Live the Life

Description

Live the Life is the eighth studio album by the American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Michael W. Smith, released on Reunion Records in April 1998.

The album track “Song for Rich” is an instrumental tribute to the late singer-songwriter Rich Mullins who died in a car crash in September 1997.

Michael W. Smith’s long-anticipated new album (how many times was this thing scheduled to come out, anyway?) encourages us to “live the life” in a myriad of ways. Live the Life, like Smith’s previous effort I’ll Lead You Home, is broken up into three distinct pieces, presenting themes seemingly intended for three different sections of his audience.

The album’s first three tracks (the driving «Missing Person», the very fun «Love Me Good» and the omnipresent «Live the Life») seem to be geared for those who discovered Smith’s music a few years ago during the Change Your World era. These now-young adults might be finding themselves in the position of searching again for those things that propelled their love, beliefs and faith, and all three cuts touch on that search.

(Note to Wayne Kirkpatrick, Smith’s long-time writing partner who contributed five songs to this effort: “I could never live in a yurt on a diet of Mongolian barbecue”?!? («Love Me Good») Wow. And I thought dropping “fulcrum” into «Hand of Providence» 10 years ago was impressive…)

The album’s center section, comprised of «Never Been Unloved», «I Believe in You Now», «Don’t Give Up», «Let Me Show You the Way» and «I Know Your Name», skews more toward the new generation of younger fans that will probably glom onto this album. The lyrics are simpler, the arrangements more anthemic (probably due to Smith’s claim that he wrote most of this album on guitar), and the lessons more approachable.

While these songs are all very valid, they take the album in another direction from where the first three tracks appear to go. Where the introductory tunes present some complex lyrical ideas in the form of really compelling music, this section seems simpler, more laid out in front of you.

And then the album takes another turn, with the final third dealing with far more adult topics of love found, love lost and found, and lives lost. «Matter of Time» and «In My Arms Again» are love songs in their purest form, with the requisite delicately played guitars and lushly orchestrated strings. Smith’s voice, which usually seems most suited for uptempo material, is in surprisingly great form here, nestling nicely within the hope and heartache these songs portray.

The Celtic-inspired instrumental «Song for Rich» takes another step in showcasing Smith’s arrangement talents and should continue to make his fans long for an all-instrumental record (or better still, a movie score). The closer, «Hello, Good-Bye», deals with the death of a newborn child and the inevitable questions surrounding that circumstance. It’s gripping, painful and hopeful all at once.

Smith and longtime cohort/producer Mark Heimermann have created yet another album that’s interesting in its sonic diversity, if not always consistent in its lyrical approach. Every generation of Michael W. Smith fans (and he’s been around long enough now to have a few) should find something they can latch onto and call their own little segment of Life. [Lucas W. Hendrickson, CCM, May 1998]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/live-the-life/299597742)

CD tracklist:

01. Missing Person
02. Love Me Good
03. Live The Life
04. Never Been Unloved
05. I Believe In You Now
06. Don’t Give Up
07. Let Me Show You The Way
08. I Know Your Name
09. Matter Of Time
10. In My Arms Again
11. Song For Rich
12. Hello, Goodbye

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Reunion Records.

The May 1998 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Michael W. Smith.