AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

[DarkKnight12]

To change the topic of sound production, I am reslly curious of what a self produced album would sound like! I’ve been thinking about that since I have seen the YouTube video in which Myles talks about Elvis saying the demos weren’t quite good enough and therefore he wrote the wouldn’t you rather riff. But I think It would be cool if AB would self produce one of their next album, no outside councils. Just the four guys in the room working together! And I strictly mean songwriting wise only, no matter of the sound production

[UninvitedZero]

To change the topic of sound production, I am reslly curious of what a self produced album would sound like! I’ve been thinking about that since I have seen the YouTube video in which Myles talks about Elvis saying the demos weren’t quite good enough and therefore he wrote the wouldn’t you rather riff. But I think It would be cool if AB would self produce one of their next album, no outside councils. Just the four guys in the room working together!

I actually thought about this earlier! Yes! I think it worked wonders having Shaun Morgan produce the last Seether album. Poison The Parish was Seether's best work in years. Mark has some production experience! Perhaps we could say the same about AB VII...

Not that I'm wishing time away... At least not past October...

[poshisjarker]

It would for sure be very interesting to have a list of all the significant musical parts/elements in songs throughout the yrs that stemmed directly from elvis's push

[anguyen92]

It would for sure be very interesting to have a list of all the significant musical parts/elements in songs throughout the yrs that stemmed directly from elvis's push

I'll start with something outside of AB. Year of the Tiger. I think it's somewhere out there in the interviews or that video that documents Myles' career on his Official Youtube channel, but Elvis got a Lap Steel Guitar in his studio and thought it would be a good fit for the vibe that Myles was going for in Year of the Tiger. Even though, prior to this, Myles had never played a Lap Steel Guitar before, played a few notes of it, liked the sound where this was heading towards, and he used it for the solo for Love Can Only Heal.

[poshisjarker]

It would for sure be very interesting to have a list of all the significant musical parts/elements in songs throughout the yrs that stemmed directly from elvis's push

I'll start with something outside of AB. Year of the Tiger. I think it's somewhere out there in the interviews or that video that documents Myles' career on his Official Youtube channel, but Elvis got a Lap Steel Guitar in his studio and thought it would be a good fit for the vibe that Myles was going for in Year of the Tiger. Even though, prior to this, Myles had never played a Lap Steel Guitar before, played a few notes of it, liked the sound where this was heading towards, and he used it for the solo for Love Can Only Heal.

And man did it work well...that's interesting. Didn't know that. One of the highlights of that song for sure. Gosh, i love that album. Need to listen to it again

[Kreuger]

I'll start with something outside of AB. Year of the Tiger. I think it's somewhere out there in the interviews or that video that documents Myles' career on his Official Youtube channel, but Elvis got a Lap Steel Guitar in his studio and thought it would be a good fit for the vibe that Myles was going for in Year of the Tiger. Even though, prior to this, Myles had never played a Lap Steel Guitar before, played a few notes of it, liked the sound where this was heading towards, and he used it for the solo for Love Can Only Heal.

Was that the song he used it on? I thought it was just a slide.

[anguyen92]

I do believe so according to this article.

He played lap steel for the first time in the studio, contributing the emotive climax that is Love Can Only Heal’s solo

https://www.musicradar.com/news/myles-k ... -can-do-it

[fix]

We like to blame Elvis, but I don’t think he’s the only one to blame if you don’t like how the album sounds. It’s very possible to have a better sounding album and keep all the layering and ‘producer input’. I think it has to do with everything, from the gear used all the way to mastering. I do think Elvis gets the most out of the guys, I mean he’s directly possible for songs like The Other Side and Wouldn’t You Rather as we now know (say what you want but that WYR riff is tasty), and who knows what else.
I’m not a producer or audio engineer nor do I know anything from how they record their albums, so maybe my opinion is invalid. But I wish the songs - which I like very much - would sound a bit different.

That being said, I like the songs and will like the album probably nonetheless.

[Dolo]

Pay No Mind sounds cool on an acoustic.

Smoke On The Water in Drop D though... Why, Mark?

That's actually Eb and he played it wrong though.

Isn't that around 2:12 like a initial version of With Arms Wide Open?

And for people who say that ATP sounds good on acoustic..... really? Never understood doing this extremely riffy singles that way. The whole heaviness of the song goes away. They could they done Lover or All Ends Well on that promotional tour.

[chtimixeur]

I don't think your post was directed at any one person, but just to set the record straight for myself (and this isn't directed at you, personally, either). It's not that I need AB to return to the sound on ODR or Blackbird. I just want their albums to not sound like over-compressed garbage. And while art may be subjective, numbers aren't. You can scientifically show that AB's albums are a wall of noise, whether or not certain fans hear it. Mark constantly talks about making dynamic albums, and yet all of his music in the last 10 years has one volume level, and it's set to 11. (This joke is sadly furthered by all the time he's spent without a clean amp on tour)

I get that it's probably frustrating for some to hear people like me go on and on about stuff like this, but I only rant because I want to love the new material so badly, and I know this band is capable of so much better. We've heard it. Myles' voice could bring me to tears on certain songs on ODR because he actually sounded like a human I could relate to. Now, there's so much processing on his voice, it's just grating. I can't personally relate on a one-on-one level to a wall of 7 Myles Kennedys singing at me. It just sounds silly. I think I've said this before, but AB has become the Michael Bay of rock bands. I get that there's an audience for Michael Bay movies, but that doesn't mean they're good. Everything is so heightened to the point that none of it actually means everything.

Great post indeed.

If ODR and Blackbird are your favorite albums by the band called Alter Bridge, why would you go to the Alter Bridge forum!? Shouldn’t you go to the forum for the band that recorded those albums?

some won't be happy until they write and record ODR part II with a producer other than Elvis all the while they proclaim how much they don't like what the band has done for the past 10 years yet still come to this forum on a daily basis. Some even want AB to stop altogether so that Creed can reform.

Somehow, I feel this post is directed at me...
Just to be clear:
1. I know they're never coming back to the ODR sound, and I've accepted it a few years ago.
2. Fortress was great! It took me a few months to like it, but I'd be happy if their new album was as good, and the production wasn't as bad as it is on ABIII, TLH and the new songs.
3. AFAIC, TABN is still the greatest place to talk about Creed & Stapp (thanks for that subforum).
4. If you have time, read my recent posts in the Creed subforum. I don't even want Creed to release another album, since Mark's heart is clearly not into that band anymore. A tour would be nice, but everyone here knows there is no way Creed will ever become a full-time band again.

[Dolo]

Would a Creed tour generate more income than an AB tour though? I feel like this would be the only motivation for a comeback since they're still buying themselves from that Wind-Up deal.

[LosingPatience]

We like to blame Elvis, but I don’t think he’s the only one to blame if you don’t like how the album sounds. It’s very possible to have a better sounding album and keep all the layering and ‘producer input’. I think it has to do with everything, from the gear used all the way to mastering. I do think Elvis gets the most out of the guys, I mean he’s directly possible for songs like The Other Side and Wouldn’t You Rather as we now know (say what you want but that WYR riff is tasty), and who knows what else.
I’m not a producer or audio engineer nor do I know anything from how they record their albums, so maybe my opinion is invalid. But I wish the songs - which I like very much - would sound a bit different.

That being said, I like the songs and will like the album probably nonetheless.

Whats fascinating is Elvis did the last Tremonti,Slash and Myles album as far as im aware no issues with the mixing. Why is it an issue for AB thats weird. Just came back from work where in my car i have an AB mixed Cd that plays all their albums. To my ears going from Fortress to TLH sounds the same. So my question, whats the big difference in mixing between those 2 albums ? My ear doesnt notice the difference.

[fix]

Whats fascinating is Elvis did the last Tremonti,Slash and Myles album as far as im aware no issues with the mixing. Why is it an issue for AB thats weird. Just came back from work where in my car i have an AB mixed Cd that plays all their albums. To my ears going from Fortress to TLH sounds the same. So my question, whats the big difference in mixing between those 2 albums ? My ear doesnt notice the difference.

I think sometimes it feels a bit too much is going on and some times (for me pretty apparent on Cradle) it really sounds like everything is clashing and it starts clipping. Had the same feeling within a few seconds of WYR (the kick drum and when the riff starts). Maybe it's not actual clipping but something about the way it sounds. I'm no expert.

So for the record, I didn't mind it too much on TLH. Really enjoyed that album. But I do - at some points - hear what the folks here are complaining about and when switching between other bands/albums it does become more apparent to me. But it's fascination how you get used to the sound of an album after listening for a while.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

"Clashing" is a good word, specifically with the frequencies. Too many parts are hitting the same frequency ranges together. Also, whether or not clipping is involved (and there is clipping by the way), vocals and instruments were recorded, mixed, or compressed way too hot, and can sound very harsh and create the "wall of noise" lack of dynamics. These are the objective aspects.

Also objectively, the bass is also a massive difference, and by that I mean Brian's instrument. He decided that he wants to be involved more in the sound (which was never a problem for me before), so they decided to boost ultra-LFE for more impact, which [subjectively] works well for movies but not for music. It sounds "murderous," and is not appeasing at all.

Things I'm personally not a fan of also are the arrangements. Myles is layered way too much in songs for my taste, and there are many places that just one of him would have worked so much better in my opinion. Then everyone feels they need to have a complex riff or rhythm to almost every aspect of every song, instead of staying consistent at one chord for a single quarter-measure. This would be fine in parts (especially solos), but when they're all doing it at the same time, the complexity becomes overwhelming and unbearable. They didn't let songs breathe at all in TLH.

Anyway, those are my takes. Keep in mind I would love the album much more if it had a different production style, but I like it more than plenty already from an actual songwriting standpoint, plus Myles sounds great and Mark can shred.

[JGremore]

Getting Take The Crown tomorrow!

[benjoAB]

The new teaser sounds cooool!

[Jaded Rescue]

We like to blame Elvis, but I don’t think he’s the only one to blame if you don’t like how the album sounds. It’s very possible to have a better sounding album and keep all the layering and ‘producer input’. I think it has to do with everything, from the gear used all the way to mastering. I do think Elvis gets the most out of the guys, I mean he’s directly possible for songs like The Other Side and Wouldn’t You Rather as we now know (say what you want but that WYR riff is tasty), and who knows what else.
I’m not a producer or audio engineer nor do I know anything from how they record their albums, so maybe my opinion is invalid. But I wish the songs - which I like very much - would sound a bit different.

That being said, I like the songs and will like the album probably nonetheless.

Whats fascinating is Elvis did the last Tremonti,Slash and Myles album as far as im aware no issues with the mixing. Why is it an issue for AB thats weird. Just came back from work where in my car i have an AB mixed Cd that plays all their albums. To my ears going from Fortress to TLH sounds the same. So my question, whats the big difference in mixing between those 2 albums ? My ear doesnt notice the difference.

The elephant in the room, and to put is bluntly, is that AB just don't know what sounds good on a studio recording. This is common in rock and metal. Guys who are crazy talented on their instruments but don't know the first thing about making an album sound good (see: Metallica's Death Magnetic for a perfect example).

[fix]

The new teaser sounds cooool!

Indeed. Sounds like a soft intro/beginning, bring on tomorrow! :-)

[Mr. Slash]

Hopefully this won't be no My Champion/All Ends Well type of song.

[joshuabeau]

Hopefully this won't be no My Champion/All Ends Well type of song.

Maybe the beginning is misleading...