The Last Hero - AB Nation Discussion

[mikeyd23]

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).

I agree that the production is a bit much on this song, I do like the riff that's happening underneath it all though.

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.

Ever think that Myles intended the lyrics to not be too specific? Based on everything I know about Myles, he is definitely the type of lyricist that can address specific things in a song, but leave his lyrics just open ended enough that people can interpret them in different ways.

[mikeyd23]

but so that the story told doesn't sound too on-the-nose.

Yes

[FlyingMonkey97]

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).

I agree that the production is a bit much on this song, I do like the riff that's happening underneath it all though.

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.

Ever think that Myles intended the lyrics to not be too specific? Based on everything I know about Myles, he is definitely the type of lyricist that can address specific things in a song, but leave his lyrics just open ended enough that people can interpret them in different ways.

This song isn't meant to be interpreted different ways. Myles literally said it is about condemning those that ignore global warming.

I love vague lyrics. There's a difference between vague and confusing. "The writing is on the wall" works. "So I'll say it again" say what? What did you say the first time? "Still you do nothing at all" Super wordy, and seemingly unrelated to the first to lines (unless you know the topic beforehand from interiviews). "You keep denying the greatest sin" Always good to throw a deny in there, although this line is also completely unrelated to the first couple.

And example of vague but meaningful lyrics is marigold by periphery. Here's the chorus:
Death is coming 'round like a hurricane swirling
We're on the clock and the needle's turning
The misery's killing me slowly
Give me a spine to work it out
Vague but all the lines connect and make sense. Still makes me curious about what's going, and is open to interpretation.

[Ubik]

There is literally nothing confusing about the Writing on the Wall lyrics, they're not exactly worthy of the Nobel for literature but they're pretty straight down the line.

And the writing’s on the wall
That the end will begin
Still you do nothing at all
Throwing lies to the wind
And the Writing’s on the wall
So I say it again
Still you do nothing at all
And keep denying the greatest sin

"So I say it again" is in the repeat of the chorus. It's a filler line.

[Timotheus]

Calling global change 'The greatest sin' is an interesting statement, but without backing it up, it's an empty statement. Beneath the Savage Sun was a lot more effective I think. It sets a mood with it's lyrics. It tells a story.

[WaywardOne]

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.

I think the chorus sounds just like Shadow Life. Not necessarily bad, because that's a fantastic chorus, but it's always a bit of a turn-off for me when I hear too many similarities between songs.

[mikeyd23]

And example of vague but meaningful lyrics is marigold by periphery. Here's the chorus:
Death is coming 'round like a hurricane swirling
We're on the clock and the needle's turning
The misery's killing me slowly
Give me a spine to work it out
Vague but all the lines connect and make sense. Still makes me curious about what's going, and is open to interpretation.

I was feeling your post till I got here. Those just seem like random phases to me. Guess we just look at things differently.

[prslover]

Still fighting the loudness war on this record.
When I have to turn my radio up to hear a soft intro (Otherside) and then down when the song kicks in.
This annoys me to death. You know what record you didn't have to do any of that? ODR

I just don't understand why everyone mixes music like this today.

[RuRo]

Still fighting the loudness war on this record.
When I have to turn my radio up to hear a soft intro (Otherside) and then down when the song kicks in.
This annoys me to death. You know what record you didn't have to do any of that? ODR

I just don't understand why everyone mixes music like this today.

Ironically that's the exact opposite of what the "loudness war" complaints are usually about. This album is very loud, but an album with little difference between the loud and the quiet parts would be considered a bigger victim of the "loudness war".

[mikeyd23]

Still fighting the loudness war on this record.
When I have to turn my radio up to hear a soft intro (Otherside) and then down when the song kicks in.
This annoys me to death. You know what record you didn't have to do any of that? ODR

I just don't understand why everyone mixes music like this today.

Ironically that's the exact opposite of what the "loudness war" complaints are usually about. This album is very loud, but an album with little difference between the loud and the quiet parts would be considered a bigger victim of the "loudness war".

Exactly what I was thinking. If you have to turn your radio up during the soft parts and then down during the loud parts, that means the sound is dynamic. The problem with the loudness war is a lack of dynamics. The music is compressed so everything can be loud all the time.

That being said, this album is loud for sure.

[chtimixeur]

Slip to the Void's transition from the intro to the actual song is a perfect song of what's wrong with the loudness war.
Once the song kicks in, it should hit you hard in the face, and it is not the case there.

[Trmills823]

Still fighting the loudness war on this record.
When I have to turn my radio up to hear a soft intro (Otherside) and then down when the song kicks in.
This annoys me to death. You know what record you didn't have to do any of that? ODR

I just don't understand why everyone mixes music like this today.

Ironically that's the exact opposite of what the "loudness war" complaints are usually about. This album is very loud, but an album with little difference between the loud and the quiet parts would be considered a bigger victim of the "loudness war".

Exactly what I was thinking. If you have to turn your radio up during the soft parts and then down during the loud parts, that means the sound is dynamic. The problem with the loudness war is a lack of dynamics. The music is compressed so everything can be loud all the time.

That being said, this album is loud for sure.

Part of why you didn't have to adjust much on ODR is because there was simply much less going on. Myles wasn't playing guitar yet, and Mark's chops weren't quite as developed as they are now, so his riff writing was simpler. And production wasn't as involved.

I do like this album the more I listen to it. Admittedly, there are a few tracks I could do without. Or at least I think they take up similar spaces on the record. But all in all I think it's a solid effort by the guys. I do find myself singing the riff to Cradle at random times. So good...

[nagpo]

So after a couple listens the only songs I think are kinda lackluster and maybe should've been kept as b-sides are twilight and island of fools. Twilight is so run of the mill to me. It's not very interesting or catchy. And island of fools has like this Zoomy guitar sound in the chorus that I just find so annoying and distracting. I actually think Breathe is better than these two songs. And The show me a leader chorus gets old fast.

I enjoy the other songs, but even then, they really aren't up to par with Fortress. And I think the lyrical content of the albums as well is somewhat...uninteresting. A few songs about politics is palatable but the album lacks variety in my opinion. On many of them I just don't feel all that emotionally invested. Perhaps if the lyrics were more direct in their subject matter they would be more effective but many are written in a more open sense.

I think in terms of Myles Kennedy's discography this is not among his best. I would say maybe the last Slash album was better. Fortress was better. And maybe the mayfield four stuff was better too. And I think Myle's voice is a little shrill sometimes on this record

I think it's a fine album. Not their greatest. 8/10

[AB4Lyfe]

I'll say 8.5/10. The highs on this album are huge, but the lows are really low.

[Jim]

Best Buy version arrived today, much appreciated, my brother @gbruin.

[Trmills823]

So after a couple listens the only songs I think are kinda lackluster and maybe should've been kept as b-sides are twilight and island of fools. Twilight is so run of the mill to me. It's not very interesting or catchy. And island of fools has like this Zoomy guitar sound in the chorus that I just find so annoying and distracting. I actually think Breathe is better than these two songs. And The show me a leader chorus gets old fast.

I think it's a fine album. Not their greatest. 8/10

See, I just listened to Island of Fools randomly today and totally loved it. Even thought "I think this might be my new favorite on this album". Haha just goes to show how subjective this whole process is.

[Andy92]

Listen to Let It Die by the Foo Fighters and turn it up nice and loud during the intro. Then wait. That's dynamics.

[cheesedip1]

So after a couple listens the only songs I think are kinda lackluster and maybe should've been kept as b-sides are twilight and island of fools. Twilight is so run of the mill to me. It's not very interesting or catchy. And island of fools has like this Zoomy guitar sound in the chorus that I just find so annoying and distracting. I actually think Breathe is better than these two songs. And The show me a leader chorus gets old fast.

I enjoy the other songs, but even then, they really aren't up to par with Fortress. And I think the lyrical content of the albums as well is somewhat...uninteresting. A few songs about politics is palatable but the album lacks variety in my opinion. On many of them I just don't feel all that emotionally invested. Perhaps if the lyrics were more direct in their subject matter they would be more effective but many are written in a more open sense.

I think in terms of Myles Kennedy's discography this is not among his best. I would say maybe the last Slash album was better. Fortress was better. And maybe the mayfield four stuff was better too. And I think Myle's voice is a little shrill sometimes on this record

I think it's a fine album. Not their greatest. 8/10

I agree with a lot of this.


----Also, on a seperate note, do we have a thread to discuss the meaning of the songs? I want to know the meaning of each song. We know some of them already tho (SMAL, You Will Be Remembered, Writing on Wall,)

[Lukeage]

First off, the new look on the forum is absolutely killer! Love it! Really, really cool. Well done to whoever put that together. It's fab.

Now, down to business... now that I've had some time to spend with the album!!

The number of songs that I like has grown significantly from a few to most of them.
I think it's just an album that is going to take more listens than the others to get in to.

I would say that it's a bit less 'accessible', like ABIII.

I think the most 'accessible' albums are definitely Blackbird and Fortress. ODR is pretty accessible, but maybe, lyrically not so much to the "masses" as it were...

[Sugar Blade]

So, did anybody listen to vinyl? Is there any differences in mastering?