TheAlterBridgeNation.com

abw1987 wrote:

AHart96 wrote:And THAT was the review I was waiting for. Words can't describe how hyped/excited I am for this album. The only part that had me worried are the terms "porn rock" and "stripper rock", but overall I am so pleased with what I'm reading

Ha... I knew it was a risk mentioning that in here. I don't want to give anyone the impression that there's any kind of sexual themes or even undertones to the album. Rest assured there's no Halestorm, Dark New Day, or Nickelback influence here. That would just be too cheesy (and as someone already mentioned, it's been tried unsuccessfully in "Dirty Girl" - lol). I was referring more to just how nasty some of the grooves and riffs sound. Trust me, you will not be able to resist headbanging... think "Farther than the Sun" for example.

Good to have the distinction (granted, I actually kind of like DG despite the cheesiness). I for one figured you were talking more about the sound than the themes, though I can understand the possibility of confusion.

On a separate note, I'll be curious to hear how Myles sounds on the album. Some of the descriptions, particularly the repeated allusion to tenderness in parts, give me hope that he put some real feeling into the songs. I know that what little has been said about his vocals on TLH has suggested he doesn't have his old ODR days grit, but I feel like some are quick to equate that to him sounding like Slash Myles. I feel like any acoustic performance (not w/ slash) of his in the last few years is enough to prove that he doesn't need to have roughness in his voice to make it felt emotionally.

abw1987 wrote:

psycosquirrel789 wrote:I can't remember, was there a listening party for AB III?

This was Alter Bridge's first official listening party. Plenty of folks have gotten early listens for the previous albums, but these were more one-off occurrences.

Oh ok, right. I distinctly remember people leaking the intro to STTV. I can't remember much else about the release of AB III.

psycosquirrel789 wrote: Oh ok, right. I distinctly remember people leaking the intro to STTV. I can't remember much else about the release of AB III.

That was when Donnie (can't remember the username) randomly met Mark, and was invited to come listen to ABIII after a show. The jealousy I felt...

Ubik wrote:Crumbso's post takes me back. Gah they were from August as well and I remember how long it seemed between then and the release.

Damn. That takes me back. Can't believe how wrong I was about Cry Me a River

psycosquirrel789 wrote:I can't remember, was there a listening party for AB III?

The one I went to was more like a competition. There was plenty of people from the board there though. The speaker system was god-awful though.

Crumbso wrote:

psycosquirrel789 wrote:I can't remember, was there a listening party for AB III?

The one I went to was more like a competition. There was plenty of people from the board there though. The speaker system was god-awful though.

The open bar rocked though!

axlar wrote:

Crumbso wrote:

psycosquirrel789 wrote:I can't remember, was there a listening party for AB III?

The one I went to was more like a competition. There was plenty of people from the board there though. The speaker system was god-awful though.

The open bar rocked though!

Yup. Not complaining about that

*A couple of quick notes that I forgot to mention about the LP party*

- Mark has been a front man for a few years now and in a few situations he definitely showed it. Right before a song started he went to the mike and said something like " ALRIGHT LETS GO!!!!" in a higher pitch. Myles looked at him like wtf lol

- Come to Life is a killer opener song.. Wasn't sure which song they were gonna go but it honestly kicked ass hearing it first.

- BMarsh is one short dude.

You could definitely see Mark's confidence from being a frontman for Tremonti.

they used to do come to life all the time to open.

Slip to the void was pretty good. Addicted to Pain was a very questionable opener, imo. Probably my least favorite opener of theirs since they started. Not because the songs bad (I'm not the biggest fan but still), but because I just don't think it works for an opener too well compared to their other options

I think with the intro they used for it, it could have been a good encore-opener.

I like Come to Life as an opener. Thought it was kinda cool they opened with Isolation at their first show of this summer tour. I think it works pretty well in that slot.

Pretty nice review here as well: http://shockwavemagazine.com/alter-brid ... ty-review/

Huh, review says Open Your Eyes was played, but I don't think I saw anyone note that in this thread. Was Open Your Eyes played?

I thought Addicted to Pain was a great opener. Starts with a bang and it's really known because it's a single.

anguyen92 wrote:Huh, review says Open Your Eyes was played, but I don't think I saw anyone note that in this thread. Was Open Your Eyes played?

It was not. It was on the set list but I heard from one of the other mods that they had to skip it since they ran out of time. Good thing they had "Rise Today" slated directly before it so they could close with that.

abw1987 wrote:

anguyen92 wrote:Huh, review says Open Your Eyes was played, but I don't think I saw anyone note that in this thread. Was Open Your Eyes played?

It was not. It was on the set list but I heard from one of the other mods that they had to skip it since they ran out of time. Good thing they had "Rise Today" slated directly before it so they could close with that.

Fans took too much time cheering in between songs... Rude.

zazthespaz wrote:

abw1987 wrote:

anguyen92 wrote:Huh, review says Open Your Eyes was played, but I don't think I saw anyone note that in this thread. Was Open Your Eyes played?

It was not. It was on the set list but I heard from one of the other mods that they had to skip it since they ran out of time. Good thing they had "Rise Today" slated directly before it so they could close with that.

Fans took too much time cheering in between songs... Rude.

Hahahahahahaha. So true.

AshleE and Alex, thank you for sharing your experience and impressions!

If nothing of life works out for you, you should really consider a job in marketing!

I'll restrain from reading other reviews so my perceptions aren't influenced. We'll sure have a lot to digest and I won't jump to conclusions... I was hoping for something in the vein of Blackbird but Mark himself has said the band has definately evolved in a different era, but I'm pretty sure they'll deliver as they always does.

I don't think anyone at the LP was surprised or disappointed at the setlist, or at least they shouldn't have been. The band had been back together for a week since the Tremonti Dust tour ended and they were leaving for their summer tour 2 days later, so you had to expect the show to basically be a rehearsal. Plus, Tim and Fret12 did a good job communicating in the days leading up that they were gonna play for an hour so it shouldn't have been a surprise. I paid my ticket price to hear the new album, get to see them live for the first time in a long time, and to hang with a ton of great people, and zaz, too. I do wish they'd done a tshirt for it. I'd have bought a bunch of those. But I was not even hoping for Shed My Skin. Some day, but not that day.

Having said that, I do think AB is missing a huge opportunity as they tour amphitheaters in front of new listeners and larger crowds to not have a single released and be playing it live and promoting the hell out of a new album. Why it's just sitting on a hard drive doing nothing for them at the moment is hard to figure for a band that's willing to be an opener to try to grow its footprint here.

Ashlee mentioned the interaction at the end of Blackbird happened because Myles played a wrong note and everyone kinda looked up a said huh? In those last 3 descending notes of the song, Myles played the first one too high, and then slid quickly down to the right spot and laughed. Mark and Brian looked over right away and laughed, too. We know these guys are perfectionists and it's more evidence why this show was (and probably needed to be) a rehearsal all along, and I personally love little unique/imperfect things like that in a show. It was barely noticeable, and I'll always have a live version of BB with 4 descending notes to end the outro. That one is ours forever.