|
Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 |
 |
Live's V strays unsuccessfully from previous albums
TED REINERT
STAFF WRITER
I first saw Live in the summer of 1999. Before about 70,000
people at the stadium rock festival, lead singer Ed Kowalczyk walked out
in front of a Tibetan flag. Kowalczyk, who was the image of cool but as
serious as a monk, led the enthusiastic crowd through his band's collection
of hit ballads like "The Dolphin's Cry" and rock songs like
"Lakini's Juice."
The second time I saw Live was at the same festival, earlier
this summer. Previously bald, Kowalczyk had grown back his hair, and he
kept sticking his hands in his pants. His monastic persona had been dropped
for something more resembling Michael Jackson, and this drastic change
is reflected in their revamped style on V.
This 180° turn could be compared to U2's transformation
from roots rock (epitomized by that distinctive guitar sound of the Edge)
to their groove and theatrics on Achtung Baby. But, instead of reaching
nirvana again by a new path, Live suffers due its transformation.
The change is immediately evident on "Intro,"
which blends into the first single "Simple Creed." These tracks
feature rapping from Kowalczyk's new best friend, Tricky. Although the
Live & Tricky collaboration on Tricky's album was more fruitful, "Simple
Creed" includes enough energy and catchiness to save the song. However,
this cross-genre dabbling doesn't work for long.
The worst part is the self-referencing: "Where the
boys in Live? / They're pissing in the mainstream." True, that. Here,
Live is horrifyingly similar to Limp Bizkit. This isn't pure reinvention,
because it imitates too closely the rap-metal movement. In other words,
Live has sold out when it had no reason to.
Fortunately, V doesn't totally suck. The choruses remain
extraordinarily catchy, and Kowalczyk's rhymes are smooth enough so that
quite a few Live fans should adjust to the changes just fine. And the
second half of the album is a great improvement upon the first. After
"Forever May Not Be Long Enough," produced by Glen Ballard and
stolen from the Mummy Returns soundtrack, we get a soft, simple and totally
honest gem: "Call Me A Fool."
Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz helps out on "Flow,"
and Eastern instruments are added to "The Ride." These tracks
are OK. And the stench of track 12, "OK?," the nadir of Live's
rap-rock experiment, is immediately rinsed away by "Overcome."
This beautiful piano ballad has become a tribute to the victims of September
11 (a music video shot with Kowalczyk walking around ground zero), and
is destined to become Live's biggest hit since "The Dolphin's Cry,"
if not "Lightning Crashes."
But the subtle and funky ending of V, "Hero of Love," is the record's third redemption - the place where the reinvention works best. It's a fun little groove and V ends on a solid note.
2 polar bears.