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