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Customer Reviews of V

I really wanted to like this album. I gave it chance after chance...but it just didn't grow on me. While there are a few great songs on the record (Overcome, Hero of Love, The Ride, Ok), the rest of the album just doesn't measure up to what I know Live is capable of. In fact, it's hard to believe this is Live at all. The album seems forced, rushed, contrived, and all around uninspired. Ed is a singer with great vocal range, but his voice just sounds strained here. Gone are his thoughtful lyrics...

Instead of releasing this, maybe the band should have spent more time finding some inspiration and getting back to their roots. Sure, we'd have to wait a little longer of the new album, but they could have re-released Death of Dictionary (fans would get a kick out of this), put out a live album (fans have been thirsting for this for years), a b-side collection (they've done some great b-sides and covers over the years), or even a dvd (a video collection or concert would be awesome).

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great when bands try new things and experiment. I don't expect (or want) every album to sound like Throwing Copper. Secret Samadhi & The Distance to Here were both experimental albums, but they are both light-years above V.

Live is a great band, and they are great performers too. That's why it saddens me so much that this album is going to be sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I'm still a fan and I'll still continue to enjoy their old music. But I guess I'll just have to wait for the next release and see what they do. Right now they seem to be in a major slump, so hopefully they'll come back someday with something really great. Or so I hope.

Another good one from Live
At First I wasn't too sure of the changes(added electronics and occasional rapping)that Live made on this new album.Upon the first spin some songs stuck out as being pretty good and/or catchy, but the sound and stylistic changes were almost shocking at first.I really wasn't sure what to think, one thing for sure,I couldn't stop going back and listening to half of the songs on this cd either.
After many spins, what I've found is a muscular,confident,ecclectic and catchy set of sounds that manages to seem both over produced and yet maintaining a serrated edge.I have to respect Live for doing this, while managing to stay listenable.How pathetic it would be if they did one variation of Throwing Copper after another.
"Overcome" might be the best song on this cd, beautiful and moving it really throws me back to the days of "Lightning Crashes",and man can that guy sing."Simple Creed"(catchy),"Like A Soldier","Transmit Your Love"(breezy and powerful),"Forever ....",and "Flow"(a cool sounding rocker)are my favorites from "V".Some of the other songs sound like odd, but likeable jam sessions.Some of the lyrics are regressive like "Deep Enough"(ugh!), although the music is actully pretty good.
No this album is not as good as "Throwing Copper",but being realistic how many other Rock/Alter.Rock albums in the the last 5-6 years are?
As a work unto itself "V"stands on it's own, is very solid and breathes new life into Live's already impressive library of albums.I like it.

Lukewarm.
This is Live's 2001 follow up to the senstational, underrated "The Distance to Here", and it seems most people here can't seem to agree on if it's any good or not; to some, a musical tragedy, to others, a step in the right direction. I think I stand somewhere in the middle.

Well to be frank this is still my least favorite Live album, except for maybe Birds of Pray, which too is a less than stellar work. With "V" Live remains Live, with a few added bells and whistles. The album brings with it the optimistic, lighter energy of "Distance", and if the album has one unquestionably positive characteristic, it's the energy -- it pulsates out of the album. Gone, however, is the general feeling of alternative/rock, replaced mostly with a nu-metal-esque sound that has replaced a lot of the guitars with a great deal of electronics and samples. If you thought "Distance" was overproduced, you're going to be sobbing when you hear "V".

But the thing is, this album did grow on me. My initial reaction wasn't unlike almost throwing up and having to swallow; I just couldn't belive what I was hearing. That said, once I (forced) myself to spin the CD a few times, the more positive elements did in fact shine through. Melodically, this is still a very strong work, and quite creative. The hooks, while not quite as impressive or long-lasting as Live's previous efforts, are there. The vocals and harmony are interesting and varied, and when tinkered with electronically, actually invite some welcome and novel musical soundscapes.

The downside is the songs aren't nearly as memorable as most of Live's others, they're mostly fun-in-the-moment ballads but don't linger on too much thereafter. The lyrics aren't terrible, but probably Ed's weakest of the bunch (sans "Birds of Pray", that is). Also, the second half of the album can't really hold up to the first, and going from "OK?" to "Overcome", as one reviewer put it, sounds like something out of production Hell.

But, all in all, it actually works. For a new direction, "V" sounds surprisingly confident, and I for one enjoy it for what it is.