Everyone goes through phases as they grow up. One day your favorite band is Def Leppard the next it might be Guns N Roses. Then high school hits any everything changes. Your body is going all wonky with hair appearing in new places and your desire for the Starscream is replaced with an insatiable urge to masturbate. Most teenagers also begin to feel the need to be “deep” and “meaningful”. Some joins bands. other write poems. I decided to listen to “Alternative” music and smoke cigarettes.
Believe it or not Live did indeed start out as an alternative band, they even played on MTV’s 120 Minutes Tour. They eventually became huge superstars, selling 8 million copis of Throwing Copper only to then fade into obscurity. For one reason or another Live struck a chord with me and I became obsessed. I had the EPs, the singles and the t-shirts. I could tell you where the band was from (York, PA), how they got their name (it has to do with watching a breaking news story on TV) and if they are currently together or not (they aren’t). Did I use “Beauty of Gray” as the subject of a high school poetry project? yes, I did but I also used songs by Cracker, GnR and others. I wasn’t very creative.
Live will always be with me for another, very big reason. Not only was Live my first concert but I got my first DUI while hanging out near the campus of James Madison Univeristy the night before the show. Was I released the next morning in time to nap and attend the show? Damn right.
I will never apologize for liking Live. They were great for a little while and then just lost it. It happens. But we shared some good, and bad, times and I will always remember them.
Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition) – This song comes from the band’s first full-length and I think it still stands up. The band was obviously talented but still young and raw. It kind of worked with the whole coming-of-age period I was going through.
White, Discussion – Just a great song. So great that the band closed the show with it for a while. For the true Live enthusiast be sure to pick up the Virtuosity soundtrack for a killer re-mix.
Lakini’s Juice – The first single from Secret Samadhi, the follow-up to the smash-hit Throwing Copper. This single gave me hope that the band had been able to follow their big hit record with another great record. Sadly, this was not to be. Lakini’s Juice has a great guitar riff and is the only good song to come from Live for the rest of their career. But that is just my opinion.
I am going to be upfront about this; I was late to the Jimmy Eat World party. Not extremely late mind you, but late enough that I can’t claim Static Prevails or Clarity as the record that made me fall in love with this band. My first real exposure came with Bleed American in 2001. Since I was the music director of my college radio station (WVCW!) I was lucky enough to get a promo EP (featuring “A Praise Chorus”, “Bleed American” and a demo of “Your House”) . I was hooked immediately and while I waited for the full-length I made sure to scour file-sharing sites to get their back catalog.
House of GvsB and popped it in my cd player. It did not leave for weeks. The combination of the double bass attack, danceable yet cool beats and the smokey, whiskey-cured voice of front-man Scott McCloud was right up my alley. I stand by my assertion that it is “cool” music to make out to. McCloud’s voice is aural sex in my opinion. I wish I had a voice that awesome. AND his name is McCloud! He sounds like he is from Highlander! Please enjoy my 3 favorite songs from GvsB.
I would never…and I mean never…park in a handicapped parking spot. I’m not even sure I’m okay with all handicapped people parking in handicapped spot. I think there should be different levels of handicapped placards. if you became handicapped doing something incredibly stupid that had over a 50% chance of making you handicapped you have to park a little farther away and are not entitled to grade A premium parking space. We can sort out the details when I’m in congress. Now, again, I do not and would not park in a handicapped parking space but I love the handicapped stall at work…or in any public restroom. When I get to the men’s room and see it vacant I get a feeling of triumph! A feeling that things are really coing my way for the day. I’ll usually get comfortable and then send texts to friends to let them know about my good fortune. There’s a lot of leg-room and the rails on the wall give me a feeling of security. I’ve been lucky thus far…thus far I’ve not had a person in a wheelchair come in while I have been basking in my “big stall” glory. I’m not sure how I’d handle it…and apology while not making eye contact… perhaps a pronounced fake limp on the way out. I am not sure why I feel no remorse when using the Big Stall yet feel guilt about even considering the handicapped parking when i have to just run into the store for a second. Maybe it’s because “men’s room” time is the only part of my day I really look forward to and the benefits of the big stall far outweigh the negatives.
