Live (IPA pronunciation: [laɪv], rhymes with "five")[1] (also typeset as LIVE) is an American alternative rock band from York, Pennsylvania, comprised of Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals and guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass guitar) and Chad Gracey (drums). Since approximately 1999, Live has toured with Ed's younger brother Adam Kowalczyk as a rhythm guitarist. They have also previously toured with British keyboardist Michael "Railo" Railton and Christopher Thorn (from Blind Melon).

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Characterized by an earnest approach to anthemic rock and a spiritual zen reminiscent of Joshua Tree-era U2, Live climbed from modest modern rock success to the mainstream spotlight worldwide on the strength of their 1994 breakthrough album, the 8 million-selling Throwing Copper.

History

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. Soon after in 1990, Public Affection released an EP of demos produced by Jay Healy titled Divided Mind, Divided Planet through their Black Coffee mailing list. Frequent trips into New York City 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 (1991). 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 light 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"), Live's next album, Throwing Copper, gave the band the breakthrough it desired. The steady success of the singles propelled the album to #1 on the Billboard 200 on May 6, 1995, more than a year after the album was released. To date, it is their best-selling album and often most highly regarded album by fans and critics. The band was invited to appear on NBC's Saturday Night Live where they performed their hits "I Alone" and "Selling the Drama."

The momentum continued long enough to help 1997's Secret Samadhi (co-produced 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 Saturday Night Live.

Harrison came back on board as co-producer for 1999's The Distance to Here, which debuted at #4 and featured the hit single "The Dolphin's Cry."

On September 18, 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, and failing to reach gold status. That same year, Live contributed a live performance version of their song "I Alone" to the charity album Live in the X Lounge IV.

Birds of Pray appeared in May 2003, bolstered by the unexpected success of "Heaven," Live's first U.S. Hot 100-placing single 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, the album has achieved much international success and critical acclaim. However, in their native United States of America, it has proven Live's lowest-seller yet domestically, only reaching #52 before quickly disappearing from the charts.

While Live remains 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. [citation needed]

On season five 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. 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. [citation needed]

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.

In an April 2007 interview, the band announced that they will film a full length concert in Brazil to be released on DVD next year. [2]

In May 2007, it was announced that Live will begin touring together with Collective Soul and Counting Crows in July. [3] On July 3, 2007, Live kicked off its summer touring season and performed live at Pittsburgh's PNC Park for a one-night only gig following a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game.

In July 2007, Live announced that they would be heading into the studio later on in the year to record their next studio album, due in Spring 2008. And on September 14, 2007, the band released their first album since 1989 on their own Action Front Records label, Radiant Sea: A Collection of Bootleg Rarities and Two New Songs, featuring two brand new songs: "Beautiful Invisible" and "Radiant Sea."

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Release date Chart positions US sales

US

Albums UK

Albums

The Death of a Dictionary (as Public Affection) August 17, 1989 - - -

Mental Jewelry December 31, 1991 73 - 1,000,000

Throwing Copper April 26, 1994 1 37 8,000,000

Secret Samadhi February 18, 1997 1 31 2,000,000

The Distance to Here October 5, 1999 4 56 1,200,000

V September 18, 2001 22 - 250,000

Birds of Pray May 20, 2003 28 - 300,000

Awake: The Best of Live November 2, 2004 65 - 200,000

Songs from Black Mountain June 6, 2006 52 - 46,000

Radiant Sea: A Collection of Bootleg Rarities and Two New Songs September 14, 2007 - - -

[edit] EPs

* Divided Mind, Divided Planet (1990, as Public Affection)

* Four Songs (September 24, 1991)

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions [# weeks at spot] Album

US

Hot 100 US Airplay US

Modern Rock US

Mainstream Rock UK

Singles

1992 "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" - - 9 - - Mental Jewelry

1992 "Pain Lies on the Riverside" - - 24 - - Mental Jewelry

1993 "The Beauty of Gray" - - - - - Mental Jewelry

1994 "Selling the Drama" 43 42 1 [3] 4 30 Throwing Copper

1994 "I Alone" - 38 6 6 48 Throwing Copper

1995 "Lightning Crashes" - 12 1 [9] 1 [10] 33 Throwing Copper

1995 "All Over You" - 33 4 2 48 Throwing Copper

1995 "White, Discussion" - 71 15 12 - Throwing Copper

1997 "Lakini's Juice" - 35 1 [1] 2 29 Secret Samadhi

1997 "Freaks" - 73 13 5 60 Secret Samadhi

1997 "Turn My Head" - 45 3 3 - Secret Samadhi

1997 "Rattlesnake" - - 18 15 - Secret Samadhi

1999 "The Dolphin's Cry" 78 65 3 2 62 The Distance to Here

2000 "Run to the Water" - - 14 17 - The Distance to Here

2000 "They Stood Up for Love" - - 31 24 - The Distance to Here

2001 "Simple Creed" - - 18 11 - V

2001 "Overcome" - - 30 - - V

2001 "Forever May Not Be Long Enough" - - - - - V

2001 "Like a Soldier" (Europe only) - V

2003 "Heaven" 59 56 33 33 - Birds of Pray

2003 "Sweet Release" (Australia only) Birds of Pray

2004 "Run Away" - - - - - Birds of Pray (Outside US)

Awake: The Best of Live (US)

2004 "We Deal in Dreams" - - - - - Awake: The Best of Live

2006 "The River" * - - - - - Songs from Black Mountain

2006 "Mystery" - - - - - Songs from Black Mountain

2006 "Wings" (Europe only) - Songs from Black Mountain

* "The River" charted at #33 on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks

[edit] Videography

* Appeared on MTV Unplugged, which includes a cover of Vic Chesnutt's "Supernatural" (1995)

[edit] References

1. ^ "Interview with Ed Kowalczyk in 1999." Toazted.com.

2. ^ "Live Deals With Life Outside Spotlight, Plans DVD." AlternativeAddiction.com

3. ^ "Collective Soul Plans Summer Tour, New Album." AlternativeAddiction.com

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