Live
Songs From Black Mountain
June 23, 2006
SONGS FROM BLACK MOUNTAIN
The boys from York, PA are back with their first new, studio album since the band's 2003 effort, Birds of Pray. The band's reemergence has met with mixed emotions from their fans. Some Live fans long for the early 90's and the harder rocking albums Mental Jewelry (1991) and Throwing Copper (1994), while other fans are quite satisfied to have a new Live album in their hands, even though it might not reach the stellar heights of previous efforts by the band. If you're looking for hard rock, Songs from Black Mountain probably isn't it. If you enjoy Live and realize that the band has changed and mellowed through the years, this might be your album. All the elements that attracted listeners to the band are still present in Songs from Black Mountain: gripping vocals from Ed Kowalczyk, rocking tunes, solid production, impressive musicianship (Chad Taylor on guitar, Patrick Dahlheimer on bass and Chad Gracey on drums), and the raw synergy that defines Live. The band that has always been known for its "anthemic music and idealistic, overtly spiritual song-writing"� Along with comparisons to U2 and R.E.M., takes a lighter, often acoustic approach in their hastily recorded seventh studio album. While the music is good, the only weak link proved to be found in some of the lyrics. A closer look at Songs from Black Mountain will reveal the mountaintops and the valleys.
Some of the high points on the CD include the songs The River,
Show, Wings and Where Do We Go from Here? which is probably the
strongest track in the collection with introspective lyrics that
include:
Where do we
go from here?
Now the day is gone
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts, baby?
Where do we go from here?
Now the night has come
These four songs are all classic rockers that could easily find their way to FM radio play lists. Even though these songs are the most memorable on the album, they also at times seem hard to distinguish from one another. This is one of the chief musical flaws on Songs from Black Mountain, before long many of the songs start sounding alike. The Live formula of starting softly, getting louder and then getting softer again starts wearing thin after a few songs.
Many of the words hit home with meaning (Where Do We Go from Here?), but other lyrics seem to be trite (Mystery-My ammunition won't load into my gun�), predictable (Show-You take me straight to Heaven by going straight through Hell�) and incongruous (Sophia-Sophia, I need ya, like a junkie needs a vein�). In the case of the religious allusions on the album (Love Shines, Wings), most of these lyrics seem a bit confusing and ill fitting. The final three songs on the album (All I Need, You Are Not Alone, Night of Nights) produce nothing memorable and also seem to run together. Perhaps if the band took more than three weeks to record the project, these songs could have been reworked into a more polished form.
In the final analysis, Live's latest effort, Songs From Black Mountain is a good, but not a great album. The music can soar to new heights, but it can also be predictable at times. The musicianship and production is first-class, while the often tired and clich'd lyrics prove to be the weakest part of the musical mix. If you're a Live fan, you'll probably enjoy Songs From Black Mountain without being too impressed by it. If you're not a Live fan, there's probably nothing in the CD that will persuade you to become one. Either way, the album is worthy of a listen.
-Kirk deCordova
dallasmusic.com