"Live, four incredible musicians: Ed Kowalczyk, with the incredibly unmistakable voice, delivers powerful and thoughtful lyrics while Chad Taylor mixes furious guitar playing with sweet strumming. Patrick Dalheimer, on bass, helps it along with masterful bass playing, while Drummer Chad Gracey's pounding beats deliver the final word."
Living in England I'm afraid I don't hear much about Live over here. The British music industry and the British public have cruely overlooked Live, partly I believe because they afraid of anything that is different, or anything that challenges peoples beliefs. I've had many interesting discussions about Live with various people and have come to the conclusion that people in Britain are unwilling to accept something unless it has also been accepted my a majority in the rest of the country.
Anyway, I've found the internet the number 1 resource for information on Live, and would like to thank everyone who has helped, and supplied info and stuff. I hope everyone finds this site useful. Please take a minute to fill out the survey while you're here.
History:
These group of men first came together at
Junior High in an instrumental group called First Aid. They
changed their name to Action Front and invited their long-time
friend Ed Kowalczyk to join the band. Influenced by big names
such as R.E.M. and U2, they had their first proper gig. It sold
out with over 400 people in attendance. They began to play gigs
more regularly, and when they graduated from school in 1989 they
had renamed themselves as Public Affectiion. This is the name
they used to release their promotional album, Death of a
Dictionary, on their own label, Action Front. They produced 2000
copies and it was a complete success.
It wasn't long before they got themselves a proper record deal
from Radioactive. Mental Jewelry, their first commercial album
was released in 1991. When Ed was 18 he discovered a book by
Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti called "You Are The
World". Much of the lyrics in Mental Jewelry are influenced
by this book, which expresses ideas of personal transformation
through selflessness. Mental Jewelry also challenges Christian
beliefs and practices, and our current society. The band only
decided on the name Live after the album had been released. This
name was chosen after Chad Taylor, the lead guitarist had a dream
that his cousin had a hat with "Live" written on it.
Mental Jewelry was a success and, three years later in 1994, the
band went on to release their most successful album, Throwing
Copper. The album was an instant hit with critics and the public
alike, and to date has sold seven and a half million copies.
Songs deal with such issues as abortion, urban living and the
cycle of life. Many of the songs became instant hits, and
Lightning Crashes is still played daily on many radio stations.
The year after Throwing Copper was realeased Live won the 1995
Rolling Stones readers poll.
For the release of their third album Live brought back Jay Healy
as the producer, who had recorded some early demos with them. In
Secret Samadhi the band take their sound in a totally new
direction. In Secret Samadhi there is a more raw, more
experimental sound. While it got much critical acclaim it has
sold just one and a half million copies. Many of the fans didn't
like Live's new sound.
In 1999 the band are set to release The Distance to Here. Once
again embarking in a new direction, Live have written over 50
songs for the album, and whittled it down to just 13. Ed said
this about their new release:
"We've always been a band that questions things,"
Kowalczyk, 27, said. "Up to this point, there's been a
certain amount of angst. Now we've come to a place in our lives
where we've been through so much ... that we're comfortable being
a big band."