Anthology

Ed Kowalczyk is best known as the lead singer of Live, one of the most successful American post-grunge bands of the ‘90s, thanks to their successful 1994 album, “Throwing Copper,” and its hit “Lightning Crashes.”

With his bald head and intense eyes, Kowalczyk cuts a distinctive figure, but what separates him from other ‘90s alt-rockers is his utter earnestness: he adopted U2’s open-hearted stance as his own, preferring sincerity to irony.

Live released seven albums between 1991 and 2006 before splitting, with Kowalczyk launching a solo career in 2010 with “Alive.”

“Alive” is Ed Kowalczyk’s first major activity outside of Live in his professional career.

A native of York, PA, he met the rest of the band while in middle school and the group played in a variety of incarnations before high-school graduation. After completing high school, the group worked steadily, eventually signing with Radioactive Records in 1991 and settling on the name Live.

Their debut album, “Mental Jewelry,” arrived later that year but the big breakthrough came with “Throwing Copper” in 1994.

“Secret Samadhi” followed in 1997 with “The Distance to Here” appearing in 2000, around the time when Kowalczyk started stepping outside the group, briefly appearing in David Fincher’s 1999 cult classic “Fight Club” and singing on Tricky’s single “Evolution Revolution Love” in 2001.

Two other albums followed early in the new millennium — “V” in 2001, “Birds of Pray” in 2003 — with the group’s last, “Songs from Black Mountain,” appearing in 2006.

Live supported the album with a tour that lasted until 2009, when the band announced a hiatus following a show at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Kowalcyzk released “Alive” in the summer of 2010 and it debuted at No. 6 on Billboard magazine’s Christian chart.