Operation Spirit (The Tyranny Of Tradition) (track) by Live

From soundguardian 12/17/2013 08:12

Live maintains the momentum developed in the prior track of this studio album with this driving piece. At a compact 3:17, its length and form may be even more justified than the 5:11 "Pain Lies on the Riverside", regardless of how sweeping and epic that opening track is. The piece ends quite abruptly, as much so as it starts, and by the time it's over, the listener is left to digest a lot of material condensed in what seems like a blur.

When Kowalczyk wails "did you give it up?" and entreats his audience that they examine faith or lack thereof, he effectively channels the internal religious struggle within the narrator, and it sounds very authentic, raw, and unadorned. Like in "Pain Lies on the Riverside", the composition is dependent on a fantastic bass riff and primal percussive contribution that act as the track's driving force. Kowalczyk's voice settles upon this instrumentation, climaxing stupendously when necessary to make for some special moments in the piece.

On the other hand, there are some quite blasphemous wordings here, which makes sense considering at the time the foursome was composed of slightly intemperate adolescents. In 1991 it was more daunting to critics, observers, and the general populace to hear something like "But what a man was two thousand years ago means nothing at all to me today" of Jesus, and this tended to cater more to an angsty, youthful fanbase that were themselves questioning their existence, faith, and role in society. Still, from a strictly impartial standpoint, and regardless of a listener's spirituality, it's apparent from this track, and their debut in general, that Live is a band of passionate rockers who love to share their talent with the world. This would come to fruition four years later with the release of the uber-popular Throwing Copper [1995].

12/17/2013