"The River," Live

[tozion]

mms://66.186.0.101/allaccess/liverive2.wma
listentolive.com/

This is their new single and goes for adds in about a month. It's okay. They really haven't amazed me since Throwing Copper anyway. They're a little too watered down for me now. You can listen to a clip at their site.

[Beyonce]

To Live's credit, they have been able to take their music in different directions since Throwing Copper. A mix of guitar-driven songs like "Lakini's Juice," the lighter sounds of "Heaven" and "Run Away" and almost poppish tunes like "They Stood Up For Love" have at least made this band interesting compared to many one-dimensional acts out there.

Andrew

[HC]

I've always been a big fan of Live. And like Wallflower mentioned, I continue to be because they do something a little different on each album. Sometimes it fails like with 'V' but most of time it works like with 'Birds of Prey' and 'The Distance to Here'

[tozion]

I really like this now. I didn't like "Heaven" at first either. The chorus kind of reminds me of "Sunny Came Home" when it starts.

[minusname]

I think I already like this more than "Heaven." This will be bigger than "Heaven!"

[TotallyEnormousExtinctDinosaur]

I like this but don't love it. It seems watered down. The chorus is definitely better than the verses. I could see it growing on me with more airplay, though. I wish them the best.

[tozion]

Billboard:

The River
LIVE
Producer(s): Jim Wirt
Genre: POP
Label: Epic (CD promo)

Long-lived rock outfit Live has evolved from appealing to testy 15-year-old boys to speaking to an adult top 40 audience. That is all good, considering that Ed Kowalczyk and company have always been a bit more cerebral than required by the average teen. "The River," the first single from Live's seventh album ("Songs From Black Mountain," due April 11) and Epic bow, is a bit more mainstream than the traditional Live single; singer Kowalczyk is less melodramatic than usual—perhaps disappointing to steadfast disciples—but the melody, as always, is memorable and the performance stellar. In 2006, Live sounds a bit more like Train than itself, but mellowing with age is a natural process. A formidable chart hit, if not exemplary along the lines of "Dolphin Cries" or "Lightning Crashes." We are still happy to have the guys back. —Chuck Taylor

[RedDragon]

I'm not impressed by this, but I like it though. But I hope this becomes a hit, 'cause I still like the band and I'm happy to have the guys back (Hot Billboard Review reference!).

[tozion]

They released a version with a little more edge.

mms://66.186.0.101/allaccess/liverive2.wma

[HC]

It's good, I like that version better. They should really use that one as their radio single. But I think if I wasn't so familiar with the song I wouldn't notice the difference.

[tozion]

hc said:

It's good, I like that version better. They should really use that one as their radio single. But I think if I wasn't so familiar with the song I wouldn't notice the difference.

[ultra9]

I think this is a great song with a strong hook, theyre best hook ever!! It deserves Top 10 at Hot AC!!!!

[Krypton46]

I'm liking this more and more. I hardly notice any difference between the two versions. It picked up 8 adds this past week so hopefully more stations will pick up on this as the weeks go by. "Heaven" was a top 5 HAC hot for them so there's no reason why this shouldn't be able to make a splash on HAC.

[tozion]

I can't believe just how badly this flopped.

[mjb1124]

This is pleasant, but unremarkable.

[HC]

Not good considering their album doesn't come out for 2 more months. But "Heaven" took forever to catch on, so who knows.