It's no contest really. Live's Lightning Crashes is a marvel. The lazy, hypnotic intro is soothing, despite the disturbing lyrics. The slow build into a powerful, seismic wave of music inspires with every listen.
There are three pretty good videos of the tune on YouTube. The most-watched one, with over 3 million views, is the official video of the song. The sound quality is good but, as is usually the case, I felt the video interfered with my own interpretation -- force-feeding images I found distracting. You won't find many officially-released music videos here. For the most part, I'll feature live performances - still and always the best way to determine if musicians (and their songs) really do have the right stuff.
And a live, Live (huh?) performance is what I chose. An overall pretty darn good one from May, 2000. Lead singer Ed Kowalczyk is in fine voice. A voice, by the way, that hints at both the delicacy and vibrancy of Roy Orbison but delivers occasional gusts up to Freddy Mercury.
Lightning Crashes isn't just one of the best songs of the 90s. It's an all-timer. Turn up those speakers. I hope you enjoy.
Definitely a good-un', Frank. If I might be so bold, here's a link that's way off on another tangent, my favourite tune from one of my fav bands of the last decade or so: The Foo Fighters.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ&ob=av2e
Watch the volume, it starts off soft but starts booting some serious butt about 30 seconds in.
Long live rock and roll!
Fine choice Charlie. That's a high-octane tune. Dave Grohl is one of the most interesting and multi-talented musicians around.
ReplyDeleteI've loved that song since it came out in, what '95 or '96? Thanks for posting and I'm definitely NOT asking to be removed from the mailing list!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris. Nice to hear from you. :)
ReplyDeleteA competent and passionate interpretation of one of rock's many classic and universal motifs. Hey, I'm not pretentious, I'm just educated.
ReplyDeleteI like your musical taste.
ReplyDeleteHiya Cay. Thanks for having a listen.
ReplyDeleteThen I must like yours too, MG. Thanks. :)