AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

[TheEndisHere]

Not counting the bonus tracks, the only tracks that aren't about politics & religion (which is intertwined in politics especially in US) in the last hero are My Champion and You will be remembered. Every other song is overtly political or has political undertones.

I disagree.

Cradle to the Grave is certainly not political at all.
Poison in My Veins/Losing Patience are not really political. More about standing up and rising to action in general.
Crows on a Wire is about the entertainment industry and celebrities.
Island of Fools was inspired by Hurricane Katrina.
I guess you could say the title track is political, too. But Myles also said that it's about putting people on a pedestal and how we as a society tend to do this and then tear people down. So while it could have some political undertones I think it goes deeper than that.

I think some of you are letting our hyper-politicized times we live in influence what you think the album is about. And there's nothing WRONG with that, but it doesn't sound like this was the intention by the band. Sure, there was SOME political undertones but no, it is certainly NOT almost the entire album.

I already noted that I forgot about Cradle to the Grave, which again clearly not political.
For Poison & Losing Patience, stand up and rise to action to do what? A call to rise up and stand up for action is inherently political, even if it has noting to do with specific politicians. Like who are you rising up to? What are you standing up for? It's general an issue or against some power structure.
I generally have a broad definition of what is political in that anything that deals with issues or speaks towards the issue of power and who hold its, how those who have it use it, and for what purposes.

[Ubik]

They're both basically about getting over self-pity/seizing the day. In fact the lyrics to something like White Knuckles are far more suggestive of an uprising and to my knowledge it's never been thought of as political.

Blackbird alone also has Ties That Bind, Come To Life and Rise Today with similar themes.

[peapod0609]

What Ubik said. I take both songs as extremely general rise up songs, and "seizing the day" as Ubik put it. To me, that has nothing to do with politics.
It certainly can GET into the realm of politics, but AB has written tons of songs about this subject. And they do not really seem political, it's more about trying to make the most of your life and make the world a better place.
Not rising up to the power structures of the government, lol.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

This post is in extremely poor taste and is not meant as morbid sarcasm but rather just extreme hypotheticism: if say a white supremacist gunman laid inspiration by Alter Bridge's last album or Rise Today or something, then artistic intent be damned because politics suddenly becomes a real thing whether we want it or not.

Because you're right on that, even if they hinted toward some political statement, they aren't exactly asking for a V for Vendetta kind of overthrow or something of that nature, nor would they ever suggest ill will. However, no thanks to people like the El Paso shooter, he literally had lost patience and decided to take action.

Okay, sorry to take it down that path, and I'll see my way out if this is poorly received. May the 73 families who were extremely impacted by the recent tragic 13-hour window find solace as soon as they are able.

- - - - - - - - - - -

To try and bring this post back to relevance, I tried to refrain from listening to Wouldn't You Rather so I could save it for the actual release, but I felt like I had to give it a listen because of the fears of a worse mix on iTunes. That being said, people are providing a lot of interesting responses about Pay No Mind with its synth and such... for someone who is considering saving the rest until the release, do you think this is one that I should be checking out now, or should I try and hold back and pay no mind until release?

[anguyen92]

Regarding to listening to Pay No Mind, it comes down to would you want to be initially freaked out about the synths now or wait until it is out?

I say this as a guy that didn't listen to a single note before Fortress came out, wait until the album is out. It's going to be so much worthwhile when you hear these songs in the confines of listening to the album in full. I get why bands release four songs before the album is out, but AB doing that for The Last Hero album may have hampered my overall enjoyment of it a bit (again, that's on me to decide whether to listen to the songs now or wait). Hopefully, I can wait until the album listening party to hear the rest of the songs. I hope AB doesn't release two more songs before then.

[AngusWolfe]

Anything can be about politics if you do enough mental gymnastics or go looking for it. Some people are just looking for a reason to kick up a fuss. Remember Ironic by Alanis Morissette? "A free ride when you're already late"? clearly about the welfare system and how it makes people lazy and unmotivated to get to work on time.

[LosingPatience]

Anything can be about politics if you do enough mental gymnastics or go looking for it. Some people are just looking for a reason to kick up a fuss. Remember Ironic by Alanis Morissette? "A free ride when you're already late"? clearly about the welfare system and how it makes people lazy and unmotivated to get to work on time.

Yep the reach is very apparent, i blame media outlets which imo are the worst they have ever been. Cant remember the last accurate report, if you dig yourself its obvious they have no interest in the truth but their clear agenda's

[AB23]

Cradle to the Grave has slowly grown on me. Prob the best solo on tlh. But ffs, I can't help but laugh at the way Myles pronounces shit in the chorus. It's almost cringey. That's just too much. Tone it down just a tad, make it easier on the ears.

[scarecrow]

Anything can be about politics if you do enough mental gymnastics or go looking for it. Some people are just looking for a reason to kick up a fuss. Remember Ironic by Alanis Morissette? "A free ride when you're already late"? clearly about the welfare system and how it makes people lazy and unmotivated to get to work on time.

lol not even close

[anguyen92]

Anything can be about politics if you do enough mental gymnastics or go looking for it. Some people are just looking for a reason to kick up a fuss. Remember Ironic by Alanis Morissette? "A free ride when you're already late"? clearly about the welfare system and how it makes people lazy and unmotivated to get to work on time.

lol not even close

But that's how some people could interpret a song like Ironic, just like how some people can interpret various AB songs.

[scarecrow]

Anything can be about politics if you do enough mental gymnastics or go looking for it. Some people are just looking for a reason to kick up a fuss. Remember Ironic by Alanis Morissette? "A free ride when you're already late"? clearly about the welfare system and how it makes people lazy and unmotivated to get to work on time.

lol not even close

But that's how some people could interpret a song like Ironic, just like how some people can interpret various AB songs.

You can "interpret" anything to mean anything. Ironic is a very easy song to parse. So is Pay No Mind. If you think authorial intent doesn't matter, that's on you.

[Ubik]

You can "interpret" anything to mean anything. Ironic is a very easy song to parse. So is Pay No Mind. If you think authorial intent doesn't matter, that's on you.

I think that was literally the point of Angus' post, given the rest of the conversation on this page that ascribed political meanings to songs that Myles didn't intend.

[scarecrow]

Myles has been making socially conscious music going back at least 25+ years. It's hilarious to see people doing backflips to convince themselves otherwise.

[LosingPatience]

Man cant wait to we get back to talking about AB and not political nonsense

[PRS10Top]

Myles has been making socially conscious music going back at least 25+ years. It's hilarious to see people doing backflips to convince themselves otherwise.

I agree. Like You Will Be Remembered on the last album.

[TheEndisHere]

On the synths, I liked it and want to hear it more in a longer song that also has a solo

[RoelSmoel]

On the synths, I liked it and want to hear it more in a longer song that also has a solo

There are no synths in Pay No Mind, it's all guitars (with crazy effects).

[peapod0609]

On the synths, I liked it and want to hear it more in a longer song that also has a solo

There are no synths in Pay No Mind, it's all guitars (with crazy effects).

Really? Do we have a source for that?

[gbruin]

On the synths, I liked it and want to hear it more in a longer song that also has a solo

There are no synths in Pay No Mind, it's all guitars (with crazy effects).

Really? Do we have a source for that?

TT said something to that effect on one of the Facebook threads. I understood it to mean that they used pedal effects and not keyboards.

[AB23]

Is that the only time they use synths? The interviews make it sound like it's used a few times, but i don't remember what da white board said