Live From...Ep

by Johnny LoftusLive From... is holiday market product, straight up. At only seven songs it's not even a full live set, and chances are good that Howie Day diehards don't need another live version of "Ghost," especially one as tepid as this. Live From...'s remainder isn't much better. Culled from various stops on his 2005 tour to support Stop All the World Now, it includes five songs from that album and a nice enough cover of the Crowded House hit "Don't Dream It's Over." His voice soars, and he delivers the nadir of songs like "Sunday Morning Song" or the hit "Collide" ("and I'm tangled up in you...") with appropriate grace. But Day's band noodles around behind him, particularly during the muddled, directionless jam that slows "Brace Yourself" to a trudge, and his mild, pretty songs sound thin and terribly flat. For an artist who originally made his name with his live show, on Live From... Day sounds mostly like he's going through the motions.