AMG Review of Secret Samadhi

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Throwing Copper made the members of Live into stars, but it didn't necessarily earn them respect. Evidently, the bandmembers thought that the problem lay with Jerry Harrison's crisp, commercial production, so they hired Jay Healey as a co-producer and set out to make a messy, hard-edged visionary statement. Borrowing heavily from Jimmy Page's bag of tricks, Live spikes Secret Samadhi with Eastern-tinged strings, sitars, and powerful overdubbed guitars ("Lakini's Juice" is propelled by a slide guitar riff out of Physical Graffiti). Meanwhile, Ed Kowalczyk's lyrics and singing remain indebted to early U2 -- he wants to say something big in a big way.