Album · Live
Throwing Copper by Live
Throwing Copper is an album by Live, released in 1994. 5 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 340 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Lightning Crashes”, on 110 lists and voted number one four times.
Throwing Copper, Live's second album, came out on Radioactive Records on April 26, 1994, and it's the record where the band's earnest, big-hearted alternative rock found its full wingspan. Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads produced it at Pachyderm Recording Studio, and he gave the songs room to swell: quiet, brooding verses that build and build until the guitars break over them like surf.
"Selling the Drama" charges out with a preacher's fervor, "I Alone" coils tight and then snaps, and "Lightning Crashes" is the slow-motion centerpiece, a hymn that starts in a hush and ends up somewhere near the rafters. "All Over You" is the sweet one, all chiming hooks, and "White, Discussion" rolls in on a slow, ominous rumble.
It's generally considered the best thing Live ever made, and it's certainly the one that sold: more than 8 million copies, and eight-times platinum in the US.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Throwing Copper on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lightning Crashes#220 of all time | 110 | #1 | 4 | 1994–2026 | |
| 2 | I Alone#274 of all time | 97 | #4 | – | 1994–2026 | |
| 3 | All Over You | 63 | #9 | – | 1995–2026 | |
| 4 | Selling The Drama | 54 | #1 | 1 | 1994–2025 | |
| 5 | White, Discussion | 16 | #38 | – | 1995–2005 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.