Hailing from York, Pennsylvania, the group is comprised of Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals & guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums). Since approximately 1999, Live has toured with Ed’s younger brother, Adam Kowalczyk as a rhythm guitarist, and, previously, British keyboardist Michael “Railo” Railton.
Kowalczyk, Taylor, Dahlheimer, and Gracey first came together for a middle-school talent show in the Pennsylvania blue-collar town of York. The group remained together throughout high school, going through a handful of band names and new-wave covers before settling on the moniker Public Affection and recording a self-released cassette of originals, The Death of a Dictionary, in 1989. Frequent trips into New York to play at CBGB helped net the band a deal with Radioactive Records in 1991. With the new name Live, the band entered the studio with former Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison that year and began recording the EP Four Songs. The single “Operation spirit (the tyranny of tradition)” went to #9 on the Modern Rock chart, and paved the way for the band’s Harrison-produced, full-length debut, 1991’s Mental Jewelry (#73). The album lyrics, penned by Kowalczyk, were heavily inspired by Indian guru Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Fueled by heavy touring (including billing at Woodstock ‘94 and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD tour) and a string of hit singles (“I Alone”, “All Over You” and the #1 Modern Rock hits “Selling the drama” and “Lightning crashes”), their next album, Throwing Copper, went to #1 in 1994. It is their best-selling, and often most highly regarded by fans and critics, album to date. The band was even asked to perform on Saturday Night Live where they performed their hits “I Alone” and “Selling the Drama” and to this day, they are the only band to receive a standing ovation at the party after the broadcast.[citation needed]
The momentum continued long enough to help 1997’s Secret Samadhi (coproduced by the band and Jay Healey) debut at #1. Deriving its name from a state of Hindu meditation, the album spawned four Modern Rock hit singles, but failed to match its predecessor’s success, with sales topping off at 2 million. The band performed “lakini’s juice” and “Heropsychodreamer” from this album on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Harrison came back on board as coproducer for 1999’s The Distance to Here, which debuted at #4 and featured the minor US hit single “The Dolphin’s Cry.”
In September 2001, the more experimental V (originally scheduled to be titled “Ecstatic Fanatic”) was issued to mixed reviews, preceded by “Simple creed” as the first single. However, with the events of 9/11—which occurred a week before V ‘s release—the melancholic “Overcome” began receiving significant airplay, superseding “Simple Creed” and becoming V’s selling point. Unfortunately, Live’s commercial stock—compounded by their petering radio airplay—had fallen further since The Distance to Here, with V merely reaching #22 at home, failing to reach gold status.
Birds of Pray appeared in May 2003, bolstered by the unexpected success of “Heaven”, Live’s first US Hot 100-placing since “The Dolphin’s Cry.” Reaching #28, Birds of Pray ultimately outsold V, although it too received mixed reviews and failed to reach gold status.
In November 2004, Live released Awake: The Best of Live, a career-spanning compilation that included “We deal in dreams”, a previously unreleased song from the Throwing Copper sessions, and a cover of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line”, as well as Birds of Pray’s “Run Away”, re-imagined with Shelby Lynne on co-lead vocals.
In 2005, Live signed with Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s Epic label, and released a new album entitled Songs From Black Mountain in June 2006, preceded by “The river” as lead single. Thus far, while the album has achieved international success, it has proven Live’s lowest-seller yet domestically, only reaching #52 in the US before quickly disappearing from the charts.
While Live remain only moderately popular in terms of record sales in the United States, much of their current sales come from places in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Ed Kowalczyk has said that “Holland is the center of the Live universe” [citation needed].
The group made news in January 2006 as three band members (Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and touring rhythm guitar Adam Kowalczyk) and two members of the band’s road crew were on a United Airlines flight when smoke filled the cabin, requiring the pilot to make an emergency landing.
On season 5 of American Idol, finalist Chris Daughtry was accused of performing Live’s rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and calling it his own. This angered some Live fans, but one week later Daughtry acknowledged it was not his own rendition, even saying Live was one of his favorite bands. In May 2006, Live appeared on The Howard Stern Show and addressed this issue.
On May 24, 2006, the band and Chris Daughtry performed “Mystery” on the season finale of American Idol, and on June 7, a new version of “Mystery” was released on the Friends of Live website featuring Chris Daughtry on guest vocals.
The members of Live announced in June 2009 that the band would be taking a two-year hiatus as they work on other projects. On November 30, 2009, guitarist Chad Taylor confirmed that the hiatus of the band was most likely a permanent rift. See the Wikipedia page for more. During the first European tour of the new band of Taylor, Gracey and Dahlheimer (The Gracious Few), Taylor commented both on stage and in post-show discussions that he believes Live may still come back together, though he also stated that the chances of Kowalczyk joining them in this effort may be very small. In an exclusive blogpost[1] on website The Comet, Taylor confirmed that the remaining members of the band would be working on new material for Live in Nashville early July 2011.
The band returned from their nearly three-year hiatus on March 12, 2012, with Chris Shinn, formerly of Unified Theory, as their new lead singer. The new line-up performed before an invited audience at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York. The band performed as a six-piece with The Gracious Few's Sean Hennesy on guitar and Alexander Lefever on keyboards
[1]: http://thecomet.com/posts/exclusive_blog_chad_taylor_talks_the_gracious_few_and_live
There's another band with the same name:
2. Live was a 70s-era Progressive Rock group from Germany. Formed in 1971, the outfit appeared to be a strangely named band indeed.
In October 1972 their guitarist Martin Knaden went to Curly Curve. Throughout their history only one member has remained, the multi-talented keyboards and flute player Norbert Aufmhof. Although in existence for a decade Live never got to record a proper studio album, or gain a contract, which surely they should have. Maybe the band name was a bit of a jinx?!
Their earlier history was originally just documented by a single. Only more recently did an LP surface collecting 1974 recordings. Quite obviously a collection of rehearsal session tapes, the LP reveals a band with promise albeit rather grottily recorded with often barely understandable muffled lyrics in English. Musically, there are nods to early Satin Whale and Jane, but with lots of classical touches, notably Grieg and Bach, and a penchant to meander rather nicely during the instrumentals.
Based on the ROCK OFFERS track "Sea Fever", they had blossomed and changed focus somewhat, as a much more sophisticated symphonic progressive of the Pancake and Jane type, typical of the mid/late-1970's.
In all, during their history, three different versions of Live existed, but eventually the band split in 1976. A full history of the band is included in the GEVELSBERG CD, which documents other oddments, sessions, and a live recording!
Selling the Drama
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And to fear a flame
And to burn a crowd that has a name
And to right or wrong
And to meek or strong
It is known just scream it from the wall
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've been here before, yeah
Now we won't be raped, hey
Now we won't be scarred like that, hey
Now we won't be raped , hey
Now we won't be scarred like that, hey
It's the sun that burns
It's the wheel that turns
It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream
And to Christ, a cross
And to me a chair
I will sit and earn the ransom from up here
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've talked, I know, I know,
I've been here before, yeah
Now we won't be raped, hey
Now we won't be scarred like that, hey
Now we won't be raped , hey
Now we won't be scarred like that
Scarred like that
And to love, a god
And to fear, a flame
And to burn, a love that has a name
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've talked, I know, I know
I've been here before, yeah
Now we won't be raped, hey
Now we won't be scarred like that, hey
Now we won't be raped , hey
Now we won't be scarred like that
Hey hey na nana
(Hoo hoo) we won't be scarred like that
(Hoo hoo) we won't be scarred like that
(Hoo hoo)
The song "Selling The Drama" by Live is a powerful anthem that speaks about standing up against oppression and wrongdoings. The lyrics talk about the idea of loving a god, fearing a flame, and burning a crowd that has a name. This suggests that we should stand up against those who hold power and use it for oppression. The song talks about how we need to be strong and stand up for what is right, no matter the circumstances.
The song talks about how the world can be a cruel and unjust place, and people can be scarred by the events that happen around them. The lines "Now we won't be raped, hey, Now we won't be scarred like that, hey," suggest that the singer is standing up against the oppression and abuse that has happened in the past. The song offers hope to those who are struggling and fighting for their rights. It reminds us that we are not alone and that we can make a change.
Line by Line Meaning
And to love a god
To have faith and believe in a higher power
And to fear a flame
To be wary of dangers and potential harm
And to burn a crowd that has a name
To rebel against conformity and refuse to follow the crowd
And to right or wrong
To take responsibility for one's actions and make choices
And to meek or strong
To acknowledge and accept vulnerability while also showing strength
It is known just scream it from the wall
To express one's beliefs loudly and publicly
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
To have engaged in self-improvement, education and self-reflection
I've talked, I know, I know,
To have gained knowledge and experience through conversations and sharing ideas
I've been here before, yeah
To have gone through similar experiences in the past
Now we won't be raped, hey
To refuse to be taken advantage of or mistreated
Now we won't be scarred like that, hey
To reject past trauma and refuse to let it affect one's current state
It's the sun that burns
To recognize that nature and the elements can be both beautiful and destructive
It's the wheel that turns
To acknowledge that change is constant and everything is cyclical
It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream
To inspire others through the power of music and art
And to Christ, a cross
To acknowledge the sacrifice and teachings of Jesus Christ
And to me a chair
To create a comfortable and safe space for oneself
I will sit and earn the ransom from up here
To observe from a place of security and power and use it to one's advantage
And to burn, a love that has a name
To express intense passion and emotion
Hey hey na nana
A chant for unity and solidarity
(Hoo hoo) we won't be scarred like that
To strive towards healing and not let past pain define oneself
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Chad Alan Gracey, Chad David Taylor, Edward Joel Kowalczyk, Patrick Dahlheimer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@g-dubvillagelife197
Sing like no one's watching!
And to love a god
And to fear a flame
And to burn a crowd that has a name
And to right or wrong
And to weak or strong
It is known, just scream it from the wall
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've talked, I know, I know
I've been here before
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
It's the sun that burns
It's the wheel that turns
It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream
And to Christ a cross
And to me a chair
I will sit and earn the ransom from up here
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've talked, I know, I know
I've been here before
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Scarred like that
And to love a god
And to fear a flame
And to burn a love that has a name
I've willed, I've walked, I've read
I've talked, I know, I know
I've been here before
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Hey, now we won't be raped
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
Hey, now we won't be scarred like that
@fyfe3013
A shout out to those in their 40s finding that song they loved and are reliving their teenage years again.
@ronaldmcdonaldidion92
43 here and you are right
@LMBraun
44 here, I want my old car back!
@ireneuysalud7828
@@LMBraun 45 here , i miss ugly kid joe, nirvana , toad the wet sprocket, gin blossoms.......
@VictorFernandez-ALLisVANITY
almost there bro 39 eheh but this still move me as did as teenage years! I went into the pit! But this helped me in the come back trip! LET`S GO! Take no BS from anyone and do our best!
@pessimystica
I didn't find it, I never stopped listening to it!
@star_pilgrim_music
What strikes me most about this incredible record is how young they were at the time and how mature their music and lyrics were. The early 90s were just an amazing time for music.
@andydhillon1977
That's one of the main reasons why I cherish the 90's music. Sony songs had such good meanings behind them.
@nimhard
True, these guys are something else.
@alexythimia23
It was the times that also breeded this type of more real music, it went to shit past 2005 onwards completely. Music is now cheap, and a quick fix for kids who are existing through their screens prisoners of their mind and slaves to what media tells them. Even the ones who rebel now are cheesy and shallow