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

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Timotheus
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Timotheus »

What app do you use?
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anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

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Felypesh
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Felypesh »

Ryan wrote:Here's my take on the lyrics for Poison...haven't been able to follow this thread the last two days so, apologies if someone has already posted them.

Poison In Your Veins
how long will you cower down, until you come to see
that courage is the hollowed ground, it changes destiny
that only those who dare to win, with no fear have no remorse
the time has come to rise again, you were meant to be much more
somehow
somehow

it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside will chew you up and spit you out in time
release the poison in your veins right now
right now

everything that could’ve been has only failed to be
cause you wasted all your precious time you were too afraid to dream
well damn it all to hell i say don’t you waste another day
it’s time for you to own it now, the world is yours to take
right now

it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside will chew you up and spit you out in time
so release the poison in your veins, come on bleed it out it’s not too late
what you choose to say (see?) is falling short, it’s time for you to rise and be much more

don’t waste another day
the world has slipped away
the world is yours to take
if only you could change

solo (myles)

oh it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside, will chew you up and spit you out in time
release the poison in your veins, come on bleed it out it’s not too late
what you choose to say (see?) is falling short, it’s time for you to rise and be much more
release the poison in your veins right now
right now
right now
right now

Poison's solo it's from Mark tho
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by AB23 »

idk what you mean by flat, but i still get that vibe. The bad sounding layers in the chorus and even the melody reminds me of it. And the verses aren't memorable. Its not a song I like at all lyrically as well. Poison in your Veins is one I'm going to be skipping.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by poshisjarker »

Timotheus wrote:Except Cry a River has one of the flattest choruses they've ever written and Poison's chorus is the complete opposite.

I agree with the production issues. Though I think it's often not really the production that bugs me the most but the mixing itself.
Yeah i think it's the mixing for me too...should've clarified better. Still greatly enjoy the music. I can find production/mixing issues in a lot of bands i enjoy.

And yes agreed...Poison chorus kicks the crap out of Cry a River
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by dFhimz »

Timotheus wrote:What app do you use?
It's called Equalizer+. It's very simple to play around with the levels and has a couple neat features, but it lacks a bit of the intuitiveness when it comes to simply playing a list of music, it's weird that way. I have the free version so there are occasionally image ads. I tolerate the problems with the app because the sound is worth it
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by slasherbridge »

Some negative Nancy's in here. Geez.
Poison has all of the hallmarks of a typical Alter Bridge song, but to say that they haven't pushed the envelope and tried something different with it...I don't get that at all. That bridge before the solo is pretty different. And speaking of solos, that is a mighty fine Tremont solo.
Have not heard The Other Side yet, but it if sounds like it could have been on AB 3, then it is already my favorite.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

Ryan wrote:Here's my take on the lyrics for Poison...haven't been able to follow this thread the last two days so, apologies if someone has already posted them.

Poison In Your Veins
how long will you cower down, until you come to see
that courage is the hollowed ground, it changes destiny
that only those who dare to win, with no fear have no remorse
the time has come to rise again, you were meant to be much more
somehow
somehow

it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside will chew you up and spit you out in time
release the poison in your veins right now
right now

everything that could’ve been has only failed to be
cause you wasted all your precious time you were too afraid to dream
well damn it all to hell i say don’t you waste another day
it’s time for you to own it now, the world is yours to take
right now

it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside will chew you up and spit you out in time
so release the poison in your veins, come on bleed it out it’s not too late
what you choose to say (see?) is falling short, it’s time for you to rise and be much more

don’t waste another day
the world has slipped away
the world is yours to take
if only you could change

solo (myles)

oh it’s like poison in your veins, oh it’s the beast you cannot tame
the way you let your fear burrow inside, will chew you up and spit you out in time
release the poison in your veins, come on bleed it out it’s not too late
what you choose to say (see?) is falling short, it’s time for you to rise and be much more
release the poison in your veins right now
right now
right now
right now
I did post them earlier but no biggy :) We seem to hear different things for some of the lyrics and Im pretty sure it's a mark solo (as others have said)

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

The way I see it, sure, all of these songs are "different" than prior Alter Bridge songs because... well because they're new songs. Aside from that, they're totally predictable to me. Obviously I can't tell the future and know exactly what riffs or lyrics the band will use and in which exact order, but it feels to me like it's the same stuff they've done just shuffled around a bit and called "new".

It's like when they've said in interviews that there's "a little bit of everything" from their past albums, and to me it's not in a good way. It just sounds like they recycled a bunch of general musical vocabulary that they have and rearranged it in a way that can be called a new album. And what that results in is a bunch of songs that aren't bad songs, but are all skipped tracks on my iPhone when they come on. Because if I wanted to hear "a little bit of everything" from their previous albums, I would just turn on their previous albums. I want something new.

We're not trying to be negative Nancy's. We just know that this band is capable of being more, and for some reason it feels like they've had a rod up their but since AB III, like someone is forcing them to try to be "heavy" and "dark" and "epic" all the time. I know Mark never wanted to be strongly connected to being "those guys from Creed" anymore, but there comes a point where it's like Michael Jordan trying out baseball instead of playing basketball. Just let yourself do what you do well. This band used to write really great hooks and melodies and now I can barely connect to any of their newer material because they go so complex for the sake of being complex that there's no human emotion in it anymore. And the production doesn't help with that.

Sorry if I sound angry. I'm not trying to get at anyone on here at all. I think I'm just disappointed and was really hoping this album would be some kind of new leaf for them. The irony here is that when a band stops trying so hard and allows themselves to just sound like who they are, they could end up producing over 15 albums with the same "sound" (AC/DC) and yet the songs end up more memorable.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

^^ The thing is what more can they do then without totally doing a genre switch? You want them to incorporate country or EDM or death metal stuff or somthing?

If they go soft, people accuse them of selling out. If they go hard and heavy, oh their songs are becoming lifeless and hard to identify since they are incorporating things just to say they are going "heavy and progressive." Just seems like there's no winning for them at this point when it comes to trying to break new ground.
Last edited by anguyen92 on Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by abw1987 »

Our review is live, folks!

posting.php?mode=quote&f=8&p=181097
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

Holy review Batman!

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

anguyen92 wrote:^^ The thing is what more can they do then without totally doing a genre switch? You want them to incorporate country or EDM or death metal stuff or somthing?

If they go soft, people accuse them of selling out. If they go hard and heavy, oh their songs are becoming lifeless and hard to identify since they are incorporating things just to say they are going "heavy and progressive." Just seems like there's no winning for them at this point when it comes to trying to break new ground.
I'm not saying they need to genre switch. But rock music to me has always been about doing whatever the hell you want. I could use the Foo Fighters as an example (opinions aside on whether or not people like the Foo Fighters on here). When they did Something From Nothing on Sonic Highways, someone at some point in the studio must have said, "You know, a funky keyboard bit might sound good in the bridge of this..." and so they got a keyboard player. Because it worked for the song. But I can't in a million years imagine AB having that kind of loose idea of writing, because a lot of AB fans have pushed for the "dark" and "heavy" sound so much, and Mark wanted so desperately to get away from sounding like Creed, that they end up writing themselves into a corner.

I know it probably sounds like I'm trying to tell them what to do, but the whole point is that I just want them to do whatever they want to do, and right now I'm not convinced for a second that they're really being true to themselves. I think they talk a lot about not having any outside influences when they write, etc. but I think in the back of their heads they limit themselves into some boundary of what Alter Bridge can "be" as a band.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

^^ And this is the part of issues that people are concerned about whether they hear the band or some of the fans wanting them to keep going "heavy and progressive" where going nowhere but that just ends being disappointing to those kinds of people.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

anguyen92 wrote:^^ And this is the part of issues that people are concerned about whether they hear the band or some of the fans wanting them to keep going "heavy and progressive" where going nowhere but that just ends being disappointing to those kinds of people.
Can you clarify this somewhat? I might just be beat from work but I'm not sure I understand what you meant :lol

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Ubik »

Did you like Fortress, Jaded?
For all of the hope that it brings...

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

Ubik wrote:Did you like Fortress, Jaded?
More than The Last Hero, about equal with AB III I'd say. I just listen to AB III a little less because the subject matter is more weighty (like watching an emotional movie). ODR is my number 1 and Blackbird is a very close second.

Edit: I should directly answer your question. I liked it. I just didn't love it. I loved a couple tracks.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

The thing is when a track like My Champion gets released and its this pretty "upbeat and peppy" sound, some people, that loves the moody and heavy vibe that the modern-day AB brings, thinks that this is not who they are and accuses them of trying to go all commercial and radio and that this is not who AB is. Again, its times like this where I always ask myself, "What is the AB sound? How can one truly define the music and sounds that Alter Bridge makes?" Again, I'm still searching for that answer after almost a decade.

In fairness, I've been on the fence 50/50 on whether or not them and, really, Mark, when you hear how passionate he is about metal in the interviews, them going on being further moodier, heavier, incorporate more progressive elements is really a good decision to make in their sound. Honestly, there's going to be a point there's might to be a burnout in their creativity, and that they want to scale things down, and then the fans might accuse them of selling out and going all "commercial" like Metallica did (I know they were really tired of doing the long, heavy stuff after ...And Justice For All and wanted to streamline themselves, which resulted in their biggest selling album ever).

I do feel that it's probably for the better if they try to cut down the layers in their sound.
Last edited by anguyen92 on Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

Jaded described perfectly how I feel about "different".
Jaded Rescue wrote:The way I see it, sure, all of these songs are "different" than prior Alter Bridge songs because... well because they're new songs. Aside from that, they're totally predictable to me. Obviously I can't tell the future and know exactly what riffs or lyrics the band will use and in which exact order, but it feels to me like it's the same stuff they've done just shuffled around a bit and called "new".
It just sounds like they recycled a bunch of general musical vocabulary that they have and rearranged it in a way that can be called a new album. And what that results in is a bunch of songs that aren't bad songs, but are all skipped tracks on my iPhone when they come on.
What I've heard so far really is nothing new in that regard. You don't have to go into a different genre to be unpredictable and fresh. I don't know, I mean it's not like it's all bad, when you divide each song into pieces it's great, ya know, great solo, cool bridge, whatever, but put together something is lacking. And other than the solos nothing sounded inspired to me.

To enforce the point, not trying to be negative, I hold AB to a high standard because they've set the bar high themselves, and if I feel they haven't delivered, well that's my thing only, but hardly my fault for not liking everything. Like Jaded said, let them do whatever the fuck they wanna do.

I also think they did get themselves into a corner but they did it precisely by trying to repeat Fortress and imo you can't repeat that inspiration and emotion that ooze from the album. I feel Fortress was kinda spur-of-the-moment type of album, and TLH might be more calculated in that regard. :shrug
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Ubik »

Jaded Rescue wrote: More than The Last Hero, about equal with AB III I'd say. I just listen to AB III a little less because the subject matter is more weighty (like watching an emotional movie). ODR is my number 1 and Blackbird is a very close second.

Edit: I should directly answer your question. I liked it. I just didn't love it. I loved a couple tracks.
You main post was the answer to how I should've worded my question so I'm grateful you read into it :lol

I think this is one of those unfortunate occasions when personal tastes can't agree on the best direction of a band, so some people end up disappointed on the way. Your comment regarding them not being themselves any longer is what prompted my post because, for my taste, stuff like Cry of Achilles, Lover and Fortress felt like their truest expression of what they were aiming for in each area. Not sure how much of the rest you've heard but I hope you find some stuff on the full album you can connect with!

EDIT - And lest we forget, there's still Breathe to get hyped for :cloud9
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

anguyen92 wrote:Again, its times like this where I always ask myself, "What is the AB sound? How can one truly define the music and sounds that Alter Bridge makes?" Again, I'm still searching for that answer after almost a decade.
See this question was answered for me on their first album. The AB sound is everything. It's:

Hard and Bluesy (Find the Real)
Upbeat and Energetic (One Day Remains)
Hopeful (Open Your Eyes)
Dark (Burn it Down)
Metal (Metalingus)
Emotional (Broken Wings)
Beautiful (In Loving Memory)
Melancholy (Down to My Last)
Heavy and in your face (Watch Your Words)
Introspective (Shed My Skin)
Desolate (The End is Here)

This band is capable of so much variety, and I think almost all of us on here have been aware of this since day 1 in 2004. Blackbird still had some variety, and then from there they tried dark, and like every comic book movie after The Dark Knight everyone thought that "dark" was the only appropriate direction for anything anymore. Life isn't all dark. It's ups and downs, and that's what AB did so well on ODR.
Last edited by Jaded Rescue on Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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