Live Album: “Mental Jewelry”

The reviewer from 11/14/03 said, "This album put Christian rock on the map." I have been a fan of Live for nearly a decade and I can assure you, as can any true fan, that Live is not a Christian band. From what I've gotten from Live's music is that life can be a very spiritful journey. I think that Live and especially the lead singer Ed Kowlczyk has gone through a lot of spiritual changes throughout their time together, but they should definately not be catorgized as being of one particular religion.

A line from "Operation Spirit" says: "I heard a lot of talk about this Jesus, a man of love and a man of strength. But what a man was 2000 years ago, means nothing at all to me today." Now, I've heard Ed say that Jesus in this song could be replaced by most any spiritual icon and the point remains the same - Find the truths out for yourself, don't blindly follow.

Anyway, just my $0.02.

Before i begin i'd like to say that this is not Live's first album, as in the people who make up Live, because they did release an album called "Death of a Dictionary" back in '89 under the name 'Public Affection'. But anyways, back to MJ, it is a great album. The foundation of Live, the beginning of it all. The whole album preached peace and love without being preachy. The Beauty of Gray is one of the best i think. The excellent lyrics and music make a unique sound, and provide the base that Live needed to launch themselves into their musical career. There are some really ingenious lyrics in here. This is an album everyone should have.

This is a great album from the greatest rock band. I like to relax to this album. I put it on when I go to bed. I listen to Throwing Copper to cheer me up and I listen to Secret Samadhi to rock out. I also have Four Songs, Beauty of Gray, and That's Live. If anyone knows where I can get more Live CD's, let me know!!!

Live is one of those bands which no one has heard of, but every one knows at least one of their songs. The York, Pennsylvania quartet of drummer Chad Gracey, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, guitarist Chad Taylor, and lead singer Ed Kowalczyk is notoriously unsung, and even more notoriously in need of it. And despite recent midsteps (namely the obscenely bad "V"), their impression can't be denied, and this is the first step of their journey.

Although this is indeed a good rock album by any standards, those fans who cry that this is their best are, to me, the same ones who think Radiohead's "The Bends" is better than "OK Computer". This is obviously a first album, as much of the album is Live trying desperately to find the sound that suits itself best. The first track is probably the best effort. "Pain Lies on the Riverside" introduces us to everything about Live that his fans love: the simple melody with powerful guitars, the use of a recurring water metaphor, and Ed's voice, which is one of originality and power (a power not fully realized until their third album). "Operation Spirit" is much in the same vein, with a better introduction into the lyrical intensity that Ed is capable of though, as before, it is not fully explored. "Beauty of Gray" is a bit on the corny side, and if it were sung by any other band it would easily manifest some giggles, but it works in the hands of Live.

But while the first part of the album is what you expect from a Live just getting on its feet, it too quickly changes pace as the band tries to find a sound. "Tired of Me" is a good song, but the lyrics are extremely repetitive, and after a few minutes, it gets a little, well...tired. After a certain point, it stops sounding so much like Live, and sounds a lot more like a Pearl Jam album (most notably in the "You are the world" lyric in the song of the same name). Not that sounding like Pearl Jam is necessarily a bad thing, but aside from dating the cd horribly, it just doesn't feel like the Live which I and many fans fell in love with on Throwing Copper, Secret Samadhi, or Distance to Here. It does perk up in later points, such as "Mother Earth is a Vicious Crowd" and "10,000 Years", but it is a little hard to come to your senses after you hear Ed doing his Eddie Vedder impression.

It really depends on the standards which you view it by. If you're a fan of Live, you're probably going to like it, but not as much as some of their later efforts. If you just want a good rock album, without many strings attached, this is a dang good album for you.

This is a rare album that holds up lyrically alone and musically alone and is in greatness together. The mix of songs makes for a complete sounding album. It's impressive that the lyrics preach but the songs sound far from preachy and more into the territory of a powerful note. This band manages to be stunning in the first album, and truly profound. Ed Kowalczyk begins his journey into being a truly remarkable voice in music history, he is unusually soft yet forcing, rough and raspy in one spot yet young, pleading, and gentle in another. This album is highly driven for half of its playing time and building up the drive during the other half. E.K. is one of the more seriously talented artists of his generation though he is often misunderstood and picked on for petty reasons by critics. The bands overall ability to build rythms and beats is no less than impressive and chad gracey is right up there with the greats of yesterday like Kieth Moon [The Who] and today like Lars Ulrich and David Silveria of Metallica and Korn. This the first of four genuinely heavy albums the last probably being there most refined capitalizing on their best abilities and backed up by friends of the trade with as much talent [ The Distance to Hear.] In any case it's hard to put a label to music like this, almost as hard as labeling the Dave Mathews Band or Even Neil Young. Either way easy label or no, this music is strong and fairly easy to get into quickly -first song to last. Probably not an effort that will be equaled for the same aspects again by this band who have begun to branch out int several other ways. This album is a rare breath of fresh air even for all its danger prohpecy and frustration of current behavior in society. It's completely worth it. Also It would probably be the best album to begin a fanhood with Live. It describes and outlines there musical beginning and talent and leans toward maturity with perfect accuracy.