So if you're looking for something different from the same old boring crap you see on mtv then please do yourself a favor and pick this one up. (Wow, I make a pretty good salesman maybe I should work for Live)
Later

a good debut for a great band
Live is one of those bands which no one has heard of, but every one knows at least one of their songs. The York, Pennsylvania quartet of drummer Chad Gracey, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, guitarist Chad Taylor, and lead singer Ed Kowalczyk is notoriously unsung, and even more notoriously in need of it. And despite recent midsteps (namely the obscenely bad "V"), their impression can't be denied, and this is the first step of their journey.

Although this is indeed a good rock album by any standards, those fans who cry that this is their best are, to me, the same ones who think Radiohead's "The Bends" is better than "OK Computer". This is obviously a first album, as much of the album is Live trying desperately to find the sound that suits itself best. The first track is probably the best effort. "Pain Lies on the Riverside" introduces us to everything about Live that his fans love: the simple melody with powerful guitars, the use of a recurring water metaphor, and Ed's voice, which is one of originality and power (a power not fully realized until their third album). "Operation Spirit" is much in the same vein, with a better introduction into the lyrical intensity that Ed is capable of though, as before, it is not fully explored. "Beauty of Gray" is a bit on the corny side, and if it were sung by any other band it would easily manifest some giggles, but it works in the hands of Live.

But while the first part of the album is what you expect from a Live just getting on its feet, it too quickly changes pace as the band tries to find a sound. "Tired of Me" is a good song, but the lyrics are extremely repetitive, and after a few minutes, it gets a little, well...tired. After a certain point, it stops sounding so much like Live, and sounds a lot more like a Pearl Jam album (most notably in the "You are the world" lyric in the song of the same name). Not that sounding like Pearl Jam is necessarily a bad thing, but aside from dating the cd horribly, it just doesn't feel like the Live which I and many fans fell in love with on Throwing Copper, Secret Samadhi, or Distance to Here. It does perk up in later points, such as "Mother Earth is a Vicious Crowd" and "10,000 Years", but it is a little hard to come to your senses after you hear Ed doing his Eddie Vedder impression.

It really depends on the standards which you view it by. If you're a fan of Live, you're probably going to like it, but not as much as some of their later efforts. If you just want a good rock album, without many strings attached, this is a dang good album for you.

Correction of Reviewer
The reviewer from 11/14/03 said, "This album put Christian rock on the map." I have been a fan of Live for nearly a decade and I can assure you, as can any true fan, that Live is not a Christian band. From what I've gotten from Live's music is that life can be a very spiritful journey. I think that Live and especially the lead singer Ed Kowlczyk has gone through a lot of spiritual changes throughout their time together, but they should definately not be catorgized as being of one particular religion.
A line from "Operation Spirit" says: "I heard a lot of talk about this Jesus, a man of love and a man of strength. But what a man was 2000 years ago, means nothing at all to me today." Now, I've heard Ed say that Jesus in this song could be replaced by most any spiritual icon and the point remains the same - Find the truths out for yourself, don't blindly follow.
Anyway, just my $0.02.

great start
not as good as "throwing copper" or "the distance to here", but still almost a 5-star album and i'll round up. the first 2 songs were on the radio and are great, but the third song is even better. but "mirror song" may be the best one on here; he totally gets lost in the music. the album is full of great lyrics too.

Best Christian Rock Band in America
This album put Christian rock on the map. The unsubtle references to the Lord, baptism, redemption, and the struggles of dealing with one's devotion to Christ are all there. With a musical backdrop that has lured people from more primitive tastes to develop a closer, deeper, and in some cases subconscious, relationship with God, this band has done more than an entire generation of televangalists to bring people into the fold.