Live. The band hit it big in the mid-nineties with such hits as "Lightning Crashes" and "I Alone" from the album Throwing Copper. Then they decided to go a darker route with 1997's Secret Samadhi. The lack of a commercial edge to that album took out a portion of their fans, and Live decided it was them to win them back with this, The Distance to Here.

The set opens with the lead single (gee, don't see THAT often), "The Dolphin's Cry." Typically live song, this is… loud, anthemic and… totally awesome. Easily the best intro song the band has had on any of their albums to date. While it is definitely an attempt to regain the fans of "Lightning Crashes" and "I Alone," no one does the sound better than Live.

As a whole, The Distance to Here follows through with most of the topics that Live usually likes to bring up: religion, society, life in general and, of course, love. Religion makes a cameo in the instant-classic "Run to the Water," a semi-power ballad that ranks with Live's best work. Love makes its mark in (obviously) "They Stood Up for Love," one of the few songs on the record to show itself as a great song upon the first listen.

As with all of Live's work, this takes some time to grow. Despite its relatively pop-ish tendencies (the tracks seem to stand out more than they did on Secret Samadhi, anyway), The Distance to Here proves to still need time for the songs to discern themselves and grow. Over time, "Feel the Quiet River Rage" shines as one of the best rockers Live ever produced. "Voodoo Lady" recaptures the dark, atmospheric power of Secret Samadhi in a single song.

Still, parts of The Distance to Here feel uneven. By no means is it a "singles and filler" album, but tracks like "Sparkle," "Sun" and "We Walk in the Dream" fail to be ear-catching or memorable. Unlike their followup, V (see my review), The Distance to Here has plenty of standout songs, either immediately or over time. However, the songs of lower-quality (because none of them are really "bad") stand out here, as well.

The Distance to Here is Live at its best and its worst. Anthemic, gentle, rocking and spiritually charged, yet at the same time, pretentious, sometimes preachy and sometimes uneven… all at the same time. Then again, if you can ignore the latter three traits for awhile, it's still totally worth it.