Mystery (03:45)
My ammunition won't load into my gun
My inhibitions, they fall like the weight from a stone
You lead my heart away like a homeless, dusted fool
Somehow this dime store ring still shines like a diamond to you
Oh, how it deepens
Oh, how it deepens
Your mystery
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Thought I knew the rules, thought I held it in my hand
Thought I was bulletproof till the blood pooled up in the sand
Are you a satellite, a shooting star or a dove?
Did we put you way up there or did God send you down from above?
Oh, how it deepens
Oh, how it deepens
Your mystery
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Burns me up like the sun
Your mystery
Mine eyes have seen the glory of a love that does transcend
Mine eyes have seen the worst inside of man
And fear is like a fallen bridge broken from an edge
And the proof is in the bloodshot eyes of the one who failed to see
Your mystery
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Burns me up like the sun
Your mystery
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Burns me up like the sun
Your mystery
03 Get Ready (03:32)
Come on, get ready
This is the spring of our love
Come on, get ready
Feels like it's ordained from above
We have the power
To do what we came to do
This is the hour
The sun is shining on you
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We can come together
The light is our way
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We belong together
Get ready
Come on, get ready
The beach is washing away
Come on, get ready
The high tide of our love is here to stay
We will have the power
To do the good and the true
This is the hour
The whole world is waiting for you
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We can come together
The light is our way
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We belong together
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We can come together
The light is our way
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We can come together
The light is our way
The future is now
The past is gone forever
We belong together
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
Get ready
04 Show (03:24)
This love has taken a turn
My maps are no good now
I'm lost in these woods
I say, Black Mountain show me your face
Bring on the oblivion of your sweet embrace
I say, this love has taken a turn
Where we go now, I can't wait to learn
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
I'll show you free tonight
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
You are my diamond of grace
Angelic little devil of the most secret space
I say, there ain't no one quite like you, girl
You save your nectar for the wise
While you smile at the world
I say, you make me laugh at myself
You take me straight to Heaven
By going straight through Hell
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
I'll show you free tonight
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
I'll show you free tonight
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
Free, yeah
If you want to walk with me
Then leave that false innocense behind
If you want to know me tonight
Then drag me to the river and hold me tight
If you want to love like a god
You got to bleed like a god
You got to fight like a god
Let go of who you are
Cling to me now
Cling to me now
Here we go
Here we go, yeah
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
I'll show you free tonight
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
I'll show you free tonight
Show a little love to me
Show a little love to me
Darlin', I'll show you free
Yeah, I'll show you free
Show a little love to me
Show a little love
Show a little love to me
05 Wings (03:51)
The way I'm on your mind, like a ball and chain
Like a destiny to run from
Division in your soul (in your soul), keepin' you from whole
I can bare to see you crying
The wing that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home
Sometimes you've got to die to be born again
Sometimes you've got to fight
Sometimes you've got to learn
Sometimes you've got to burn
The old brush out so the new can grow
The wing that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home
Yeah, come on
Could be the wings
Could be the wings (carry you home)
Could be the wings (oh)
Could be the wings (carry you home)
Like to long, lost friend?
Like to love, lost friend?
Like it too long, lost friend?
The wing that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home (carry you home)
Come on, come on
Could be the wings
Could be the wings (lord above)
Could be the wings (oh yeah)
Could be the wings (carry you home)
Could be the wings
Could be the wings (carry you home)
Could be the wings
Could be the wings (carry you home)
06 Sofia (03:54)
Diamonds and pearls don't move this girl
She can be icy cold to the crawl
One of her lungs breathes in another world
While the other sticks around to blow you off
Even when the four winds blow
She kinda passes by like she don't feel it
No, momma, she don't feel it
One of these days I'm gonna dive into her waves
And bring back the meaning of it all
Sofia, I need ya
Like a junkie needs a vein
And I wanna feel ya, Sofia
Fallin' down on me like rain
They say in ancient times, man, that women ruled the world
But the goddess was the one who laid it down
Well, I gots a woman as alive as the day
Gonna breathe a whisper, knock you right down to the ground
So go ahead man and say what you came to say
The black widow's a spider
The black widow's a spider
Then go and prepare for your dyin' day
Won't take one minute till you're curled up dead beside her
Sofia, I need ya
Like a junkie needs a vein
And I wanna feel ya, Sofia
Fallin' down on me like rain
On me like rain
Fall down
Fall down
Fall down
Sofia, I need ya
Like a junkie needs a vein
And I wanna feel ya, Sofia
Fallin' down on me like rain
Sofia, I need ya
Like a freeloader needs his train
And I wanna feel ya, Sofia
Fallin' down on me like rain
Sofia, rain down on me
And I ain't ever
I'll never be the same, baby
I wanna feel ya, Sofia
Fallin' down on me like rain
09 Home (03:23)
I'm a soldier on the field
Fighting for you, fighting for me
You can see it on our faces
Like the bullets leave traces
You can feel it for real
You can't imagine the pain of my baby so far away
So far from my home...
When they comin' home?
When they leavin' that place?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
When they comin' home?
Oh shed some grace!
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
I'm a soldier on the field
Waiting to die, praying to live
To survive one more day
But my hope begins to fray
It's my flesh against the steel
You'll never know what I've known
You'll never see what I've seen
I hope we make it home...
When they comin' home?
When they leavin' that place?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
When they comin' home?
Oh shed some grace!
Put your peace in the valley tonight
Bring the soldier home alright
When they coming' home?
Oh, when they leavin' that place?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
So far from home
She cries, politics aside
What I'd give to have him here tonight
When they comin' home?
When they leavin' that place?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
When they comin' home?
Oh shed some grace!
Put your peace in the valley tonight
Bring the soldier home alright
When they coming' home?
Oh, children playing in the sun?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
When they comin' home?
Oh, ?
Put your peace in the valley tonight
Bring the soldier home alright
When they coming' home?
Oh, children playing in the sun?
To see their lovers face again
Kid will see his daddy's face again
When they comin' home?
Oh, ?
When they coming' home?
10 All I Need (03:13)
All I need
Is right here on my sleeve
You get what you get with me, girl
You get the grace and the stain
Count to three and I'll be on my knees
Tryin' to set you free, girl
Tryin' hard to make you see
My love is here to stay
My love is here to stay
Open your heart
You can find your own way
I found they're all the same
My love is here to stay
All I need
Is witherin' on that dream
The fruit of all knowledge, darlin'
The one you were supposed to give to me
Now I sit here
Like a buddha in this chair
Watchin' your spectacle unfold
I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare
But baby, my love is here to stay
My love is here to stay
Open your heart
You can find your own way
I found they're all the same
My love is here to stay, yeah
Like the sun that shines behind the mind
Like the one before all days go by
Like the sun that shines behind our
Like the sun that shines behind the mind
Oh, it shines
Oh, how it shines
All I need
Is right here on my sleeve
You get what you get with me, girl
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