Official "The Last Hero" Thread (pre-release discussion)

[AB23]

I think it was My Champion that Brian said was one of his favorites. That and The Other Side, if I remember correctly.

I think you're thinking of You Will Be Remembered because Brian is big into the US military tributes. I recall him saying that One By One was one of his favorite songs a long time ago as well.

He may have said that about My Champion though... but he for sure said it about You Will Be Remembered.

[Mister Gold]

Well, I've strongly disliked the sound of both My Champion snippets thus far; I don't like Myles' vocal tone and the lyrics are super generic as well. If I'm being truly honest, they're some of the weakest lyrics AB's ever had, but that's just my opinion.

Sounds harsh, but man I just really don't like what I've heard of it.

Completely agreed. It's really quite generic.

But, no one has heard the song....

If you like BTC and Ghost, then you'll like this one too.

I'm not much of a fan of Before Tomorrow Comes, but as for Ghost... That song seems pretty different than My Champion so far.

Ghost is all about nostalgia and how our thoughts on the past sometimes give way to us fearing our future. It's not all that "poetic," but it's got more depth to its topic than what we've been presented with for My Champion so far. On top of that, Ghost also has that darker and heavier bridge portion that really stands out compared to the rest of the song's bittersweet-yet-uptempo nature.

[AB23]

Idk, even before Ryan made that post, I thought that the chorus of My Champion reminded me of the chorus of Ghost... melodically speaking.

[Mister Gold]

Idk, even before Ryan made that post, I thought that the chorus of My Champion reminded me of the chorus of Ghost... melodically speaking.

That's a fair assessment. The chorus does have some similarities in its melody, but I'm personally not sure that it's executed as well here. And again, I think the lyrics here are inferior to what we got with Ghost.

"Do you feel the same
For what was remained
Yesterday is gone, we can't go back again
Do you ever cry for the ghost of days gone by?"

It's not the most impressive set of lyrics in the world, but Ghost offers an interesting subject of discussion just the same- Nostalgia. Plus the rest of the song delves further into that and also has the guts to shift around from the past and show how that leads to our fears of the future and our own mortality.

That's creative. That's interesting.

Here's what My Champion's chorus offers us (so far):

"Sometimes you fall
Before you rise
Sometimes you lose it all to find
You gotta keep on fighting
And get back up again."

I dig inspirational stuff. I like being happy. But this is pretty damn basic lyrically, even compared to Ghosts.

[AB23]

See, I don't find Ghosts lyrically captivating at all.

I think lyrics are what YOU make of them. And Ghosts surely means a lot more to you than it does to me.

Most of the time, AB's lyrical themes are displayed in their verses, which we haven't heard yet.

For example, the verse of My Champion is as follows:

"May this be your victory song
A song for you when I am gone
Reminding you of what you're meant to be
A gift to bring you clarity
To show you that your destiny
Is not defined by what you've failed to see"

And I, for one, find that more "moving" or "thought-provoking" than any line that Ghosts has to offer. But that's just because I probably make more out of those words than I do to a simple metaphor involving memories of our past.

[Mister Gold]

See, I don't find Ghosts lyrically captivating at all.

I think lyrics are what YOU make of them. And Ghosts surely means a lot more to you than it does to me.

Most of the time, AB's lyrical themes are displayed in their verses, which we haven't heard yet.

For example, the verse of My Champion is as follows:

"May this be your victory song
A song for you when I am gone
Reminding you of what you're meant to be
A gift to bring you clarity
To show you that your destiny
Is not defined by what you've failed to see"

And I, for one, find that more "moving" or "thought-provoking" than any line that Ghosts has to offer. But that's just because I probably make more out of those words than I do to a simple metaphor involving memories of our past.

That's a fair argument. You're right about My Champion having better lyrics in its verse than its chorus. My issue with the verse is how 'country' it sounds there. It's a weird dichotomy; the verse has good lyrics but I don't care for the music. The chorus starts to sound better, putting aside its initial similarities to Kelly Clarkson, but the lyrics are pretty bad.

As for Ghosts itself, it isn't even my favorite song off of ABIII, much less the band's catalogue- I just find its lyrical topic to be more interesting to me than My Champion so far and figured I'd bring that up since Ryan compared the two songs.

[Ryan]

I guess to expand on my comment, I don't mean they sound pretty much the same. I mean that AB hasn't gone completely sappy, cheesy, bad, radio song. While the song is radio friendly and it's the most accessible song on the album (I think), it's still AB. If you like Ghost and BTC and don't find those to be all cheesy and what not, you'll like this one. I don't fully remember the song since we heard the full album, that was quite some time ago now, and only one listen, but I do recall liking it. And I skip WOY and songs like that 99% of the time.

[JGremore]

I can't get over the amount people complain and nit pick on these forums. Everytime a new song comes out people are so quick to find something they don't like about it. I'm assuming AB is all of our favorite band so just enjoy the music they make. It's hard to find such a quality band that makes amazing music, especially in today's society. Just enjoy it peeps. If ya don't like it then that's fine, but more so keep it to yourself then stirring the pot on pointless debates.

I strongly, strongly disagree with this mindset. "Alter Bridge just came out with a song. Better love it."

We're allowed to be critical. In fact, I don't think we'd be true fans if we just embraced everything they did and called it a masterpiece.

If I recall correctly, that's how this board has been ever since it first started. I've been here for 8 years now, and that's how its always been. Its not like the board has gotten overly toxic over the years. You have honest fans who have honest opinions about music, and that's fine. If we can't accept that music is art, and art is 100% subject to the opinion of the beholder, then we should probably find something else to enjoy where opinions are welcomed.

Oh no, I definitely didn't mean we have to like what they put out. My wording may be off so my apologies. I meant in more of the sense I feel that it's been more negative on SMAL and My Champion. Granted not everyone will like these songs and such (which is perfectly fine) but as many have stated AB has evolved over time. I personally don't think everything they do is a masterpiece or I have songs which I don't like as much( show me a sign, still remains, etc.) which to be realistic a band isnt always going to make a great or even pretty good songs. They'll have some mehh or "fillers" sometimes, just the nature of the beast. Maybe it's just me, I'm just as critical as anyone but at the same time I try to keep an open mind with what they do. Appreciate the dialogue back, good convo piece!

[JGremore]

I can't get over the amount people complain and nit pick on these forums. Everytime a new song comes out people are so quick to find something they don't like about it. I'm assuming AB is all of our favorite band so just enjoy the music they make. It's hard to find such a quality band that makes amazing music, especially in today's society. Just enjoy it peeps. If ya don't like it then that's fine, but more so keep it to yourself then stirring the pot on pointless debates.

Normally people are very good at detailing why they don't like a certain song or part. Nothing wrong with voicing an opinion. Yes, We all love AB or we wouldn't be here but its okay to critique and discuss.

I'm perfectly fine with that. I guess it just seemed to me as it being more negative lately. Personally I'm just glad to have new material out!

[JGremore]

Random thought, but has anyone really paid attention to how boring BMarsh seems to be when playing? I don't really have a problem with it but one of buddies who plays bass pointed it out how he would like to see a bit more emotion out of him. Interesting thought in my opinion.

[Raven]

Am i alone in thinking Rise today is easily AB' s most radio friendly [cheesy song] and every1 seems to lap that song up so my question,why is this so different? [My Champion]

[Ryan]

Random thought, but has anyone really paid attention to how boring BMarsh seems to be when playing? I don't really have a problem with it but one of buddies who plays bass pointed it out how he would like to see a bit more emotion out of him. Interesting thought in my opinion.

yeah he's always been that way. He just chills and plays.

[Jaded Rescue]

Random thought, but has anyone really paid attention to how boring BMarsh seems to be when playing? I don't really have a problem with it but one of buddies who plays bass pointed it out how he would like to see a bit more emotion out of him. Interesting thought in my opinion.

I wish he did more of the 0:35 mark:

[hackingislife]

Okay, did anyone else notice that AB's page now says the video will be out on Thursday instead? I could've sworn it said tomorrow just 12 hours ago..

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Okay, did anyone else notice that AB's page now says the video will be out on Thursday instead? I could've sworn it said tomorrow just 12 hours ago..

If you view the edit history, they edited to Thursday 3 hrs ago.

[hackingislife]

Okay, did anyone else notice that AB's page now says the video will be out on Thursday instead? I could've sworn it said tomorrow just 12 hours ago..

If you view the edit history, they edited to Thursday 3 hrs ago.

Weird, I tried to look for that but didn't see an "Edited" note on there that you'd usually see on FB. I guess it was in the drop-down?

[Raven]

Okay, did anyone else notice that AB's page now says the video will be out on Thursday instead? I could've sworn it said tomorrow just 12 hours ago..

If you view the edit history, they edited to Thursday 3 hrs ago.

And now I'm super pissed came home early from work today and everything

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Okay, did anyone else notice that AB's page now says the video will be out on Thursday instead? I could've sworn it said tomorrow just 12 hours ago..

If you view the edit history, they edited to Thursday 3 hrs ago.

Weird, I tried to look for that but didn't see an "Edited" note on there that you'd usually see on FB. I guess it was in the drop-down?

if by 'drop-down' you mean the downwards arrow on the top right corner of the post and 'view edit history' then yes

[AB23]

That's kind of disappointing. Its only one day, but how hard is it to market your album singles appropriately and accurately (pretending like this is not the only time they've made a mistake)

[joshuabeau]

Speaking of My Champion.. Found a new interview with Myles where he talks about it a bit. You Will Be Remembered also.

http://www.alternativenation.net/interv ... dge-slash/