The Last Hero - AB Nation Discussion

[Jim]

Alright, a new guys overall thoughts on The Last Hero (not that anyone should care too much).

I really like this album. For me, this is a continuation in a certain direction after Fortress that I hoped they would go. Fortress hinted at some of the prog-metal stuff they dove into a little more with TLH which IMO is great.

Is it ODR? No way.

Is it BB? Nope.

But it does seem like a logic jump based on the direction the band has been taking since ABIII.

The song writing is pretty strong I think, definitely has some peaks and valleys. The performances are top notch by each guy throughout. I think the production certainly could be better, and I think they could have chopped 1 or 2 songs off the album and it would have been a stronger altogether effort (I could same the same about the previous two releases from AB as well).

And dude, nailed it. My thoughts too, personally.

[mikeyd23]

And just out of curiosity, because you're not the first to say, but which songs which you cut?

The two that come to mind:
Twilight - not a bad song, just one I think should have maybe been a B-side

Losing Patience - I actually really like this song, I think the chorus is catchy, but it's super similar to a song like Poison. Once again, could have made a cool B-side.

Honestly, this is nit-picky of me. Neither of those songs are bad, I just feel like trimming them out would have removed some of the lower points on the album.

[cajmoyper]

I can understand Losing Patience. Though I wouldn't short this album any number of songs. But Twilight I love. It's like they threw in a non-ballad throwback in between all the heavy for those wanting a bit more ABIII-type AB.

Anybody has having this problem.?: I've been listening to this album since last Saturday as much as I possibly can. And I know the more you concern yourself with learning and singing the lyrics, the more you'll enjoy the album. I'm just having trouble remembering them. I don't know if it's maybe I can't hear Myles clearly enough or if there are just that many to learn...I've almost got The Last Hero down. That one is exhausting!!! Love it!

[Bridgethegap]

I have to say other than Fortress this is my favorite AB album. Cradle to the Grave, Poison in My Vains, Writing on the Wall, Crows on a wire Twilight and Island of Fools are my favorites. I absolutely love the lyrics, tone and the fact that there were so many layers of sound to peel away in each track. May not be a shredfest like fortress but there was still some pretty damn good guitar work on here and it hits hard. Myles as usual is fantastic, great lyrics and love how good AB is getting at improving the flow of their songs at the bridge. My Review would be 9.0. Thank you AB for keeping it real and rocking still.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

I can understand Losing Patience. Though I wouldn't short this album any number of songs. But Twilight I love. It's like they threw in a non-ballad throwback in between all the heavy for those wanting a bit more ABIII-type AB.

Anybody has having this problem.?: I've been listening to this album since last Saturday as much as I possibly can. And I know the more you concern yourself with learning and singing the lyrics, the more you'll enjoy the album. I'm just having trouble remembering them. I don't know if it's maybe I can't hear Myles clearly enough or if there are just that many to learn...I've almost got The Last Hero down. That one is exhausting!!! Love it!

I have the same issue, definitely. It also sucks for me to try and compete with Myles. I know he's a great singer regardless, but he doesn't sing low at all in any of the songs. It's exhausting for me as a singer to try and keep up!

[WaywardOne]

Ok, so I was just on vacation for the last 5 days and totally missed out on all the initial discussion; as amazing as the trip was, having to wait to give TLH a proper listen and not talk about it here was SO HARD! I wont post a full review for two reasons: 1. I'm late to the party and 2. TL;DR wouldn't even begin to describe a thorough review by me . I'll just jump in now and start posting random thoughts about the album here and there.

Can I get the negativity out first? Losing Patience is garbage. The most widely agreed upon thing on this site is Elvis-this and Elvis-that about how bad the production is, and this song is rock bottom. There are too many vocal layers to count and the song isn't interesting enough to save it.

My first impression of the whole album wasn't great, like many others here. I just kept thinking, "this is not the Alter Bridge I know". It just felt so different, too poppy/accessible, and I didn't have many "WOW" moments.

HOWEVER, once I gave it the full, 100% focused listen-through (my 3rd time listening) it deserved, I think way more highly of it now. Production and mixing issues have certainly gotten out of hand, but aside from that there is some truly great stuff on here and I really do love it. Where does it fall relative to the rest of their catalog? Instead of ranking them 1-5, I see it like this:

There is Blackbird and Fortress (the best), and then there is ODR and ABIII (by no means bad, just not elite like the other two). The Last Hero falls somewhere in between these two groups, standing on its own. Given the impossible task of following up Fortress, I'd say that makes for a pretty solid album at this point in their careers. Well done.

Well shit, I went ahead and made a TL;DR post anyway. OH WELL. Carry on, friends

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

So according to The Range Place, someone else finally decided to take over the Myles Kennedy thread there, and his range on the album is as follows:

Total Range: B♭2-E5
"Lows"
B♭2 (The Other Side)
B2 (Twilight)
C♯3 (The Other Side, Twilight, You Will Be Remembered)
D3 (This Side of Fate)

"Highs"
A4 (Cradle To The Grave, Losing Patience)
B♭4 (Crows On A Wire, Island of Fools, Symphony of Agony, My Champion, Poison In Your Veins, The Last Hero, The Other Side, The Writing on the Wall, You Will Be Remembered)
B4 (Cradle To The Grave, My Champion, The Writing on the Wall, This Side of Fate, Twilight, You Will Be Remembered)
C5 (Crows On A Wire, Island of Fools, My Champion, The Last Hero, This Side of Fate)
C♯5 (Cradle To The Grave, Losing Patience, My Champion, Poison In Your Veins, Show Me A Leader, The Other Side, The Writing on the Wall, Twilight, You Will Be Remembered)
D5 (Island of Fools, Last of Our Kind, This Side of Fate)
E♭5 (Island of Fools, The Last Hero)
E5 (This Side of Fate)

[Schulzy]

I was one of the original members on this board going back to June 2005. I've been away for a long time but wanted to come back and give my thoughts on the Last Hero. Rather than a song by song breakdown I like to take the stance that some other members have in how does it stack up as a complete work. Overall I'd give it a 6/10 and I'm a harsh critic. This comes from somebody who has multiple copies of all albums, a shrine to AB in my basement, and has seen them live 10 times.

My parameters for rating are these - is it memorable and how much do the songs sound like their previous work?

After listening to the album seven times on headphones, home theater, and in car I feel The Last Hero succeeds on some ends but I falls flat in others. Specifically, I found myself instantly singing along to The Other Side, Cradle to the Grave, Island of Fools, and Breathe. The other songs just don't resonate with me as much lyrically. There are some very unique musical pieces such as This Side of Fate and The Last Hero but I found myself going oh, this is like One by One, Make it Right, Time, Silent Teacher, Cry of Achilles, Fortress, etc. I expect some of that because that's in the DNA but not on what seems like every other song.

I'm like many that rate ODR and Blackbird very high. ABIII has two of my favorite songs - Isolation and Ghosts - but otherwise I feel that was their worst effort. I rank the Last Hero slightly above that but behind Fortress.

Only other observations - Myles sounds so shrill and earpiercing on certain songs it's actually painful, I wish Mark had more presence in the backing vocals, and the production is downright muddy in certain songs to where I wonder what happened.

In conclusion I think there are about 5 standout tracks on an album of 15 songs if you include the two bonus. I would love to see AB try a different producer in future. I will always be grateful to Elvis for Blackbird but I think next time it might benefit the guys to "spread their wings" and take a risk.

And there you have it. It's good to be back and I hope to catch the guys next year for show number 11.

[cheesedip1]

Honestly, other than maybe 2-3 songs, the album as a whole I think is a solid effort. Some of the choruses I think could be better, but most of them fit the songs they are in, and so ya know, the song works.

Overall, a solid effort from the band, save 2-3 tracks.

I do think, that maybe for me personally, the heaviness in the songs feels a bit too much at times. But that is basically just my personal taste.

[Finaldecision]

Album is a grower for me. Cradle To The Grave stands out pretty much. Thrilling lyrics, great chorus.
Myles' solo on This Side Of Fate is phenomenal. Sounds like a Venetian Opera (with guitars instead of singing of course).

Classic Mark riff on Crows On A Wire or The Other Side. Still one of the masters when it comes to riffs. The riff at the end of Last Of Our Kind reminds me a lot of Animals As Leaders.
Though I think there are overall less remarkable riffs than in the past. For example the riff in the bridge of This Side Of Fate, after Myles sings "We were so wrong" sounds very similar to a riff they used in the bridge of Make It Right.
Also the verses on Twilight sound almost the same as the verses of Make It Right. It's striking.

The production is not my cup of tea. Too loud overall, Brian seems to be buried in the mix and Mark's voice is buried as well (except a few song like The Last Hero).
Also I think there are some strange effects on Myles' voice. I can't quite figure out what it is. The chorus of You Will Be Remembered is an example. His own harmonies sound almost painful to my ears because they are so brutally high and loud in the mix.

[AB23]

I feel like Writing on the Wall is a C side

[joey78]

Given it 2 proper listens so far, and I think this is the closest they have come to emulating Blackbird. The production is very AB3ish.

[slasherbridge]

Am I the only person that thinks You Will be Remembered sounds like it belongs on One Day Remains? I made that connection yesterday listening to it in the car.

[mikeyd23]

I feel like Writing on the Wall is a C side

Total A-side material bro.

[AHart96]

I feel like Writing on the Wall is a C side

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Total A-side material bro.

[FlyingMonkey97]

I feel like Writing on the Wall is a C side

This

[mikeyd23]

Don't get me wrong I get why people don't like WotW, the chorus is different, there's a lot going in there too. To me, it's great. I love the chorus, I think the song has outstanding riffs, GREAT solo, and I feel like its arranged very well.

[FlyingMonkey97]

Don't get me wrong I get why people don't like WotW, the chorus is different, there's a lot going in there too. To me, it's great. I love the chorus, I think the song has outstanding riffs, GREAT solo, and I feel like its arranged very well.

The production is super busy and everything gets muddled together. In the beginning when Myles yells, his voice and the cymbals are fighting for the same spot in the mix and both sound messy as a result. The riff doesn't have a chance under that, (and it's not the greatest riff anyways). That's just one example of bad production, but it's all throughout the song.

The lyrics are really lacking "the writings on the wall, so I'll say it again, still you do nothing at all, and keep denying the greatest sin" That honestly makes no sense, I'd have no idea it was about global warming if I hadn't researched it.

I like the bridge a lot though, and the solo is decent.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I love the album. I think if they kept Writing and Patience as B sides, and put symphony as track 2 the record would be much stronger.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

The lyrics are really lacking "the writings on the wall, so I'll say it again, still you do nothing at all, and keep denying the greatest sin" That honestly makes no sense, I'd have no idea it was about global warming if I hadn't researched it.

I agree that the lyrics aren't great, but I kind of prefer lyrics that speak on something without being very specific about it. No so that it's left up to interpretation (as with them there really only is one), but so that the story told doesn't sound too on-the-nose.

Global warming is upon us, singing: "NOOOooooOOooOOOOoo!"

Something like that would just sound stupid. Granted, that's not to say they couldn't have had better lyrics for the song in general. Heck, Sam Smith's song for Spectre was probably a better WotW than this one. There is even a novel and film with the same acronym that's better than this song.