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I haven't heard Tremonti's new album, but YOTT is mostly void of all of the heavier instrumentation and is mostly an acoustically-based ensemble, so that could explain part of it.

Songbird sounds bad, though. I don't know if it was a mixing or recording issue, but it just sounds completely neutered. Part of me thinks that this is intentional, so it doesn't sound too much like Mother... which is too bad, because I prefer Songbird over Mother, and if there was any intent in that I wish they did that to Mother instead.

If you're asking what happened, it could very well be that Elvis has responded to the criticism and figured out a better way of going about these two albums. However, if you've seen AB in concert on their TLH tour, their live stuff sounded just like the TLH album as well, even carrying over to their songs from older albums, which is too bad. I don't know what they sound like now though.

^^ Well, good crisp clearer sound quality of AB concerts have always been a big "hurdle" for them to overcome as far back as the AB III tour as far as I know. We can't say that Elvis had a hand in that since I believe he stated that he never had the chance to see them live before (shockingly, since they played the Orlando HOB twice in the last five years).

There's just sooooo much stuff and overdubs and crazy amounts happening in modern AB albums, especially TLH, that there's just not enough space in the mix for that production style. Fortress sounded fine IMHO..... TLH not so much.

AB is an everything including the kitchen sink band, Tremonti's new album is quite simple arrangement-wise and it works. There is also some insane amount of master compression on TLH that is just instantly fatiguing as well, which coupled with the stuffed arrangement is just wearisome.

Neither Mark nor Myles have what you could call a 'crisp' high gain tone either. Myles' tone doesn't have a huge amount of high end and Mark's is quite bassy at times. It all needs a producer to take a fresh ear to it and for AB to have a bit of 'less is more' in terms of arrangement.

Song-wise though, on TLH. Aside from the production, everything just felt like it was moving too quickly. There was no space in the songs or room to breathe and just one too many fillers. Space, simplicity to balance the crazy complex parts. We know they’re amazing musicians but you need quiet to appreciate loud. You need simplicity to appreciate complexity.

Breathe (ironically enough) just felt so great to listen to because of that space. Imagine open spaces and beauty in a modern AB song to counter the crushing progness and make it seem that much more epic.

Crumbso wrote:There's just sooooo much stuff and overdubs and crazy amounts happening in modern AB albums, especially TLH, that there's just not enough space in the mix for that production style. Fortress sounded fine IMHO..... TLH not so much. .... Imagine open spaces and beauty in a modern AB song to counter the crushing progness and make it seem that much more epic.

RIGHT?! This is what I'm saying. I really, really hope that they go into the next AB cycle and bring what they've learned / done with their solo efforts, and simplify the AB sound a little bit. I'm sad to say, I really haven't listened to TLH all that much. Maybe I need to give it another go.

You know, I was reading an article the other day about how musicians, mostly rap artists, have begun releasing "patches" to their albums, in the way video games do, where they'll re-work or re-master some songs and put those out to the streaming services, effectively updating the album (since so many people stream nowadays vs. owning the music outright). I don't know that the AB guys have the time for that in their busy schedules, but it would be so awesome to hear TLH "patched" with a cleaner mix and bring down some of that busy-ness that took over the album. I believe some fans were able to do that kind of thing with some Metallica songs when the individual tracks were made available through Rocksmith (or Guitar Hero, or whichever game it was). I'd love to hear that done with AB!

Because they work so fast with Alter Bridge I think it's all just a reflection of what's going on with them during that period of time. If Myles is having an off week vocally, he will sound a bit off on the album. If Elvis worked with a generic metal band before, or just read about some new compression techniques and is trying those out for the first time, the new album will suffer or benefit from it. If Mark's voice is tired, or doesn't feel like singing, he will sing less backings and we will have more Myles' overdubs...

If they'd spend more time on the albums, they probably would have a more consistent sound. Not only sonically, but also when it comes to songwriting. But I'm not sure if they'd written songs like Cry of Achilles or Fortress, or the intro of Calm The Fire if they'd done it that way. Who knows what else they'd come up with, but they prefer to write this way, and considering that Fortress was written only 5-6 years ago, I really don't mind.

Jeez this is tough! There’s such variety across all the albums and lots of tracks on every one that i love. I think i’d answer this question differently each day of asking.
Right now i would say ODR/ABIII as my favourite and Fortress the least. Then again thinking about it i will probably listen to Fortress all day tomorrow now

Best: Fortress, probably.
Worst: ODR. Not the sound I love about AB, but still some great songs. Can definitely hear the band wasn't a real 'band' back then. The lack of Elvis production/layering is refreshing though and gives this album it's really 'own' sound.

1: Blackbird
2:Fortress
3: One Day Remains
4: ABIII
5:The Last Hero

Best: Blackbird. It’s tough to choose between this and Fortress from a quality standpoint, but the massive nostalgia factor puts BB over the top.

Worst: The Last Hero. I actually hate saying the word ‘worst’ in relation to any AB album, because they all have fantastic parts, but a good bit of TLH is quite a bit weaker when compared to their previous work. That’s not too shabby when you’re comparing it to all time classic albums, though.

What I think I've realized about the TLH is that the songs are better when not listened to as an album (I think this is true for ABIII as well). Like I completely slept on Island of Fools and This Side of Fate for a long time because listening to the full album, you are exhausted by the time they come along. Now that I go back and listen to those songs specifically, they are amazing.

Fortress is their best IMO, It's the most consistent, and every song stands on it's own while also coming together to fit well as an album. It's the one I enjoy listening front to the most front to back.

The Last Hero is my least favourite. I won't say worst as I think there are some great songs on there, I actually think it's great songs are some of the best they've ever written, but it comes last just because You Will Be Remembered and My Champion are the only two Alter Bridge songs I will actively skip over.

AngusWolfe wrote: The Last Hero is my least favourite. I won't say worst as I think there are some great songs on there

How it saying that it's your 'least favourite' different from saying that's it's 'the worst'?

Dolo wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote: The Last Hero is my least favourite. I won't say worst as I think there are some great songs on there

How it saying that it's your 'least favourite' different from saying that's it's 'the worst'?

Glass half-empty versus glass half-full. Saying "worst" might make it sound more like he doesn't like it, as opposed to just he prefers the other ones over it but still likes it plenty.

It's only a perceptual thing. They are both still synonymous terms though, if that's what you're curious about.

I don't think they are synonymous though. For example, I think Fortress is objectively their best album, but Blackbird is probably my favorite simply because of what it means to me and because of what I was going through at the time. Same applies with "least favorite" and "worst", IMO, as they don't necessarily mean the same thing.

VigilantSteve wrote:I don't think they are synonymous though. For example, I think Fortress is objectively their best album, but Blackbird is probably my favorite simply because of what it means to me and because of what I was going through at the time. Same applies with "least favorite" and "worst", IMO, as they don't necessarily mean the same thing.

Well, you're not wrong there either. I was trying to interpret what he said in the way I posted, though. I don't know if he meant it the way you posted.

Guess we just have to wait for him to return and respond.

VigilantSteve wrote:I don't think they are synonymous though. For example, I think Fortress is objectively their best album, but Blackbird is probably my favorite simply because of what it means to me and because of what I was going through at the time. Same applies with "least favorite" and "worst", IMO, as they don't necessarily mean the same thing.

I can understand that, I guess in that context I'd say One Day Remains is their "Worst", as the band haven't really found their sound, it's not as progressive as their later albums, and I don't think any of them are at their peak of abilities. But because it was my introduction to them, with some of my favourite performances from the RAH shows were songs from it I'd sentimentally put it above TLH, and maybe even ABIII.

In my original post I was thinking more trying to be positive as I like all of their albums, and using "worst" feels incredibly negative about some of my favourite music.

Forget best and worst. There are now three options and three options only: fuck, marry or kill.

Fuck: Fortress, (hard and fast)
Marry:Blackbird (can still take home to the parents)
Kill: ABIII because it is so preoccupied with death already

I know what he meant guys, of course it's a matter of perception but the statement is weird from the logical standpoint.

Timotheus wrote:Forget best and worst. There are now three options and three options only: fuck, marry or kill.

Well, then...Fuck 'em all.