| Lived to Tell | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Eleventh Dream Day |
| Cover: | Lived to Tell.jpg |
| Released: | 1991 |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Label: | Atlantic |
| Producer: | Paul McKenna |
| Prev Title: | Borscht |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Two Sweeties |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
Lived to Tell is an album by the American alternative rock band Eleventh Dream Day, released in 1991.[1] [2] Like the band's other two Atlantic Records albums, Lived to Tell was a commercial disappointment.[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]
Produced by Paul McKenna, the album was recorded in Cub Run, Kentucky, in a studio that had been built in an old barn. All four band members contributed to the songwriting.[5]
Entertainment Weekly wrote that the band "sport a wild instrumental attack, oblique lyrics, and a sturdy, unflinching belief in the healing effects of a silky, soaring guitar." Robert Christgau thought that "a notable guitar sound evolves into an undeniable band sound, roots/trad sonics (steel and slide under lead) and rhythms (buried hints of r&b strut and shuffle) just barely keeping their balance." Trouser Press opined that some songs "waver instead of stampede; for the first time, the band seems to know where they’re going, and that takes some joy out of the ride."[6]
The New York Times wrote: "When the tempos are fast and the guitarists strum at top speed, the songs emerge in a passionate rush. But when songs grow more leisurely, collegiate pretensions emerge; songs called 'Daedalus' and 'It's All a Game' are just the clichés their titles promise."[7] The Chicago Tribune deemed Lived to Tell "an album that ranks as one of the best ever made by a Chicago band."[8] The Boston Globe concluded that "the band's cleverly oblique lyrics are often lost in the guitar din, but for pure energy, you won't find a hotter new band."[9]
AllMusic wrote that "[Rick] Rizzo and Beveridge Bean make a fantastic pair of front singers, strong without being overbearing, on joint harmonies hitting something not far off from the brilliant combination of X's John Doe and Exene Cervenka."