[Songs From The Black Mountain Torrent
Luther Lazaro
I guess I did what is often called "coming of age" (a ghastly phrase if you ask me) in the '90s. As such, I remember when Live's Throwing Copper burst on to the scene. My immediate reaction was one of indifference. One of my sisters was drawn to it and she wound up buying the album. A few months passed and I, too, succumbed to it.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to pass it up for long," she told me. I was kind of pissed at her for being right, but she was. Throwing Copper is a great album. A few years later I was dating The Wife to Whom I'm Married and she, being a few years younger than I, discovered Throwing Copper. To this day it is likely her favorite album of all time.
I liked Throwing Copper. She loves it. I was a casual fan; she was diehard. There are very few among that throng, The Wife to Whom I'm Married chief among them, who do not point to Copper as the band at their peak. The same can be said of most critics. Front man Ed Kowalcyzk's goofy spiritualism seemed a lot more edgy and so did the music when compared to the albums that followed.
It has been more than 10 years since Throwing Copper and The Wife to Whom I'm Married recently told me she was ready to give up on Live. Four mediocre-to-bad attempts at following up a classic had worn thin for her. The music had gotten mushy. Ed's spiritual lyrics had grown more overbearing and sometimes intolerably simpleminded. The albums were bad enough on their own; they seemed that much worse in the shadow of Copper.
"The River" was released as the first single for Live's new album, Songs from Black Mountain. She was cautiously optimistic. The song, while not the driving rock she had hoped the band would return to, was pretty damn catchy. This was a start.
I got an advance of Songs to review and we started to listen to it together. We got four songs into it and she was pretty depressed. Ed was happy and it was killing the music. Live had gotten soft. She officially abandoned all hope when the band appeared on American Idol's season finale last month. It was the final nail.
"Here and no further," she declared. The quartet of Chad Taylor (guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass), Chad Gracey (drums), and Ed Kowalczyk (vocals) has remained the same since their debut, Mental Jewelry, but the music had not. She could bear no more. Live had taken off on a new direction and she was not going to take the trip.
If that dweeb Taylor was AI's "Soul Patrol" Ed could be the show's spiritual Pied Piper. The most fatiguing aspect of listening to a Live record is Kowalczyk lecturing us on his brand of spiritualism. It's like Oprah fuckin' Winfrey set to music and it can get old. Fast. Try listening to "Love Shines (A Song for My Daughters About God)." Go on. I dare you.
The worst moment on the disc, and quite possibly the worst moment since Ed sang about puppy scruff, is "Get Ready." The song is insulting to anyone with an IQ above 9 and knowledge of music history longer than two years. This plays like a dumb version of Curtis Mayfield's classic "People Get Ready." It is criminally bad and it thwarts whatever momentum the album might have had after "The River" and "Mystery."
The other awkward moment is "Sophia." Sophia is one of Kowalczyk's daughters. It is likely the song was written for her. "Sophia/I need ya" is a bad enough couplet. What follows, a simile about drug users and their junk, makes it even worse to me. Maybe parents do need their kids like junkies need their fix. Forgive me if I find that nauseating in a Stapp-esque way and on a Stapp-esque level to express love for one's child.
All of that said, I do kind of like the album. What you have here with Black Mountain is a pleasant, mostly tuneful batch of decent FM moderate rock songs. "The River" is catchy. "Show" has some cool guitar licks, something in short supply on this album, and would sound good as a single on modern rock radio. "Show" and "Wings" are two of the better moments on the disc because they are two of Kowalczyk's least fussy vocals on the album. "Mystery" would have been a lot better had he not insisted on doing some grating, falsetto thing during the chorus. Even with it, the song is not bad.
Songs from Black Mountain sounds a lot like a parting shot to me. The transformation from tortured young men is complete. Live is now a middle-aged rock band making middle-aged music. The angst is gone. Kowalczyk is a father of daughters and a husband.
Of the two default radio stations, I've always favored Mojave Music Radio for its thematically appropriate country western tracks whilst wandering the desert wasteland and the phenomenal ZeroDiamond's song expansion mod improved upon it in every single way. However, I typically prefer using the Nightkin hosted counterpart Black Mountain Radio over its empty DJ-less equivalent since I felt that Tabitha as a disk-jockey with her black humored insanity and aggressive human fear-mongering acts as an entertainingly fitting foil and negative counterpart to the suave comforting charisma of RNV's Mr. New Vegas, not unlike the contrasting dynamic between Three Dog and John Henry Eden's radio stations in Fallout 3. This is to the point where I've modded the station to play anywhere even after completing its related quest line, however the limited amount of songs can get very repetitive at times.
I was wondering if it was possible to expand Black Mountain Radio with ZeroDiamond's Mojave Music Radio: Extended music selection while having Tabitha and Rhonda's host segments interspersed in between songs. I would be more than thankful to anyone who'd take this into consideration, as I feel it'd give the Mojave Wasteland's radio entertainment much more personality and variety.
Nestled in the heart of the Western North Carolina mountains, Black Mountain is a small town with big charm. From its quaint shops and locally-owned restaurants to its beautiful hiking trails and stunning mountain views, Black Mountain has something for everyone and lots of things to do every day of the week. Browse around and get the best places to eat, where to grab drinks or music with friends and things to do while visiting our amazing town.
Black Mountain is a great place to visit for its scenic beauty. The town is situated at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, surrounded by the Seven Sisters Mountain ranges. Here you will find plenty of opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, and picnicking in the area.
In addition to its natural beauty, music and arts are at the heart and soul of this Appalachian town. Black Mountain is home to a thriving music and arts scene. The town hosts several music festivals throughout the year, and live bands are always playing in the local bars, music venues, and restaurants. There are also several art galleries in Black Mountain, making it a great place to find that perfect unique gift or take a class and make something of your own.
Black Mountain is also a great place to visit for its food! The restaurant scene is eclectic with everything ranging from farm-to-table, South African, Argentinian, Latin, French, fresh seafood, authentic Thai, Japanese, and Chinese to a modern twist on classic southern cuisine. You can also find everything to satisfy your sweet tooth with local bakeries, chocolate, and homemade ice cream in Black Mountain. Trust me, your taste buds will thank you. Be sure to check out our FOODIES Guide to Black Mountain.
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