Fortress... A Disappointment?

[DonHarry]

I don't have any complaints about this album. Genuinely they have produced something that I wasn't expecting and I'm absolutely at peace with what they've come up with this time. I can't praise it enough. I think I'm fortunate to have a less finely tuned ear compared to some of you guys so I don't know enough about creating music to be disappointed by something I don't understand.

They say ignorance is bliss but at any rate it's all about what you get out of listening at the end of the day and I'm currently getting a lot out of this album.

[Timotheus]

Best choruses on the album: Calm The Fire - Bleed It Dry!

Add 'All Ends Well' and I'm with you. That chorus took an okay song and made it one of my favorite AB songs.

Yea, I love that one as well. I remember listening to the pre-chorus for the first time and thinking that was the chorus. I was a bit dissapointed, but then the actual chorus kicked in

[AB4Lyfe]

Cry of Achilles chorus is a highlight for me solely based on the lyrics and how it's sung.

[phatnonphatness]

Honestly, on the first few listens, I fucking love it. After ABIII, I hate to say it, but I lost a bit of faith in the band. I just hoped I'd get a ODR part 2 eventually. But they somehow managed to release an album just as high quality as ODR, with a vastly different sound. And it's blown me away. With that said, this is the more critical thread so I'll leave my vocabulary lovestains for the review thread.

I fully understand what people do not like about this album though. Before they released Fortress, I would've agreed on the point that they shouldn't try to be too heavy. Although I don't think this album is all that heavy, I think they really pulled it off well on this one.

The one thing that does annoy me is the vocal effects on Myles voice. Although the upside to that is that some of the songs will sound even better live, so I guess that's something to look forward to for you lucky bastards who get to see them every tour (they've come a grand total of 1 times to New Zealand so I'm jealous as hell).

Also, on a side note, it's great that there's a genuine discussion about the album, rather than just blind praise or random hate. Really helps validate everybody's individual opinion.

[Nick]

ODR/Fortress > ABIII > Blackbird

Will take me some time to decide which I prefer between ODR and Fortress, need to see how Fortress holds up over time.

Pretty much this. I still feel like ODR captures that youthful excitement of a band trying to find itself and Fortress seems like a band that has fully developed and settled with its sound. Everything in between was just an awkward puberty.

I don't mean this to say that either is necessarily better as of yet in my judgment, because there are good things to find in bands at different times that couldn't have been captured at different times. I don't think AB could capture that ODR sound anymore so it's best that they don't. Their experience as a band has led them in a different direction and I think Fortress is the fullest, best realization of that journey up to this point. Even if you don't like, it seems hard to deny that it is authentically Alter Bridge.

[NytestrykerZ]

Best choruses on the album: Calm The Fire - Bleed It Dry!

Add 'All Ends Well' and I'm with you. That chorus took an okay song and made it one of my favorite AB songs.

Yea, I love that one as well. I remember listening to the pre-chorus for the first time and thinking that was the chorus. I was a bit dissapointed, but then the actual chorus kicked in

Exactly the same thing here, man! Then as soon as Myles ascended to that high I got chills.

[AB23]

Bleed it dry is probably my least favorite. Sounds rushed and I feel like there's countless other ways they could've taken it to make it much better. Bleed it dry was a disappointment in every regard besides the solo

[Dolo]

For me, the least favourite is All Ends Well. Just a pompous, ballady, infantile type of radio-single which I've heard a thousand times.

[Timotheus]

Bleed it dry is probably my least favorite. Sounds rushed and I feel like there's countless other ways they could've taken it to make it much better. Bleed it dry was a disappointment in every regard besides the solo

There are countless other ways they could've taken to make it sound more pretty and typical. From a musical point of view it's very interesting and very well thought out,definitely not rushed. It might even be the most unique sounding Alter Bridge chorus yet.. And for me, it works. Don't give up on it yet, it might be a grower

[Ubik]

The only chorus I don't get yet is Cry a River's. Saves it later though when Myles comes in with the banjo. The rest of them are all great.

[Inconquerable]

I don't think AB could capture that ODR sound anymore so it's best that they don't. Their experience as a band has led them in a different direction and I think Fortress is the fullest, best realization of that journey up to this point. Even if you don't like, it seems hard to deny that it is authentically Alter Bridge.

Agreed big time. One Day Remains, which is a fantastic record in my books, could not be made by the same guys at this point in their lives. They've grown, they've been through major life changes/experiences, it wouldn't be the same record. Fortress is a more mature band that is more cohesive, more collaborative, and more experienced. Whether you like it or not is for you to decide (and truthfully it's fine either way), but this is where the band is in their lives both individually and collectively at this point in time.

[Alter Bridge 23]

Elvis' production is just terrible. Everything is so loud.

After only one full listen the album is a disappointment to me as well. Sometimes it takes me a few listens though so we will see. No songs make me think OMG like Blackbird. Hope it grows on me and I think it will but who knows? Waters rising is awesome when Myles starts to sing and I wish he would have sang it all!

My favs:

Cry of Achilles
Bleed it Dry
Waters Rising(when Myles sings)
Calm the Fire
Fortress

[austinjhnsn]

Best choruses on the album: Calm The Fire - Bleed It Dry!

This! And Cry of Achilles.

[Violent Corpse]

Waters Rising is such a fail song.

[MylesKennedyIsGod]

I don't have any complaints about this album. Genuinely they have produced something that I wasn't expecting and I'm absolutely at peace with what they've come up with this time. I can't praise it enough...I'm currently getting a lot out of this album.

This completely. Each listen just keeps getting better and better. Something I can't say about a lot of albums at first.

[BennyWhatever]

It's interesting hearing all of the thoughts about the lack of solid choruses in the album. It may be the Dream Theater fan in me, but I'd prefer a song with less emphasis on chorus (or none at all!) and more on the rest of the song.

[Dayviewer]

Elvis' production is just terrible. Everything is so loud.

Every hard rock/metal album released in the past few years has been, deal with it.
At least it isn't as compressed as the previous stuff or full of noise gates and what not, the production on this record sounds very good even with a low quality rip.
Most people think a loud album is bad, loud albums are just fine, it's HOW the loudness is achieved, if everything still breathes, has a natural sound to it, and doesn't seem to push eachother out of the mix, it's completely fine. Don't mix it up with overly compressed music, which you can also have on a lower volume.
The bass is VERY present as well which I love.

And let me just say with this, because I haven't really seen it mentioned a lot yet, that Brian freaking RIPS on this record?

It's interesting hearing all of the thoughts about the lack of solid choruses in the album. It may be the Dream Theater fan in me, but I'd prefer a song with less emphasis on chorus (or none at all!) and more on the rest of the song.

Ah yes, I was getting so tired of the whole chorus focussed stuff, happy they toned that down alot

[RoCkBiTeR]

"That, to me, sounds like... "You guys who like the album are blind (or would it be deaf?) but I can hear/see things clear." - and I'm not sure how I feel about that statement to be honest. When 80 percent of people like something and 20 percent of people don't like something (I'm not sure if those numbers are completely correct) - is that just meaningless?" - Dan Dando

By that I just mean that as a passionate bunch of fans who have been starved of fresh AB material for the last 3 years, sometimes there can be a tendency to get swept up in the hysteria, wearing rose-tinted glasses simply because the release of any new AB music is a cause to celebrate. AB3 was a good example of that I guess.

Fortress isn't a bad album, I'm just saying that I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be. Everyone looks for something different in a song. Maybe the chorus isn't the most important element for some fans but for me, they're the clinchers that make or break a song. I just find the majority of Fortress' choruses uninspiring and ones that don't leave your jaw on the ground like past efforts. Bleed It Dry comes to mind despite having a phenomenal solo.

Oh and I agree, The Godfather rocks!

[Troops4Tremonti]

A disappointment? Yeah, I think so. I'm on about the 4th or 5th listen and there really isn't anything I'll be DYING to come back to in a years time. Unfortunately for AB, they set the bar so high and then tried to be all experimental and it just didn't work for me. Waters Rising is really the only song I can listen to all the way through (which is ironic being that Mark sings most of it). I think my album highlights would have to be:

Cry of Achilles (the intro)

Bleed it Dry (the bridge)

Calm the Fire (the intro and the verses)

Waters Rising (the whole song. Man, KILLER clean guitar)

Cry a River - I heard the GD and said out loud 'What?!' I'm not going to get all prude on you, I just think swearing is a lazy way to write lyrics. An escape from having to dig into a vocabulary. Thus, I feel, it just pollutes a song. I've kind of shrugged the hells and damns they've thrown in here and there, but GD is too much imo. Maybe, the next record will have a PA sticker. Oh, and I didn't like the song lol.

All Ends Well (decent clean guitar. the chorus is actually very good)

Fortress (intro only)

I hope it grows on me!

[Bman2112]

"That, to me, sounds like... "You guys who like the album are blind (or would it be deaf?) but I can hear/see things clear." - and I'm not sure how I feel about that statement to be honest. When 80 percent of people like something and 20 percent of people don't like something (I'm not sure if those numbers are completely correct) - is that just meaningless?" - Dan Dando

By that I just mean that as a passionate bunch of fans who have been starved of fresh AB material for the last 3 years, sometimes there can be a tendency to get swept up in the hysteria, wearing rose-tinted glasses simply because the release of any new AB music is a cause to celebrate. AB3 was a good example of that I guess.

Fortress isn't a bad album, I'm just saying that I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be. Everyone looks for something different in a song. Maybe the chorus isn't the most important element for some fans but for me, they're the clinchers that make or break a song. I just find the majority of Fortress' choruses uninspiring and ones that don't leave your jaw on the ground like past efforts. Bleed It Dry comes to mind despite having a phenomenal solo.



6/10 for me. With the biggest dud being Waters Rising...closely followed by that fail of a cohesive chorus on Bleed it dry

I'm still gutted. Just wish i could 'get it'......still time though