Times were a-changin’ in 1995, musically at least. Kurt Cobain was dead and more or less took the grunge revolution with him and rap was becoming mainstream. But rock wasn’t dead in the water … or on the charts quite yet. Case in point, this day that year, Live hit #1 in the U.S. with their third album, Throwing Copper.
It might seem like they were an overnight sensation, but really that was far from the truth. The Pennsylvania band had by then been around for over a decade (albeit under a couple of different names) and, as we noted, this was their third full album and second one on Radioactive, a small division of big label MCA. Their previous album, Mental Jewelry, had been a minor hit in 1991, reaching #73, but this one took them to a whole new level. They brought in Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads to help them produce the 14 song effort, and came up with a sound that was right for the times – powerful rock that hinted of the grunge of a year or two prior but was smoothed out just enough for mainstream consumption.
The album then and now garnered decent reviews. Rolling Stone at the time gave it 4-stars and Spin gave it seven out of ten. As Rolling Stone put it, they “strive for an epic sound” and “successfully execute” it. If there were complaints, it was largely about singer/guitarist Ed Kowalczyk’s lyrics which were, when decipherable, “a bit much” and too full of “melodrama” according to allmusic and several other reviews.
Melodramatic or not, it spawned four big radio hits – “Selling the Drama”, the only put out domestically as a single, which reached #43 in the U.S., #30 in the UK but was a #1 on Alternative Rock charts;
“I Alone”, “All Over You” and in between, “Lightning Crashes”. That was a massive #1 hit on Alternative and Mainstream Rock charts and hit #3 in Canada (where it was released as a single). The momentum built, leading to this week in ’95 – a full year after Throwing Copper came out – when it sold over 117 000 copies in the States and hit #1, dethroning Elton John. His Lion King soundtrack had been #1, his first chart-topper in a full 20 years as it turns out. Live, in turn would be knocked off the top by the soundtrack to Friday, an album featuring primarily rap and artists like Dr. Dre and Cypress Hill.
1995 was a mixed year all around for the charts. While soft rock Hootie & the Blowfish had the year’s biggest seller, artist like Mariah Carey and Selena figured prominently among the #1s, as did country superstar Garth Brooks, but there were still a few rock entries like this one, Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits and Van Halen still beating the competition for at least a week.
Live’s album ended up selling ten million copies, going 8X platinum in the States, 7X in Canada and 10X in Australia and ended the decade among its top 60 sellers. Lightning didn’t quite crash twice for them though. Their follow-up, Secret Samadhi, did hit #1 as well and produced one more big radio hit, “Lakini’s Juice”, but overall the album barely sold one-quarter as much as Throwing Copper, and sales have declined since then. The band, however, still exists, with Kowalczyk being the only permanent member.