- Record Label: Touch & Go
- Release Date: Mar 20, 2007
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Another fiercely satisfying Leo record.
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SpinIf 2004's killer Shake the Sheets was Leo's Give 'Em Enough Rope... Living With The Living is his London Calling, an hour-long Rolodexing of sounds and visions. [Mar 2007, p.94]
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Paste MagazineLiving With The Living rocks so much harder, spits more venom and cuts closer to the bone than just about anything else out there today. [Apr 2007, p.50]
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An impassioned, angry and devastating document.
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Alternative PressLiving With The Living takes steps back to New Jersey, with the sort of big rock 'n' roll, free of subcultural claim, that'd make the Boss proud. [Apr 2007, p.176]
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FilterMost of Living With the Living is in fact very good--which is to say that only some of its songs emerge as equals with the best of Leo's personal catalogue. [#24, p.90]
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BlenderWhat elevates this power trio above any number of punk revivalists... are precision and craft. [Apr 2007, p.115]
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UncutLiving With The Living finds them at their most assured. [Apr 2007, p.113]
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Living with the Living is Leo's most diverse album yet, a sort of musical "This is your life," where the artist revisits styles and forms that he's loved in the past.
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His most poignant and accessible album yet.
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Undeniably the most diverse album Leo’s ever made, Living with the Living leaves not one of Leo’s stylistic stepping-stones unturned.
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MojoA big-tableau statement that combines his musical and ideological passions. [May 2007, p.106]
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They sound like one brain playing machine-gun rhythms and echoing chords on a multitude of instruments, and their incredible fusion makes even the tunes with the simplest, most standard structures... exciting.
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Leo manages to skip from tender, unadorned romantic pop crooning to full-throttle punk yowling to Celtic-flavored folk-rock without losing the listener, the beat, or the message.
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Leo hits a few bull’s-eyes.
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So despite a pretty high hit/miss ratio, as a big-step-forward record, Living ain't exactly Armed Forces.
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The album features Leo's most meaty and confidant singing to date.
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You almost get the sense Leo must be embarrassed by how good his last record sounds, opting instead to appease some imaginary punk ethic to the detriment of his songs.
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Leo and company go over a lot of territory on this release, but it is not bothersome or a stretch; the band pulls off all of these styles very well.
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Under The RadarEven more than its predecessors, Living is... a little bottom-heavy and sorely in need of an editor. [#16, p.92]
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BillboardThe first half of "Living With the Living" offers well more of everything that's made Leo and his Pharmacists such post-punk studs. [24 Mar 2007]
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It's different, its harder, and its honestly a bit of a disappointment.
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Yet although his mixture of politics, heart and intelligence with taut guitars and a sweet falsetto will presumably be engaging forever (and Leo hits much more than he ever misses), it's getting hard to ignore that little voice inside that wants something more from him.
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It's more blunt than 2004's already pointed Shake the Sheets, and more streamlined as well.
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There's as much silliness and attempted cred-building as there is genuine excitement.
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His songs here aren't always as memorable as on previous albums, but the good tunes are great.
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Living With the Living might agitate the lefty already inside, but you don't have to like Leo's politics to move to the music.
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Rolling StoneLeo's melodic gifts don't keep up with his lyrics. [22 Mar 2007, p.80]
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Ted Leo again falls a few hands short of the definitive statement we insist on expecting.
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An album that’s a little uneven but manages to work more often than not.
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The songs are flat and unoriginal rock.
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The heart is here, but the lyrics have him sounding like a man who’s turned healing into a systematic process — a man who’s heard too much kind advice or maybe sat through too much therapy.
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This is a bloated, overlong rock record that shouldn’t have even considered breaking the 40-minute mark.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 19
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Mixed: 2 out of 19
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Negative: 1 out of 19
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guidedbyvAug 11, 2007The only band that matters! An excellent effort from an equally excellent band
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VincentHAug 7, 2007
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WestonTJun 4, 2007