AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

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Dolo
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Dolo »

DCooper727 wrote:Really feels like you're just being dismissive that people have criticisms. If anyone doesn't like something the guys did and mentions it, it is now complaining.
I'd be the last to do so, because I've had a lot of criticism on the guys since TLH myself and there are certain people on here that have a problem with that. But yeah, I was just stating a general opinion that people complained about puzzle songwriting and now they are having a problem with individual writing. When you're listening to the new songs, it seems like the parts fit well with each other this time (although the regular structure still remains). The only exception is In the Deep, where every part is from a completely different world. Or at least it feels this way.
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Ubik »

Marshall wrote:
Myles rocking the Heisenberg look.
For all of the hope that it brings...

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by prslover »

Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
AB has settled into what I call the predictable revenue stream portion of their career. Album, tour Europe 2x , USA 1 time then back to side projects for a year then back to AB. Its just not inspiring and it's coming though the music. The guys are getting older and are content to having predictable earnings and a manageable workload.
It just is what it is, 45 YO Mark Tremonti is not writing songs like the 20 YO Tremonti. I'm not saying they aren't out there tring and working and putting on good shows. What I am saying is this music is coming from people who are comfortable in life and the music comes off that way. AB should go on the shelf for a bit before they do another record and if Elvis is producing I don't even want to hear it.

I brought up Tool a little a page or 3 back. I don't care if you don't like Tool but when you listen to that new record you are experiencing music that wasn't written in a cycle. It was methodically crafted throughout a decade. I know every band can't go 13 years without a record. I know that. But if AB went on Hiatus for 4-5 years I bet the next record would be much better than the last 2 AB records.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Dolo »

prslover wrote:Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
AB has settled into what I call the predictable revenue stream portion of their career. Album, tour Europe 2x , USA 1 time then back to side projects for a year then back to AB. Its just not inspiring and it's coming though the music. The guys are getting older and are content to having predictable earnings and a manageable workload.
It just is what it is, 45 YO Mark Tremonti is not writing songs like the 20 YO Tremonti. I'm not saying they aren't out there tring and working and putting on good shows. What I am saying is this music is coming from people who are comfortable in life and the music comes off that way. AB should go on the shelf for a bit before they do another record and if Elvis is producing I don't even want to hear it.

I brought up Tool a little a page or 3 back. I don't care if you don't like Tool but when you listen to that new record you are experiencing music that wasn't written in a cycle. It was methodically crafted throughout a decade. I know every band can't go 13 years without a record. I know that. But if AB went on Hiatus for 4-5 years I bet the next record would be much better than the last 2 AB records.
Probably one of the best posts I've seen on here in a while. I'd love to see AB go on a longer hiatus without spitting ideas into other projects. Who knows what that would bring.
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Cariocawlad
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Cariocawlad »

I don't think that they need to go to a 5 years hiatus, but I agree that they must challenge theirselves with a new producer. Someone that thinks different than their music formula.
I really would like to see them spending more than a year working on a new album with a new producer that drives them into a really new direction.
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

On a different note, I liked the new band photo that they have on Twitter and the likes for this album cycle. For once, they are facing in the same direction rather than someone or everyone staring in different directions.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by The Dissident »

Regarding the conversation of TLH and now the new WTS singles being the downfall of the band:

Having listened to each album start to finish ranking each as far as the songs go, many bands would absolutely kill to have as consistent of a discography as AB. Only TLH is an album I would rank below a 9/10 and it would be sitting at a high 8/10 only held back by being a little longer than it needed to be and having the wall of sound effect after a while. WTS is going up against 4 absolute monster records by comparison and TLH is still a good record which it has to contend with. Quite frankly we have been spoiled by AB in terms of the sheer quality of their outputs.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Blackbirddd »

So Myles’ favorite song from the album is In The Deep, damn...

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Buffon »

prslover wrote: AB has settled into what I call the predictable revenue stream portion of their career. Album, tour Europe 2x , USA 1 time then back to side projects for a year then back to AB. Its just not inspiring and it's coming though the music. The guys are getting older and are content to having predictable earnings and a manageable workload.
It just is what it is, 45 YO Mark Tremonti is not writing songs like the 20 YO Tremonti. I'm not saying they aren't out there tring and working and putting on good shows. What I am saying is this music is coming from people who are comfortable in life and the music comes off that way. AB should go on the shelf for a bit before they do another record and if Elvis is producing I don't even want to hear it.

I brought up Tool a little a page or 3 back. I don't care if you don't like Tool but when you listen to that new record you are experiencing music that wasn't written in a cycle. It was methodically crafted throughout a decade. I know every band can't go 13 years without a record. I know that. But if AB went on Hiatus for 4-5 years I bet the next record would be much better than the last 2 AB records.
Spot on.

This is also why Blackbird is their best album. You can tell it was pieced together organically, with plenty of time to fine-tune the songs (they were playing Buried Alive, Come to Life and Ties That Bind live, what, a year before release?), and the band had a point to prove after all the crap that went on during the recording process. The end result was a fantastic album that was technically miles beyond all the generic "post-grunge" bands Alter Bridge have always been grouped with (they kinda ruined it by putting the two most generic post-grunge songs on the album out as singles, which also ties in with what you said above the bit I quoted, but the point stands :P)

Since then, it's been a case of get together every three years and bash out some songs with the same basic formula, tour it for a year or so, take some time off, go back to side projects, then do it all again. AB III and especially Fortress showed there was enough life in the formula to get some fantastic songs out of it (with the biggest highlights - Slip to the Void, Cry of Achilles, Fortress and the like- being the ones where they flex their creative chops a little), but there are always diminishing returns. It happens with every band at a certain point in its life cycle.

I'm expecting this album to be better than Last Hero based on the songs released so far, and I'm still hopeful that there will be at least a couple of gems in there that can measure up to the best of their catalog, which is good enough.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by LosingPatience »

The Dissident wrote:Regarding the conversation of TLH and now the new WTS singles being the downfall of the band:

Having listened to each album start to finish ranking each as far as the songs go, many bands would absolutely kill to have as consistent of a discography as AB. Only TLH is an album I would rank below a 9/10 and it would be sitting at a high 8/10 only held back by being a little longer than it needed to be and having the wall of sound effect after a while. WTS is going up against 4 absolute monster records by comparison and TLH is still a good record which it has to contend with. Quite frankly we have been spoiled by AB in terms of the sheer quality of their outputs.


Couldnt agree more accept i really rate TLH dont think i skip a single song on it although i seem to prefer the rock side of them which some think is to Slash esque, which i also like . What does bother me some have already mentioned it AB is really becoming the side project. In a recent interview Mark and Myles said they wrote the songs and brought them together. That might be the missing link im hearing on the released songs it feels their identity is not really stamped on any of these. It all sounds so rushed.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

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prslover wrote:Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
AB has settled into what I call the predictable revenue stream portion of their career. Album, tour Europe 2x , USA 1 time then back to side projects for a year then back to AB. Its just not inspiring and it's coming though the music. The guys are getting older and are content to having predictable earnings and a manageable workload.
It just is what it is, 45 YO Mark Tremonti is not writing songs like the 20 YO Tremonti. I'm not saying they aren't out there tring and working and putting on good shows. What I am saying is this music is coming from people who are comfortable in life and the music comes off that way. AB should go on the shelf for a bit before they do another record and if Elvis is producing I don't even want to hear it.

I brought up Tool a little a page or 3 back. I don't care if you don't like Tool but when you listen to that new record you are experiencing music that wasn't written in a cycle. It was methodically crafted throughout a decade. I know every band can't go 13 years without a record. I know that. But if AB went on Hiatus for 4-5 years I bet the next record would be much better than the last 2 AB records.
I sort of agree in principle but there are 10 new songs we have yet to hear.

They should absolutely take more time on their next album, though. Preferably not 13 years.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by scarecrow »

I listened to In The Deep. My expectations were probably a little low but it's enjoyable.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by TheEndisHere »

prslover wrote:Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
If the problem is Myles voice, please explain how much play Ghost & Greta Van Fleet get (higher than the Draimans, Burnleys, Grontiers, Bret Smiths of the world)? Or why Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Journey, AC/DC and GNR still get lots of play? Hell, my local rock station (WMMR) plays SMKC at least 3 times a day and AB ZERO times a day. It's not Myles voice, especially given how much classic rock these stations play or how much they get behind the new 70s throwback rock (Dorothy, GVF, Rival Sons), and Myles has a very classic rock voice ("Stand up and Shout"!). Hell, the local station (WMMR) will sponsor AB concerts, have booked them multiple times for their big summer concert, and the personalities will even rave about AB in podcasts and interviews, but they get no radio play. I just don't get it. It's not Myles. Some part of me thinks it definitely is the Creed connection (hell, I've seen and heard Creed get more play even today than AB).

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Blackbirddd »

TheEndisHere wrote:
prslover wrote:Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
If the problem is Myles voice, please explain how much play Ghost & Greta Van Fleet get (higher than the Draimans, Burnleys, Grontiers, Bret Smiths of the world)? Or why Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Journey, AC/DC and GNR still get lots of play? Hell, my local rock station (WMMR) plays SMKC at least 3 times a day and AB ZERO times a day. It's not Myles voice, especially given how much classic rock these stations play or how much they get behind the new 70s throwback rock (Dorothy, GVF, Rival Sons), and Myles has a very classic rock voice ("Stand up and Shout"!). Hell, the local station (WMMR) will sponsor AB concerts, have booked them multiple times for their big summer concert, and the personalities will even rave about AB in podcasts and interviews, but they get no radio play. I just don't get it. It's not Myles. Some part of me thinks it definitely is the Creed connection (hell, I've seen and heard Creed get more play even today than AB).
Yeah, the issue about Myles' voice it's a bad argument

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by scarecrow »

I like the point about not being concerned with rock radio (a la Tool) because rock radio is dead but they're not Tool and probably need to be at least somewhat commercially-minded to remain viable as a live act.

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by Blackbirddd »

When do you guys think that there'll be the song previews? like from iTunes or Amazon

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by gbruin »

chtimixeur wrote:The lead guitar part that starts at 0:22 has the same kind of vibe as some Joe Satriani uptempo songs. The one that comes to mind is Summer Song, from 1992:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJ_nzOckOQ
That was the first thing I thought of when I heard it, too.
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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by DarkKnight12 »

Blackbirddd wrote:When do you guys think that there'll be the song previews? like from iTunes or Amazon
Only on October 18 I believe. I don’t think they want the previews to be up before the actual album release date. If they come up before the 18th, I think it will not be on purpose and could be considered as a leak or a fuck up from ITunes/amazon ou wherever the previews show up

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by DarkKnight12 »

On another note, the listening party is tonight in orlando’s Time right ?? Really looking forward to hear what you lucky guys think of the album! Please don’t take too long to write your thoughts / review / description haha

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Re: AB VI Studio/Recording Thread

Post by chtimixeur »

prslover wrote:Alter Bridge will never garner wide radio airplay. Myles does not have a radio voice. Most of us realized this after Blackbird. They want vocals like Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger and three days grace. Pretty sure they know this (or should know) because they have been trying to push hit singles every record and not one has ever played for more than a week or a few spins on rock radio.
Myles has a better chance of writing a pop song and getting on the charts with that.
AB has settled into what I call the predictable revenue stream portion of their career. Album, tour Europe 2x , USA 1 time then back to side projects for a year then back to AB. Its just not inspiring and it's coming though the music. The guys are getting older and are content to having predictable earnings and a manageable workload.
It just is what it is, 45 YO Mark Tremonti is not writing songs like the 20 YO Tremonti. I'm not saying they aren't out there tring and working and putting on good shows. What I am saying is this music is coming from people who are comfortable in life and the music comes off that way. AB should go on the shelf for a bit before they do another record and if Elvis is producing I don't even want to hear it.

I brought up Tool a little a page or 3 back. I don't care if you don't like Tool but when you listen to that new record you are experiencing music that wasn't written in a cycle. It was methodically crafted throughout a decade. I know every band can't go 13 years without a record. I know that. But if AB went on Hiatus for 4-5 years I bet the next record would be much better than the last 2 AB records.
Very good post.
There is nothing wrong with being a bit more comfortable when you're in your 40's and 50's. These guys are hard workers and deserve their success.
But, most of us here are fans, and we expect more than the usual from those guys.
They keep saying they like challenging themselves, but I'm not really hearing it.
As to Elvis, don't hold your breath for any change, because he's definitely here to stay. During a recent interview, Myles said once again how incredible he was, that he was the 5th member of the band, yada yada yada... He's their friend, and they refuse to face the harsh reality that he's a problem for their band. Anyone who says that is probably a hater in their mind.
The sad thing is that they're shooting themselves in the foot, and I'm convinced that one day, 10 or 20 years from now, Mark will listen back to his AB and solo albums and have an epiphany about the production issues.
Last edited by chtimixeur on Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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