The Distance to Here
Live make a fairly clear choice on The Distance to Here: give the melodies more room and let the choruses do their work. The darker guitar atmosphere of Secret Samadhi gives way to a more open sound. The best songs benefit from that change immediately.
The Dolphin's Cry is an effective introduction because its arrangement has a clear direction. The quieter opening allows Ed Kowalczyk's voice to establish the melody, and the full-band entrance brings a release that feels properly prepared. Run to the Water is even stronger, finding a gradual rise through its verses before reaching a chorus with enough melodic shape to support the size of the performance.
Jerry Harrison returns as producer, and the instruments sound more firmly connected to the songs' forward movement. Chad Taylor's backing vocals add useful depth without competing with the lead. Where some earlier Live material made intensity the main event, this record often uses it as the final stage of a carefully built tune.
Sparkle and The Distance are good examples of how that clarity helps. The music remains earnest, but it does not always have to sound burdened by the importance of what it is saying. Feel the Quiet River Rage gives the album another definite guitar-led moment, and the band has enough rhythmic confidence to keep the more direct material active.
The difficulties are mostly in the emotional scale. Kowalczyk frequently writes about love and spiritual connection in terms large enough to encompass everyone, and the arrangements can become equally emphatic. Face and Ghost (The Children's Song) asks for a depth of feeling that its musical development does not quite earn. Dance With You also risks turning a sincere sentiment into something too general to hold onto.
The Distance to Here is strongest when the band trusts a specific melody rather than the size of its intentions. It contains a handful of very good songs and plenty of committed playing, alongside material that reaches for significance too quickly. The clearer sound makes both sides easy to hear.
