Birds of Pray
Encyclopedia
Birds of Pray is Live
's sixth album, released in 2003. The first single, "Heaven" became the band's most successful single in several years, reaching number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100
. Birds of Pray was Live's final release on Radioactive
/MCA
. They signed with Epic
in 2005.
. Guitarist Chad Taylor
revealed that tensions between Kowalczyk and the other three members, which would eventually cause the band to split, were already surfacing. He said that he, "Wasn’t sure how our rocker fanbase would feel about the lyrics." He expressed his frustration with the album by adding, "Jim Wirt (producer) worked really hard to fashion a contemporary album, but it never felt like the Live I loved."
, selling over 37,000 copies in its first week of release. By August 2005 it had sold 273,000 copies in the US. The album failed to reach gold
status in the US, although it outsold 2001's V
. The album received mixed reviews from critics and has a rating of 50 out of 100 on Metacritic
.
Allmusic disliked Kowalczyk's lyrics, claiming they were, "Either too literal or bewilderingly obtuse" and said that the album was, "Still recognizably Live...big, big guitars, sweeping anthemic choruses, earnest ballads, mildly histrionic vocals...but it's a little more subdued and a little more serious and quite streamlined...The biggest problem with the record is that the eye is on the big picture...to the extent that the individual moments aren't all that memorable, clearly lacking singles as forceful as those that fueled Throwing Copper
." Allmusic concluded by claiming that, "Live is growing up and settling down, turning into a solid thirty-something rock band."
Shaking Through described the album's lyrics as, "Self righteous" and "Unintentionally humorous." It claimed that, "the songs are a procession of brittle riffs" and concluded by saying, "Birds of Pray just seems clueless, like a high school kid who doesn't realize that his strident need to seem interesting just makes him a joke."
Live (band)
Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....
's sixth album, released in 2003. The first single, "Heaven" became the band's most successful single in several years, reaching number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Birds of Pray was Live's final release on Radioactive
Radioactive Records
Radioactive Records was an American record label. It was formed as a joint venture between talent manager Gary Kurfirst and MCA Records, and it is now out of business....
/MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
. They signed with Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
in 2005.
Background
Ed Kowalczyk's lyrics on this album return to the spiritual territory of 1999's The Distance to HereThe Distance to Here
The Distance to Here is the fourth studio album by the band Live, released in 1999. It debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200, selling 138,000 copies in its first week and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on November 19, 1999.-Track listing:...
. Guitarist Chad Taylor
Chad Taylor
Chad Taylor is a guitarist in the bands The Gracious Few and Live. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the 8x platinum album Throwing Copper.-Biography:...
revealed that tensions between Kowalczyk and the other three members, which would eventually cause the band to split, were already surfacing. He said that he, "Wasn’t sure how our rocker fanbase would feel about the lyrics." He expressed his frustration with the album by adding, "Jim Wirt (producer) worked really hard to fashion a contemporary album, but it never felt like the Live I loved."
Track listing
All songs written by Ed Kowalczyk except where noted.- "HeavenHeaven (Live song)"Heaven" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the first single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray.The song was not released as a commercial CD single in the United States, but was made available as a purchasable digital download, which enabled the song to reach #59 on...
" – 3:49 - "She" – 2:40
- "The Sanctity of Dreams" – 3:33
- "Run AwayRun Away (Live song)"Run Away" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as a single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray.The American release, which was issued only as a single-track radio promo, is a re-recorded version of the song with country music artist Shelby Lynne sharing lead vocals with Ed...
" – 3:53 - "Life Marches On" – 2:53
- "Like I Do" (Kowalczyk, Patrick DahlheimerPatrick DahlheimerPatrick "Pat" Dalheimer is the bassist for the bands Live and The Gracious Few. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the 8x platinum album Throwing Copper.-Biography:...
, Chad Taylor) – 4:14 - "Sweet ReleaseSweet Release"Sweet Release" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the second single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray. It was only released in Australia.-Australian CD single:#"Sweet Release" – 3:04...
" – 3:02 - "Everytime I See Your Face" – 3:16
- "Lighthouse" (Kowalczyk, Taylor) – 3:08
- "River Town" – 4:09
- "Out to Dry" – 3:20
- "Bring the People Together" – 3:02
- "What Are We Fighting For?" – 3:21
- "Forever May Not Be Long EnoughForever May Not Be Long Enough"Forever May Not Be Long Enough" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the third single from their 2001 album, V.-European CD single:#"Forever May Not Be Long Enough" – 3:49...
(Egyptian Dreams Remix)" - 4:07 (UK bonus track) - "Overcome (Live from Philadelphia)" - 4:23 (UK bonus track)
Live
- Patrick Dahlheimer – bass
- Chad Gracey – drums
- Ed Kowalczyk – vocals, guitar
- Chad Taylor - guitar
Additional musicians
- Paul Buckmaster – conductor, string arrangements
- Suzie Katayama – orchestra manager
- Larry Corbett – cello
- Joel Derouin – violin
- Bruce Dukov – violin
- Patrick Warren – chamberlin
- Evan Wilson – viola
Other album credits
- Jim Wirt – producer, engineer
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Phil Kaffel – engineer
- Michael Attardi – assistant engineer
- Neil Couser – assistant engineer
- Femio Hernández – assistant engineer
- John Ikuma - assistant engineer
- Okhee Kim – assistant engineer
- Jeff Robinette – assistant engineer
- P.J. Smith – assistant engineer
- CJ Eiriksson – digital editing
- Phil Schuster – production coordination, A&R
- Michael Wilson – photography
- Jesse Wright – design
Reception
Birds of Pray debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling over 37,000 copies in its first week of release. By August 2005 it had sold 273,000 copies in the US. The album failed to reach gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status in the US, although it outsold 2001's V
V (Live album)
V is the fifth album by the band Live, released in 2001. It featuring the singles "Simple Creed" and "Overcome", the latter of which received significant exposure following the September 11 attacks.-History:...
. The album received mixed reviews from critics and has a rating of 50 out of 100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Allmusic disliked Kowalczyk's lyrics, claiming they were, "Either too literal or bewilderingly obtuse" and said that the album was, "Still recognizably Live...big, big guitars, sweeping anthemic choruses, earnest ballads, mildly histrionic vocals...but it's a little more subdued and a little more serious and quite streamlined...The biggest problem with the record is that the eye is on the big picture...to the extent that the individual moments aren't all that memorable, clearly lacking singles as forceful as those that fueled Throwing Copper
Throwing Copper
-Outtakes and B-sides:*"Hold Me Up"*"Susquehanna"*"We Deal in Dreams" -Album:-End-of-decade charts:-Singles:-Personnel:*Ed Kowalczyk: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar*Chad Taylor: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocal...
." Allmusic concluded by claiming that, "Live is growing up and settling down, turning into a solid thirty-something rock band."
Shaking Through described the album's lyrics as, "Self righteous" and "Unintentionally humorous." It claimed that, "the songs are a procession of brittle riffs" and concluded by saying, "Birds of Pray just seems clueless, like a high school kid who doesn't realize that his strident need to seem interesting just makes him a joke."
Album
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
199 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
28 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
71 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
27 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
1 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
4 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
33 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
13 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
5 |
| Danish Albums Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
20 |
| Australian Albums Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
10 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
43 |
Singles
| Song | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US (M.R.) | Aus ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Ned MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
Bel (Fl) Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
||||||
| "Heaven Heaven (Live song) "Heaven" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the first single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray.The song was not released as a commercial CD single in the United States, but was made available as a purchasable digital download, which enabled the song to reach #59 on... " |
59 | 33 | 19 | 16 | 30 | 6 | |||||
| "Sweet Release Sweet Release "Sweet Release" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the second single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray. It was only released in Australia.-Australian CD single:#"Sweet Release" – 3:04... " |
— | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Run Away Run Away (Live song) "Run Away" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as a single from their 2003 album, Birds of Pray.The American release, which was issued only as a single-track radio promo, is a re-recorded version of the song with country music artist Shelby Lynne sharing lead vocals with Ed... " |
— | — | — | — | 41 | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||