The Simple Stuff

Not one of Live's best efforts.

After the success of "Secret Samadhi", the band called Live became a name to reckon with on the rock scene. Sadly, this album doesn’t do great justice to their talent.

The album is characterised by strong riffs and emphatic vocals on the one hand and soothing songs with a softer sound on the other. The band definitely sounds better on the slower numbers, but that’s possibly because the pure rock numbers are very monotonous. This seems to be the problem with the majority of the New Age rockers. That’s why you won’t find much to differentiate between "Simple Creed", "Ok?" and "Deep Enough". However, a number of rock numbers are worth attention; "Like A Soldier" and "Flow" are examples. But numbers like "Call Me A Fool" are the best of the lot, because vocalist Ed Kowalczyk really gets a chance to show off his talent without being drowned out by the music.

Amongst the other numbers, "Overcome" has an almost anthem-like feel, while "Nobody Knows" is another decent piece. The others are unfortunately a tad too unimaginative to really be any good. The album is okay for any rock fan, but for fans of this band, it might come as a bit of a letdown.

This article was first published on10 Dec 2001.