Walk The Sky Production Quality.

[Andy92]

Didn't Elvis produce BB? That one does not sound that bad.

He did. Could be improved a little though. I don't think it has aged as well as ODR.

It’s definitely not as warm sounding as ODR. I love Blackbird but I think Fortress has a better mix than it across the board.

[Kreuger]

Fortress is a better song across the board.

[AB4Lyfe]

Fortress is a better song across the board.

Arrest this man.

[Kreuger]

Fortress is a better song across the board.

Arrest this man.

Blackbird is so over rated. I loved it when it came out but theyve done better, many times.

[TenaciousBe]

Fortress is a better song across the board.

Arrest this man.

Blackbird is so over rated. I loved it when it came out but theyve done better, many times.

Who hurt you? I really want to hold you right now and give you a Robin Williams-esque "it's not your fault." Blackbird is far and away their magnum opus, and could very well be one of the best songs ever recorded by any band, ever.

[Kreuger]

Nobody hurt me. They just have better songs. I dont umderstand why people, including the band are still hung up on it.

[Ubik]

It's their signature song, the one that pretty much symbolises the real beginning of the band as a creative unit, and its theme digs deep with a ton of people.

That said, I do prefer Fortress and a few others myself.

[Crumbso]

If anything, it's the bridge and solo section. They've not really done anything to top that in my estimation, even though I prefer certain other songs as a whole.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

I still think Blackbird is their best song. I don't want them to live on it, though. I want them to make their next Blackbird. It doesn't have to sound the same, be as long, or anything like that... I just want the next song that'll beat it in my eyes, that's all. Personally, I don't think any other song has come close. There are some real gold-tier ones out there (relatively on the AB scale), but Blackbird is still the only platinum.

IMO Fortress has great sections, but they just all seem jumbled into a song "just because" and I don't feel the cohesion of it. I also don't care much for the lyrics, some of the Myles vocal filter bits, and I couldn't ever shake the guitar riff coming off like WDTTW to me, I don't know how to explain it (last big epic song on the album with this rhythmic pattern in the main riff just sounded like "another version," yes I know how to aplay both on guitar and I know they are extremely different, but if Words wasn't a thing then I think I'd appreciate it more). Fortress really wins most after the second chorus till the end of the solo. I like The Last Hero more, personally.

[TenaciousBe]

I still maintain what I said about Blackbird being possibly one of the greatest songs ever written by any band, ever. That one poll where they named the solo the greatest of all time? No joke. Fortress is a great song too, and they've written some other amazing stuff, and like Muffin just said, I don't want them to just kick back and live off that song forever, but... it's up there in the upper echelon of top-tier songs ever written. It may not have the commercial success, but from a purely objective standpoint, it's up there with stuff like Purple Rain, Bohemian Rhapsody, that stuff. It is an absolute MASTERPIECE of a song. I think we as AB fans sort of take it for granted because we've heard it so many times and maybe the "goodness" of it doesn't strike us so hard when we're so used to hearing it, but the music, the lyrics, the solo, every bit of that song is just incredibly written. I don't fault anyone for preferring to hear other songs at this point, if you've heard BB a billion times, but it just seems ludicrous to me to say they've written "better" songs. Blackbird is an absolute gold standard for songwriting.

[Kreuger]

You guys really wanna lose your minds? Even without a solo, Id take Lover over Blackbird. And Im a guitar player.

[chtimixeur]

One of the best songs ever?
One of the best solos of all time?
Please...
Have you guys listened to anything else than US modern hard rock?
Pink Floyd alone has dozens of songs that are more impressive than Blackbird.

[Timotheus]

One of the best songs ever?
One of the best solos of all time?
Please...
Have you guys listened to anything else than US modern hard rock?
Pink Floyd alone has dozens of songs that are more impressive than Blackbird.

Shit, this guy knows at least 24 Pink Floyd songs. All our opinions are void now.

[Ubik]

US modern hard rock is dead, long live UK progressive rock from 30 years prior.

[Dolo]

One of the best songs ever?
One of the best solos of all time?
Please...
Have you guys listened to anything else than US modern hard rock?
Pink Floyd alone has dozens of songs that are more impressive than Blackbird.

You've got a good point, but you've just come across like an ultimate edgelord.

[anguyen92]

One of the best songs ever?
One of the best solos of all time?
Please...
Have you guys listened to anything else than US modern hard rock?
Pink Floyd alone has dozens of songs that are more impressive than Blackbird.

Yes, I have. I've been listening to a lot of JPop/JRock as opposed to the US modern hard rock since I've been pretty disenchanted and out of touch nowadays in that realm since the lockdown in March 2020. I don't know much about Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath and I don't really have any motivation to listen to them at all, nothing against them and I will say probably after years passed, Fortress might be the better song for me over Blackbird. The four solos lined up and the lyrical content hits very hard for me and I don't think they can ever create a song better than that and I don't think I will listen to a song better than that and anyone else cannot convince on that. I will die on that hill with that mindset.

[chtimixeur]

I really like Alter Bridge, but I would never put anything they've done in a "best ever" category.
They're a good band, but their songwriting is not impressive at all, since for the most part, it's just a bunch of parts randomly pasted together.
Mark is a riff machine, but I've never been truly impressed by the way he builds songs around those riffs. It's way too predictable and there is nothing extraordinary about it.

If we're talking about Blackbird, the clean part before the solos has always bugged me. It just doesn't fit with the other parts as far as I'm concerned.

[Dolo]

Mark is a riff machine, but I've never been truly impressed by the way he builds songs around those riffs. It's way too predictable and there is nothing extraordinary about it.
.

That's actually true. Mark writes a shitload of great riffs but rarely does he every surprise me with the way the rest of the song sounds like. He seems to be kind of stuck in his head with the idea of 'I have a great riff, fuck the rest' and that doesn't seem to be right.

[Crumbso]

Mark is a riff machine, but I've never been truly impressed by the way he builds songs around those riffs. It's way too predictable and there is nothing extraordinary about it.
.

That's actually true. Mark writes a shitload of great riffs but rarely does he every surprise me with the way the rest of the song sounds like. He seems to be kind of stuck in his head with the idea of 'I have a great riff, fuck the rest' and that doesn't seem to be right.

I think that's a little unfair. They just choose a traditional song format and try to work within it. They have some very impressive songwriting accomplishments - Blackbird, Cry of Achilles, Burn it Down, Words Darker Than Their Wings, Wayward One, Lover, Bleed it Dry etc.

[Dolo]

Mark is a riff machine, but I've never been truly impressed by the way he builds songs around those riffs. It's way too predictable and there is nothing extraordinary about it.
.

That's actually true. Mark writes a shitload of great riffs but rarely does he every surprise me with the way the rest of the song sounds like. He seems to be kind of stuck in his head with the idea of 'I have a great riff, fuck the rest' and that doesn't seem to be right.

I think that's a little unfair. They just choose a traditional song format and try to work within it. They have some very impressive songwriting accomplishments - Blackbird, Cry of Achilles, Burn it Down, Words Darker Than Their Wings, Wayward One, Lover, Bleed it Dry etc.

So you've listed mostly the ones that actually do stand out (except for the last three - great songs in general, but not really taking you on a journey). Maybe it's time to dump the traditional format and do something else.