I got my first CD player for high school graduation in 1995. Just before receiving the gift, I purchased my very first disc. Live’s hugely popular 1994 release Throwing Copper was a noble—yet modest—beginning to what has become an obsession. Music.
Back in 1995, Live was at the top of their game. Throwing Copper was becoming one of the year’s biggest albums as a direct result of melodic yet rockin’ songs like I Alone, Lightning Crashes, Selling The Drama and various other equally lovely rock hits.
Critical support, fan followings, and finally MTV coverage helped to really push Live’s music into the limelight. But little did many listeners know that the Pennsylvania band had actually released their solo debut three years earlier. Mental Jewelry was a modest success. But, it really took until Throwing Copper for Live to explode musically and across Billboard charts everywhere.
Live has always consisted of the same four members. They started performing together at age thirteen after Chad Taylor (guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums) recruited the strong vocal talent of Ed Kowalczyk. It took a few years, but things finally clicked.
As I already mentioned, Throwing Copper was released in 1994 on the small Radioactive Records label. The album lingered at the top of the charts for months during it’s run and spawned no fewer than five hits. What really made Live’s sophomore effort seem truly excellent was the fact that the album was complete and each song was equally interesting and equally well written.
Arriving in stores barely post-grunge, Throwing Copper was just what mainstream rock fans were looking for. Just enough anger mixed with just enough melody seemed to equal surefire success. Produced by savvy 80’s figure Jerry Harrison, the album eventually went on to sell a whopping twelve million copies worldwide making it one of the biggest rock albums of it’s decade.
One of the problems that surfaces on Throwing Copper has to do Kowalczyk’s tendency to be a bit preachy. This is likely what led to the lukewarm reception of the band’s debut. But, on this particular offering the only real indication of this bent is on T.B.D.. Standing for ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead,’ the song sounds good on the surface but ends up a bit clichéd in the end. What’s fortunate is that this is the only song of fourteen that really leaves me with a sour aftertaste.
From the first driving chords of The Dam At Otter Creek through the untitled fourteenth track the album is very nearly a masterpiece and an accomplishment that Live will be unlikely to match. The song that introduced me to Live was I Alone. I vividly recall seeing the video (with a strangely tailed Kowalczyk) on MTV. The photography was sparse, but the strange love song was striking to my young ears. I remember thinking just how emotionally involved the band sounded…something that seemed to be completely lacking from much of the apathetic music of the grunge era. Even today, I see the band as innately talented musicians even if the lyrics are at times a bit too melancholic for their own good.
Selling The Drama was actually the first single released by Live from their second album. With a perfect chorus, great riffs, and Kowalczyk’s rich vocals, the song was a smart choice as a first single. The track sounds more like pop-rock in the beginning, but eventually breaks into the excitable and rigorous rhythm that best defined Live during this era.
Of all the brilliant tracks on this album, the most popular is also the most forcibly tender. You know the one…Lightning Crashes. Dwelling in death and loss, the track also speaks to hope and happiness even if it seems at times to wallow around in some sort of self pity. I wouldn’t say that this is Live’s best track. On the contrary. It’s certainly entertaining and very appealing to a wide audience because of its softer melody. Lightning Crashes is a decent track, just not representative of the band on the whole.
Both All Over You and White, Discussion also proved to be moderate hits for the band. But, other lesser known tracks like Iris, Waitress, The Dam At Otter Creek and Sh*t Towne are just as worthy contenders for the honor of best song.
Since the amazing success of Throwing Copper, Live has tried in vain to reestablish their position at the top. But, they’ve alienated listeners by again turning to the same preachy tone that in part sank their first release. Secret Samadhi, The Distance To Here and V have all come and gone with little notice. Live seems to be little more than a very impressive one album wonder. And boy what an album it was.
I do enjoy Throwing Copper. Maybe it’s because of my attachment to the year 1995 and high school graduation. More likely, I think the songs still somehow seem relevant today in an age where there are dozens of bands that only wish they could assemble an album that sounds as good as Throwing Copper. In fact, I see Live as a forefather of sorts to crap bands as of late like the utterly repulsive yet inexplicably popular Creed. Live stands out in an era where there were many bands trying to find an individual voice and yet somehow managed to all sound alike. 5/5 stars.
Track Listing:
1. Dam At Otter Creek, The
2. Selling The Drama
3. I Alone
4. Iris
5. Lightning Crashes
6. Top
7. All Over You
8. Sh*t Towne
9. T.B.D.
10. Stage
11. Waitress
12. Pillar Of Davidson
13. White, Discussion
14. Untitled
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