Save for another appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Heaven” in 2003, the first decade of the 21st century was mostly quiet for Live … until they went on hiatus in 2009. They returned two years later, but there was one member who was conspicuously absent, and that was lead singer Ed Kowalczyk, who was replaced by former Unified Theory frontman Chris Shinn. As it turned out, the fallout between Kowalczyk and his longtime friends and bandmates was quite a bitter one, with the rest of the band suing Kowalczyk over an old publishing agreement (and later suing so that he couldn’t bill himself as a member “of” Live) and the ex-frontman speculating in an interview with Rolling Stone that the other guys were probably angry over the fact he was releasing a solo album without them.
Live only recorded one album with Shinn on vocals, 2014’s “The Turn,” and it was, by far, their lowest-charting record on the Billboard 200, peaking at an unremarkable No. 133. And in a surprising move considering the years of acrimony from both sides, Kowalczyk reunited with Live in 2016, stressing to Rolling Stone that he and his once-again bandmates wanted to focus in the meantime on playing more shows instead of working on a new album.
With the exception of the 2018 EP “Local 717,” Live hasn’t released a lot of new music with Kowalczyk back in the fold. He did, however, tell Spin in 2020 that the band had written several songs for an upcoming album. At that time, he was hoping for a 2021 release, but since that didn’t come to pass, fans may have to wait a little longer for the classic lineup’s first full-length effort since 2006’s “Songs from Black Mountain.”
