AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

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chtimixeur
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by chtimixeur »

DCooper727 wrote:I feel like AB have tried to shoehorn in huge melodic choruses with every single song that it ruins the overall flow and vibe of the song. Also, an average of 4 minute length does nothing but worry me when it comes to them utilizing lazy song structures. I feel like it's gonna be verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/chorus fin, for the entire album. Just real worried about this album, and this song did not help that at all. They just can't let a song stand out with uniqueness; it always, always always has to have that "soaring" chorus, and they didn't use to do that all the time. They can have a really heavy, biting song and then have a big melodic chorus that sounds extremely out of place.
DCooper727 wrote:It's just too jarring for me, and feels like they aren't writing for the song anymore, but for a chance at a radio hit.
They want that Download headliner spot, and I think this is exactly why they're doing short songs with big choruses.
AB23 wrote:It's night and day when you can hear individual instruments in a cleaner production. It's still far from perfect, but imo, it's the "cleanest" song of the 4. Even if you don't like it, it's broken down and cleaner sounding.
Night and day?
Maybe during the clean verses, but as soon as the distorted guitar kicks in, it's the same mess as usual.

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fix
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by fix »

Yeah I think it's the lower frequencies. I can hear the bass guitar really well, which is awesome, but I think the kick drum and the guitar chugs are kind of getting in the way. Not sure, but to me the sound get's uncomfortable usually when the drums and chugs kick in - like at 0:09 of 'In The Deep'.

I also don't believe in the whole 'we are going for a commercial sound' thing. They have always been like this (being catchy and formulaic I mean), or at least tried to be. Some like that and some like it less, which is great :-), but it isn't new.

I do hope there are some songs that are less formulaic on this album. I do like the songs though, but not in love with any of them yet. Very curious to hear the response from the listening party! :-)

LosingPatience
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by LosingPatience »

anguyen92 wrote:
AB4Lyfe wrote:
LosingPatience wrote:My hype completely died with this. This is so generic im lost for words. Where are the guitar solo's , the bridges its all so commercial. Not even the chorus was catchy
Where are the guitar solos? In the song, that’s where.
At the end of the song to be precise.

All right, In the Deep is out on Spotify. The dress is blue on the cover for that one. Yeah, that chorus is really different than what you would normally expect in an AB song. I also do agree that this song feels less "busy" than the prior songs. I also feel like it's one of those 80s power ballads at times particularly in the verses.

Also, we are 0 for 4 so far in well crafted bridge instrumentals before the bridge verse. Just that one instrumental section that can take us nicely into the climax of the song. WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY? Maybe, this is why the average song lengths for this album is shorter this time around.

For me, I think In The Deep is fine on its own, but I prefer Pay No Mind and Take the Crown as the early favorites so far. Wouldn't You Rather, out of the bunch, felt like it is the only "familiar" AB sounding track of the bunch so far and I think this is why it is the lead single. Only less than five days to go before I leave for Orlando to hear the whole thing in full and meet the guys and finally be in a group full of people where I'm not the only guy at a concert wearing an AB shirt.


Agree completely all the songs accept Take The Crown almost sound unfinished. All 3 a great bridge and memorable solo would have taken those songs up a notch and AB to me are great at this. But so far like you said 0-4 in that regard. I also agree with the poster who said these are all written for radio. So far imo the most commercial of their albums so far and all the intricacies in arrangements are all completely gone. Also the solo's if you can call them that have all been so lazy

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SamarthJoshi
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by SamarthJoshi »

Man, after multiple listens, In the Deep has gone from 3rd to top for me out of the first 4 singles.That pre-chorus is so fun to sing! The clean guitars in between give such a different vibe than the usual AB. Right now if I can describe this album in one word, it would be “Different” or “Fresh”, I guess.
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Mr. Slash
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Mr. Slash »

Sounds like another Slash MK/Conspirators song. I really appreciate that they try to be more versatile regarding their style but I don't need an 80s hairmetal Alter Bridge song.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by SamarthJoshi »

anguyen92 wrote:Where the heck is all the hate for One By One came from? I've always liked the song from the start.
Same, I too have liked the song from the start. I like Break Me Down as well, very fun to sing! But I’m well aware of how much it’s disliked here. :D

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SamarthJoshi
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by SamarthJoshi »

LosingPatience wrote:My hype completely died with this. This is so generic im lost for words. Where are the guitar solo's , the bridges its all so commercial. Not even the chorus was catchy
Hey, that’s a good place to be in before the album releases. It can only get better from here. Also, you’re complaining about the generic/commercial material while longing for the catchy chorus. :P

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Arctic
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Arctic »

I’m hoping we hear some good things from the reviews of the listening party. I’m still pumped for the Mark/Myles mashup and Mark said his favorite track is Godspeed, so I have high hopes for those two in particular.
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by AngusWolfe »

I think this is the first time I've heard Brian's bass tone since Cry of Achilles, and that's a massive shame, because it sounds fantastic. Much better production, they really kept it simple at it worked. I'd personally still want to play around with EQ a bit, but a massive improvement.

I was at first a little unsure of the chorus, but after a few listens, I'm fully on board. Pay No Mind is still my favourite of the three, but this is easily number 2. It's kinda catchy with a cool riff. It's the first time in a while an Alter Bridge song has felt like a single, if that make sense? The others sound like Alter Bridge singles, but not an actual, possibly successful single. Isolation was the last time I really felt that. I really think they should have released this first as the radio single instead of WYR.

It's not a showstopper, but for a fun tune to listen to in the car or at a party, I'm actually pretty surprised and impressed, they're harder to write than you would think.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Blackbirddd »

https://youtu.be/xOZaoiPg8Xk

Lyric videos make everything better :cloud9

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

I'm not sure how many Sonic Adventure fans are on this board, but who else hears nothing but Crush 40 on this song when the lead comes in at 0:22?

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Fish Tacos »

Listening on my POS earbuds that half work with no dynamic range on my work laptop for the first time. I'm enjoying this one! I disagree with the folks saying the chorus sounds like it's from another song. It's a shift from the verse but IMO it's still consistent with the song. Making me a bit more optimistic for the album.

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SamarthJoshi
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by SamarthJoshi »

Jaded Rescue wrote:I'm not sure how many Sonic Adventure fans are on this board, but who else hears nothing but Crush 40 on this song when the lead comes in at 0:22?
I swear I thought of sonic the first time I heard this song but had no clue why!

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Sugar Blade »

I didn't like the previous three songs, but in this one there are a few moments that were pretty good.

And that's the problem. After reading all the feedback about new songs, I haven't saw anyone say something like "this song is perfect as it is from start to finish". Almost everything I've read was "the verses are cool, but the chorus not so much" or vice versa.

The band wanted to make new music less disjointed by applying "one song - one songwriter" rule and ended up with even more disjointed music. I have a feeling that it wasn't their creative choice to apply this rule, but absence of time to refine the material caused by their insane non-stop touring.

But most importantly - I don't hear any passion behind it. Listen to "A Dying Machine" - Mark gave everything he had for this record, listen to "Year of the Tiger" - last time I heard Myles that sincere was on ABIII. And these new songs - it's not even side-project level of devotion, more like "it's just a job".

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AB23
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by AB23 »

Jaded Rescue wrote:I'm not sure how many Sonic Adventure fans are on this board, but who else hears nothing but Crush 40 on this song when the lead comes in at 0:22?
I swear I was gonna post this yesterday, but not about that part in the song you referenced. For whatever reason, the solo at the end reminds me of a song from a Sonic game. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Sonic games usually have fantastic soundtracks, so that's fine by me.
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anguyen92
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

Sugar Blade wrote:But most importantly - I don't hear any passion behind it. Listen to "A Dying Machine" - Mark gave everything he had for this record, listen to "Year of the Tiger" - last time I heard Myles that sincere was on ABIII. And these new songs - it's not even side-project level of devotion, more like "it's just a job".
I mean if these guys did treat it more like a job to get paid rather than a job of passion and felt that they need to get new music out there to do more tours, I stated in a post earlier this year stating that they had a free pass this year with ODR and the band turning 15 years old. If they've done a tour on both sides of the Atlantic this year giving more nodes to ODR, then they could have focused more off-time on the new album to really refine the songs more and released it in 2020 and given them another reason to get more tours in. That's all really hypothetical and I'm not sure if the end result would turn out like that anyway.

They always seem to want to get the album out every three years in the Fall and at least they are being consistent in that and still delivering what I feel is quality music.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Jaredr24 »

In The Deep is my favorite of the new singles as well. It’s the only one they’ve released that has any type of dynamic range up to this point and is quite catchy. Love the heavy downtuned guitars but still with the clean/mellowed out verses
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Andy92 »

I really like this one. A few others mentioned this but I hear the bass a lot more clearly in this song compared to others. The song actually reminds me a bit more of classic AB than it does Slash.
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by DCooper727 »

LosingPatience wrote:Agree completely all the songs accept Take The Crown almost sound unfinished. All 3 a great bridge and memorable solo would have taken those songs up a notch and AB to me are great at this. But so far like you said 0-4 in that regard. I also agree with the poster who said these are all written for radio. So far imo the most commercial of their albums so far and all the intricacies in arrangements are all completely gone. Also the solo's if you can call them that have all been so lazy
I really like Pay No Mind and feel it's the most creative and complete, but the rest feel very thrown together. Take the Crown has a lot of jarring transitions, but I do like that song considerably more than WYR and In the Deep. I know we've given the guys shit for puzzle piecing songs together before, but at least they each had input on every song, which is where I think this has gone wrong for those of us who really are not into this new approach. I feel like they're still puzzle piecing but it's taken a nose dive without both creative minds on board, as well as what the other poster said about this being side job level material. You could be blindfolded, take a dart and throw it at any track on A Dying Machine and the quality would be higher than any of the tracks released so far, which is not good considering Alter Bridge is the main project for the guys, or at least it used to be. Anyway, that's my opinion, gonna shut up until the whole album is out and see if I enjoy any of it.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Jaded Rescue »

AB23 wrote:
Jaded Rescue wrote:I'm not sure how many Sonic Adventure fans are on this board, but who else hears nothing but Crush 40 on this song when the lead comes in at 0:22?
I swear I was gonna post this yesterday, but not about that part in the song you referenced. For whatever reason, the solo at the end reminds me of a song from a Sonic game. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Sonic games usually have fantastic soundtracks, so that's fine by me.
I think it's reminding me of Into the Wind, which I'm not even sure was ever in a Sonic game. At the 0:11 mark:



Edit: From Sonic fan wiki, "It also plays during the credits of the Nintendo DS version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing". Random. Haha.
Last edited by Jaded Rescue on Thu Sep 12, 2019 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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