V

An alien race comes to Earth and offers peace. They claim to be seeking help and have many gifts to offer in return. At first everything seems to be fine and the human-alien relationship seems to be going well, but eventually a few people start to realize the aliens are up to something and they have something to hide.

An incredible five part mini-series that also spawned a regular series that didn't survive long. I remember being totally stunned by this series the first two times it aired on regular television and I caught it again once on the sci-fi channel. I still think it was amazing. With the 5 episodes it allowed for more character development than a standard movie could allow, it added suspense as you waited for the next episode. It was better than most weekly series and probably got a bigger budget since it was a mini-series.

The one thing I don't think I'll ever forget is the when one of the aliens eats lunch. Or the giant meat-lockers.

I have come across two different forms of V drink.

One is labeled "dietary supplement drink" and the other "Energy drink" (although the latter also has "Dietary Supplement" on the label). As far as I can tell the only difference is that in it's Energy Drink Guise V contains caffeine while the other does without.

For those who couldn't be bothered reading the ingredients off the back of the can I have included the visible differences between the two:

On the front:

• Caffeine V (cV) has the phrase Invigorate body and mind at the top of the label, non caffeine V (ncV) says Vitalise body and mind.
• On the cV label the V graphic has a green shadow while the ncV graphic has a silver one.
• The explosion type graphic behind the V is yellow and green on the cV can. On the ncV can it is just yellow (because of this the tm characters have been moved about 2mm higher on the cV can).

On the back:

• The cV can has black text at the top and a black elipse with silver text. The ncV can has red text at the top and a silver elipse also containing red text.
• The cV can has a table of nutritional information while the ncV can has consumer information which is essentially just the ingredients (this is not in table form).

V contains

Carbonated water, Sucrose, Acidity regulators
(Citric acid, Sodium citrate), Taurine, Guarana
extract (0.12%), Glucuronolactone, Caffeine
(0.02%), Caramel colour, Inositol, Flavours,
Vitamins (Niacin 8mg/100ml, Pantothenic acid
2mg/100ml, B6 2mg/100ml, B2 0.6mg/100ml, B12
2µg/100ml)

Live's fifth album, V (2001), was one that left many of their fans bemused, distraught and on the brink of delirium; they searched for the much fabled and hyped up 'inspiration' behind it, yet could find no solace in the polished surface of the album, nor the tracks held therein. On September 17th 2001, many Live fans would have piled in to record stores to purchase V, and to sample the new work of such a monstrously reputed rock act.

Upon listening to it one is greeted with a new sound from the band, a sound only reminiscent of their earlier work from 1991, Mental Jewelry. But the only similarity is in the energy of the music; all comparisons end there.

Compared with previous efforts from the band, V is lacking in both feasibility of singles, and musicianship. In fact, the singles which were released from the album (Simple Creed, Overcome, Forever May Not Be Long Enough and Like a Soldier) simply lacked the depth and melody of previous singles, for example from The Distance To here, The Dolphins Cry or Run to The Water (or perhaps the even better known Lightning Crashes of Throwing Copper). Ironically the only single which I believe showed any real depth of songwriting was originally supposed to be a non-single track on The Distance to Here, yet was left for their next album.

Perhaps it was the comparisons to earlier works that saw V gain such harsh commentary from Live fans. The question is, do the songs stand up by themselves, separate from the reputation of the band? This is perhaps the hardest question to answer, unless you have had no previous exposure to the band. However, upon hearing the album, I at first believed it to be another band, and surely not Live. I honestly said, "How do bands these days manage to release such SHITE as their first singles?! What the hell record label would take this music under its wing?" Naturally, the shock set in after I recognised the lead singer (he seemed to had grown hair for the film clip of Simple Creed) and they flashed their message across the bottom of the screen stating which band this song belonged to.

Ed Kowalczyk's voice on this album seems to have taken a step back from The Distance to Here. With his ever-present vocal trills and extensive use of falsetto not present in most of the album, the songs seemed to lose a certain edge. But one cannot blame the frontman alone; the songs themselves were quite weakly written and the new presence of choirs and keyboards added a previously unheard element to their music, which threw many avid Live fans way off the desired target. In addition, the spiritualism and mysticism usually evident in Ed's lyrics was absent.

In all, V was a dramatic turn for Live, and a big shock to fans. Where some may have liked it, the majority seem to voice the opposite, shunning it as a pointless turn from the previous two energetic albums.

Tracks

1. Intro
   
2. Simple Creed
   
3. Deep Enough
   
4. Like A Soldier
   
5. People Like You
   
6. Transmit Your Love
   
7. Forever May Not Be Long Enough
   
8. Call Me A Fool
   
9. Flow
   
10. The Ride
    
11. Nobody Knows
    
12. OK
    
13. Overcome
    
14. Hero Of Love
    

Singles

Simple Creed
Overcome
Forever May not be Long Enough
Like a Soldier

B-sides

Deep Enough (remix)
Shit Towne (live version)
Sparkle (live version)
Simple Creed (acoustic version)
Overcome (acoustic version)
Overcome (live version)

Live are:

Ed Kowalczyk: lead vocals, guitar
Chad Taylor: lead guitar
Patrick Dahlheimer: bass
Chad Gracey: drums

On V:

Adam Kowalczyk: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Michael Railo: keyboards, backing vocals
Sitar on "The Ride" performed by Alain Johannes
'Tricky' performs vocals on "Simple Creed"
Bass on "Flow" performed by Shawn Williams

V (vee).

1.

V, the twenty-second letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. V and U are only varieties of the same character, U being the cursive form, while V is better adapted for engraving, as in stone. The two letters were formerly used indiscriminately, and till a comparatively recent date words containing them were often classed together in dictionaries and other books of reference (see U). The letter V is from the Latin alphabet, where it was used both as a consonant (about like English w) and as a vowel. The Latin derives it from it from a form (V) of the Greek vowel UPSILON ( Υ ) (see Y), this Greek letter being either from the same Semitic letter as the digamma F (see F), or else added by the Greeks to the alphabet which they took from the Semitic. Etymologically v is most nearly related to u, w, f, b, p; as in vine, wine; avoirdupois, habit, have; safe, save; trover, troubadour, trope. See U, F, etc.

See Guide to Pronunciation, § 265; also §§ 155, 169, 178-179, etc.

2.

As a numeral, V stands for five, in English and Latin.

© Webster 1913.