Battle Of The Track Numbers: Track 09

[antiwal]

Show some love for OBO - it deserves some attention for once

[The Plotblocker]

WYW. Not even close IMO. One thing on that song though, off the back of something AB23 said. The pre-chorus line "to truly see well you must have faith" is easily one of my least fave AB lyrics off any of their albums. The sheer audacity of it astounds me.

[VigilantSteve]

I think all of these songs are really great and underrated songs, with the exception of You Will Be Remembered, which is probably one of the worst songs they've ever written IMO. Ultimately I chose Farther Than The Sun, it's an excellent energetic heavy song that doesn't get the love that it deserves around here.

[Ubik]

Show Me a Sign!

Love that Myles solo leading into the despairing bridge.

[Andy92]

What a dud of a track number.

[PRS10Top]

FTTS. Didn't even love it nearly as much until I saw it live. Fantastic energy.

[fix]

I'm also a big Show Me A Sign lover. Great riff and dark lyrics.

[cajmoyper]

It kind of sucks because Show Me A Sign is easily for me the best song on the album. But it goes up against a top 5 song song of theirs for me. Farther Than The Sun has it all. A killer riff, surprisingly snappy chorus and a pair of bitchin' solos. It might be the only instance in which I think Myles outshines Mark solo-wise. I certainly don't mind all the love SMAS is getting though.

[gbruin]

For me, every Track 8 song Tops all the Track 9 songs.

Voted SMAS, but should have voted WYW.

[Blackbird]

Winner: Show Me A Sign

Everything else would've been a joke.

[PRS10Top]

Winner: Show Me A Sign

Everything else would've been a joke.

SMAS is fantastic but that is a bold statement.

[ElliotYork]

It kind of sucks because Show Me A Sign is easily for me the best song on the album. But it goes up against a top 5 song song of theirs for me. Farther Than The Sun has it all. A killer riff, surprisingly snappy chorus and a pair of bitchin' solos. It might be the only instance in which I think Myles outshines Mark solo-wise. I certainly don't mind all the love SMAS is getting though.

Interesting that you say that. I do agree that Myles' solo on FttS does outshine Mark's, and I think Mark himself would be aware of that. He went in to record his solo after hearing Myles', and he did admit to being quite shocked with how shreddy Myles got. As cool as Mark's solo is, it does sound a little bit like he's trying to stuff as many tricks as he can into a 12 second span in an attempt to one-up Myles (not in a vindictive way, but moreso in a "friendly-competition/pushing one another to be your best" kind of way).

But I wouldn't call it the only song where Myles' solo outshines Mark's. I think his solos on This Side of Fate and The Last Hero are both better than Mark's - which are great, but that's peak-Myles he's going up against right there. I'd say they about match each other on Cry of Achilles, as both solos are very different but perfect for where they sit in the song. I'm happy for that one to go either way, but Myles' solo did have more impact for me on first listen.

The best example for me, however, is Blackbird. It's won more than one poll now for greatest guitar solo of all-time, and regardless of whether it deserved to win those polls I definitely think it earned its place among its competitors. It is an incredible solo in the middle of an incredible song. But if you take Myles' half out, Mark's solo is still really great, but it probably wouldn't get mentioned with the other solos on those polls. It's one of Mark's best solos, and he does a lot of really REALLY great things in it, but the best parts of it are how he builds on from what Myles does. I'd rank his solos on Brand New Start and Bleed It Dry higher, personally.

On the other hand, I think what Myles does in his half is nothing short of perfect. The tone, vibrato, THOSE BENDS, the way he incorporates and builds upon his guitar parts from the bridge ... that's true guitar magic right there. His playing there belongs up with the likes of David Gilmour and Andy Timmons. If, instead of Mark coming in halfway through, Myles was asked to continue playing at that point, I think we'd still have an all-time great solo. I don't think it would be as good as what we have by combining the two, because the way their styles compliment is what makes it so great, but I'm sure Myles would have done something amazing there regardless.

[cajmoyper]

I think it just depends on who you're more a fan of. Some people are more Myles fans, some Tremonster's. Either way you can't go wrong. But I will say this, Myles turns as being the only soloist in a song, i.e. Writing and Crows, are, while awesome, by comparison to Mark are, shall we say, less inspired... But like you said, they're at their best when they're playing off of each other and "pushing" each other.

[WaywardOne]

I think it just depends on who you're more a fan of. Some people are more Myles fans, some Tremonster's. Either way you can't go wrong. But I will say this, Myles turns as being the only soloist in a song, i.e. Writing and Crows, are, while awesome, by comparison to Mark are, shall we say, less inspired... But like you said, they're at their best when they're playing off of each other and "pushing" each other.

Normally I would agree and say Mark is by far the superior soloist, but Myles completely dominated on The Last Hero album. I couldn't believe how good Myles' playing was (Show Me A Leader, This Side Of Fate, The Last Hero) and how boring Mark's was. Poison In Your Veins and Island of Fools solos were good, but that's about it.

[antiwal]

I think it just depends on who you're more a fan of. Some people are more Myles fans, some Tremonster's. Either way you can't go wrong. But I will say this, Myles turns as being the only soloist in a song, i.e. Writing and Crows, are, while awesome, by comparison to Mark are, shall we say, less inspired... But like you said, they're at their best when they're playing off of each other and "pushing" each other.

Normally I would agree and say Mark is by far the superior soloist, but Myles completely dominated on The Last Hero album. I couldn't believe how good Myles' playing was (Show Me A Leader, This Side Of Fate, The Last Hero) and how boring Mark's was. Poison In Your Veins and Island of Fools solos were good, but that's about it.

Disagree! SMAL and My Champion also have great Mark solos

[cajmoyper]

Yeah, I whole-heartedly disagree as well. But again like I said, it just depends on who you prefer. To say Myles "completely dominated" is doing a serious disservice to Mark. TSoF really is a toss-up, maybe. TLH, I can totally see how someone would prefer Myles's solo. I don't prefer it but wouldn't begrudge someone who does. SMAL however is really hard for me to even defend Myles's solo over Mark's. I'm glad you like them though. Keep rockin'!!!

[ElliotYork]

I think it just depends on who you're more a fan of. Some people are more Myles fans, some Tremonster's. Either way you can't go wrong. But I will say this, Myles turns as being the only soloist in a song, i.e. Writing and Crows, are, while awesome, by comparison to Mark are, shall we say, less inspired... But like you said, they're at their best when they're playing off of each other and "pushing" each other.

Good point you made there about songs where Myles is playing the lone solo in a song, but I think that also comes down to the examples at hand. The only times in AB's entire discography where he has done that are Isolation, The Writing on the Wall and Crows on a Wire. All really good songs, but also all relatively straight forward, to-the-point metal tunes.

I think Mark shines better in those cases, because he naturally has a more metal style and seeing as those solos are typically shorter (10-20 seconds-ish), his ability to play a flurry of notes and still keep it interesting shines through. I think Myles is at his best when his solos are allowed to breathe, and work better in the more drawn out, progressive AB songs (Blackbird, Cry of Achilles, This Side of Fate, The Last Hero). The beauty of his playing is in how he holds his notes, and how he transitions from one to the next. If I'm not mistaken, each one of those solos are over 30 seconds long, and I believe those to be his 4 strongest AB solos.

The exceptions would be when, like you said, they play off one another (ie. Farther than the Sun or Fortress), because then we get a real 1+1=3 type scenario in hearing the transitions between their different styles. But for standalone solos, I typically prefer Mark soloing in more straightforward (not in a bad way), high-energy metal tunes, and Myles in moodier, more progressive epics. That being said, I am ok with them mixing that up a little to give a different flavour, which is why I have no issue with Myles' solos in Wall or Crows.

[Jaded Rescue]

WYW. Not even close IMO. One thing on that song though, off the back of something AB23 said. The pre-chorus line "to truly see well you must have faith" is easily one of my least fave AB lyrics off any of their albums. The sheer audacity of it astounds me.

Are you interpreting that line religiously? I've always been curious if that's really how it was meant or not.