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!
T.B.D
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and I was
reachin' forward I was already there
readin' too much and losin' my head
this information caused a cut in the line
now I'm remembering good and thinking so much it's so nice.
the print is smaller than the ants in the grass
I'll have to put it away now
words to be said and food to be fed but I
won't be there. I'll be clutchin' on a
megaphone pointed at my head, would you be
there, would you kindly, scream this word for word so loud and clear
I can't remember it all, it needs to be clear, I tell you, if
the feeling drops out of your voice, would you
kindly pick it up
this is how, I'll go out tonight
dressed in blue, by the book tonight
this is how, I'll go out tonight
but I don't need a book.
we're talkin' anchors, talkin' ships, we're
talkin' seas, we're talkin' everything you need
you should be workin' now, not only askin'
how and the whereabouts of where you'll
be. I don't suspect you will be thinking
when the brain is dead and the mind
has taken over, this is a skill, this
is not a game, where have you been,
are you with us? can you hear us? got
the megaphone pointed at you
The lyrics of Live’s song T.B.D talk about losing one’s mind while being consumed with information overload. The singer is constantly reading and trying to take in more knowledge, but he knows that it’s not going to help him in any way. He's already there despite reaching forward. He becomes too overwhelmed with the amount of text and words he has ingested that he is forced to put it away. He tells us that there are more important things in life like speaking your mind, being productive, and engaging with the world. However, he is also screaming into a megaphone pointed at his own head, hoping that someone out there is listening to him.
The song encourages the listener to step out into the world and experience it with all their senses instead of being too consumed by meaningless articles and words. The singer claims that this is how he'll go out tonight, dressed in blue by the book tonight, but he doesn't need a book. He's ready to live his life. Additionally, the lyrics are questioning why we get lost in other things and forget about our lives. The song ends with the megaphone pointed at us, asking if we are with the singer or lost in our own thoughts.
Line by Line Meaning
in the moment I was losing my head
At that time, I was extremely confused and couldn't think straight
and I was reachin' forward I was already there
I was trying to achieve something, but I had already achieved it without realizing
readin' too much and losin' my head
I was excessively reading and it led to me being confused and overwhelmed
this information caused a cut in the line
This news shocked me so much that it disrupted my train of thought
now I'm remembering good and thinking so much it's so nice
Now, I am able to think clearly and reminiscing the good times makes me happy
the print is smaller than the ants in the grass
The font size of the text is very small and hard to read
I'll have to put it away now
I'll have to keep this book aside now since I am unable to read it clearly
in the morning there are things to be read
Tomorrow, there will be things I need to read and learn
words to be said and food to be fed but I won't be there
I won't be present to say the necessary things or to provide food
I'll be clutchin' on a megaphone pointed at my head, would you be there, would you kindly, scream this word for word so loud and clear
I'll be holding a megaphone near my head, and I'm asking if you will be near me and repeat my words so that they can be heard loudly and clearly
I can't remember it all, it needs to be clear, I tell you, if the feeling drops out of your voice, would you kindly pick it up
I can't remember everything I need to say, so it's important that your voice conveys the right emotions. If you lose your emotions while speaking, kindly pick them up again
this is how, I'll go out tonight dressed in blue, by the book tonight
This is how I'm planning to go out tonight, dressed in blue and following the rules
this is how, I'll go out tonight but I don't need a book.
This is how I'm planning to go out tonight, but I won't be following the rules
we're talkin' anchors, talkin' ships, we're talkin' seas, we're talkin' everything you need
We're discussing anchors, ships, seas, and all the things you need to be successful
you should be workin' now, not only askin' how and the whereabouts of where you'll be.
You should be focusing on working instead of constantly asking where you'll be and how you'll get there
I don't suspect you will be thinking when the brain is dead and the mind has taken over, this is a skill, this is not a game, where have you been, are you with us? can you hear us? got the megaphone pointed at you
I don't think you can think straight when your brain is exhausted, and your thoughts are scattered. This is not a game; it's a skill that requires concentration. Where have you been? Are you with us? Can you hear us? I'm pointing the megaphone towards you.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHAD ALAN GRACEY, CHAD DAVID TAYLOR, EDWARD JOEL KOWALCZYK, PATRICK DAHLHEIMER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind