AB IV Writing/Recording Sessions

[Andy92]

Honestly if they swapped New Way To Live and The Damage Done in for Break Me Down and Rise Today it would be nearly perfect. I still don't know why they close with Rise Today. Probably one of my 5 least favorite songs in the catalog.

[SlapDashJohnson]

How...Why...Why is everyone talking about their favorite album...

Why...are we ranking things...


I'm going to go crazy...

[gbruin]

Blackbird is a good CD, but the band definitely didn't peak out on that album. They have plenty of talent to stretch themselves farther.

The marketing and publicity for that album by Universal was a complete mess, too. What a wasted opportunity. Blackbird (IMO) is a far better album than so many others in the genre in recent years that generated far more pub for their band (A7X, 5FDP, Shinedown, etc).

I'd love to see AB put out something of the quality of BB and get the backing from their labels that they deserve.

[gbruin]

How...Why...Why is everyone talking about their favorite album...

Why...are we ranking things...


I'm going to go crazy...

This is a good quote, but not one of my absolute favorites. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Andy92]

Blackbird is a good CD, but the band definitely didn't peak out on that album. They have plenty of talent to stretch themselves farther.

The marketing and publicity for that album by Universal was a complete mess, too. What a wasted opportunity. Blackbird (IMO) is a far better album than so many others in the genre in recent years that generated far more pub for their band (A7X, 5FDP, Shinedown, etc).

I'd love to see AB put out something of the quality of BB and get the backing from their labels that they deserve.

I'd agree with this. It came out the same year as Sevenfold's self titled album, and Blackbird is far better despite being a lot less popular (this coming from a guy who likes Sevenfold). Top-to-bottom it's probably a bit better than Sound Of Madness from Shinedown as well.

But I still think the band is more talented than Blackbird shows. Not saying that to put Blackbird down, but I see a lot in these guys knowing they have more.

[Timotheus]

Via BMarsh: "All tracking for our fourth Alter Bridge album is almost done. Myles is finishing vocals this week. He's a busy man these days touring with Slash, Kings of Chaos. I don't know how he does it but he does it... Very well.
We're excited for you all to hear it soon. Best, b"

[chtimixeur]

About Mark's interview :
- the good thing : Mark acknowledges ABIII wasn't that good.
- the bad thing : ABIV sounds like it's gonna be a full on heavy album, with melodic choruses. I'm afraid it's gonna be reminiscent of "All I Was", with songs that don't flow organically. I'm also afraid the album is gonna be boring in the long run. Why am I saying that ? Well because IMO, an album needs peaks and valleys do catch someone's attention, and if all your songs are heavy, it becomes a bit boring after a while. A little ballad inbetween doesn't hurt sometimes.

[Timotheus]

He never said the new album won't be dynamic. He just said the mid-tempo, strummy songs didn't make it. With mid-tempo songs he means songs like Breathe Again, Before Tomorrow Comes, Break Me Down..
I'm sure there will still be a ballad-ish song and mid-tempo songs on the album. They're probably just less dominant, which is ok in my opinion. And I think they're just trying to promote the album by saying it's heavy. ABIII was supposed to be heavier than Blackbird, and it wasn't.

[ALL I WAS]

Will there be a coutdown website until September then nothing happens ?:)

[chtimixeur]

he means songs like Breathe Again, Before Tomorrow Comes

Those are some of my favourite BB and ABIII songs, but I know I'm in the minority here.

Overall, I can't say I'm excited to hear Myles' heavy riffs. That is definitely not his forte, and I wish he'd incorporate more of his singer-songwriter material into AB songs.

[Vaux]

I like Breathe Again and Before Tomorrow Comes also. Two of my favorites from those CD's.

And yeah it was interesting to hear Mark's comments about AB3. I would agree that was the weakest of the 3 they have.

[AllC392Was]

I'm pretty sure he does incorporate his singer/songwriter material into AB songs. Things could have changed but Myles did most of the lyrics on AB3 and had some of his songwriter stuff on that album as well (Intro to Slip/Wonderful Life, and others I don't know about).

I don't think this is going to be All I Was pt.2 because of 1 reason... Myles. I love Erock and Garret but do you really think they would say no to anything Mark did during pre production? He said it himself the guys loved all of the heavy stuff. Bmarsh,Scott, and Myles feel more comfortable telling him that something isn't going to work.

Id'e love to hear what kind of riffs Myles can produce but Id'e prefer Myles and Mark on Lyrics and Mark doing most of leads with Myles on Rhythm.

[austinjhnsn]

Myles should get a couple solo's too. He always adds a nice element to the song.

[Timotheus]

If Myles gets a slow, bluesy solo this record, I'll be very happy I still think Myles' solo in Blackbird is the best AB solo of them all.

[chtimixeur]

and Mark doing most of leads with Myles on Rhythm.

Well, I want the exact opposite
Mark's solos are predictable. Myles' aren't.

[AllC392Was]

Had no clue he had a solo in Isolation until I saw a live vid and he nailed it.

Id'e love for there to be a ballad on this record that they could play live. I think the crowd would go crazy if Myles just finished singing a ballad and then Mark comes out and sings In Loving Memory (about his mom). That would be perfect if they each sang songs that meant so much to them

[austinjhnsn]

and Mark doing most of leads with Myles on Rhythm.

Well, I want the exact opposite
Mark's solos are predictable. Myles' aren't.

Myles has more tasteful solo's. As of late, Mark seems to just improvise a bunch of legato over the chords and call it a solo. I miss the days when he used to write the solo, and think about it, not just shred.

[willy5150]

THIS

[One Drew Remains]

I guess I'm in the minority here. Other than 2-3 songs, I absolutely love ABIII. I hope they at least keep Isolation, Slip and Ghost in the set.

But I like what I'm hearing about album 4. Heavy (in the vein of Ties, WK, ec) is a good thing. As long as the melody is there, and it sounds like it is. Now that vocals will be done within the week, how long until we get titles?

[AllC392Was]

I actually love Mark's solos. Thought the Fallout Solo was extremely underrated. Can't really think of a solo that was just purely shred that didn't follow the song nicely