Geffen Records
2004
Awake - The Best of Live
About This Album
In the wake of Nirvana's breakthrough in 1991, countless bands that were consigned to the college-radio ghetto had a chance to hit the big time, and Live were in a unique position to catapult to the top of the heap. Unlike many of their post-grunge peers, the Pennsylvanian quartet weren't especially inspired by punk, grunge, or indie rock -- they drew their inspiration from the earnest, anthemic U2, tempering it somewhat with R.E.M.'s post-Document venture into big-time, socially conscious arena rock. That gave them a more mainstream sensibility than, say, Tad, Screaming Trees, or any of the heavy lumberjack lookalikes lumbering out of the Northwest, particularly since they were fronted by the wiry, attractive Ed Kowalczyk, whose sincerity -- in both his lyrics and performance -- helped make Live one of the biggest bands in the post-grunge America of the mid-'90s. That time in the spotlight was relatively brief. Their second album, 1994's Throwing Copper, climbed its way to number one on the back of the singles "Selling the Drama," "I Alone," and especially the ballad "Lightning Crashes," but they over-reached on its 1997 follow-up, Secret Samadhi, a heavy, heavy bid for hard rock and rock-crit credibility that debuted at number one but winnowed away a large portion of their audience.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,8,17,18 and 19)

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