Official "The Last Hero" Thread (pre-release discussion)

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Timotheus
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Timotheus »

95% of all AB's choruses sound mainstream. The only difference is that this one has a slightly upbeat vibe.

And since when is heaviness the pinnacle of musicianship?
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Ubik »

DonHarry wrote:
We like the boom boom.
I guess, but I mean a lot of us came in on ODR's, and that wouldn't really be classed as heavy (comparatively), so heavier wasn't what piqued our interest initially.
Though I guess a lot of people got hooked with Metalingus in that era as well.

I broadly agree though, particularly when Myles' voice at its softest is heavenly.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

Timotheus wrote:And since when is heaviness the pinnacle of musicianship?
Well, since AB has had a solid growth on the backs of ABIII and Fortress where people have been praising them for going more "darker, heavier, more pessimistic, progressive," if people hear a single that is the opposite of that, it seems like a step-back in their minds.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

DonHarry wrote:Personally I don't see why 'heavier' always seems to be a measure of improvement or progression for a lot of people.
For me that only holds true for AB, since they have a lot of "heavy" potential and I'd just like to hear something I've never heard from them before, and I haven't heard that much heavy, so more heavy is welcome.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by DonHarry »

I think the heavy stuff is displayed on Marks solo projects. I don't think that level of heavy is who AB are. I mean, if my gran had wheels she'd be a bike, if my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle.

Question then:

If I have a shovel, and the handle breaks. I replace it. Is it still the same shovel? For arguments sake we'll say yes. I then replace the shovely bit (Fuck is that bit even called?), is it still the same shovel?

You know what I'm getting at?
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Mister Gold »

Timotheus wrote:And since when is heaviness the pinnacle of musicianship?
Of course heaviness alone doesn't automatically equate to the pinnacle of music. That tone typically has to come with at least some form of substance to it. And that's something that Alter Bridge's top-tier material generally tends to be.

Fortress, Cry of Achilles, Blackbird, Lover, Words Darker Than Their Wings and the like are typically fan favorites.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Ubik »

DonHarry wrote:I think the heavy stuff is displayed on Marks solo projects. I don't think that level of heavy is who AB are. I mean, if my gran had wheels she'd be a bike, if my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle.

Question then:

If I have a shovel, and the handle breaks. I replace it. Is it still the same shovel? For arguments sake we'll say yes. I then replace the shovely bit (Fuck is that bit even called?), is it still the same shovel?

You know what I'm getting at?
That we should call a spade a spade?

Also, take more care of your spades.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by DonHarry »

:shrug
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

I see your point Harry. It's highly subjective in my case since I listen to metal mostly. So AB for me are an exception from the rule tbh. I'm not a fan of Mark's solo stuff, but I think AB have a lot of potential in that field. Not that it means that heavy = good, of course.

And who can tell who AB are? I mean we could tell now, but 5 years from now, maybe they'd wanna go heavier. Who knows?
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by anguyen92 »

Lotha wrote:And who can tell who AB are? I mean we could tell now, but 5 years from now, maybe they'd wanna go heavier. Who knows?
Even to this day, 9 years being a fan, I'm still trying to figure it all out on what is AB, in terms of their sound. Here's a thought that I made when talking about the Fortress album in a Top 50 albums thread.
With the numerous other projects AB had, the direction, this album could go, seemed a bit unknown. After all, Creed had the alternative rock/post-grunge front covered, Slash/Myles/Conspirators had the classic hard rock sound covered, and Tremonti had the heavy metal sound covered. What can AB do?

This question is actually harder than it sounds since, at times, it is hard for me to quantify the AB sound. Some people see them as too heavy/too intricate to be a radio rock-sounding band like Black Stone Cherry, Halestorm, and Shinedown. Some people see them as too radio-sounding to be a heavy metallic/progressive-ish band like other Roadrunner Record bands like Trivium, Opeth, and Dream Theater. I guess the best way to describe their sound is that Alter Bridge sounds like Alter Bridge and I guess the Fortress album seems to be a more amplified version of them, merging all of the elements I’ve just described albeit having a heavier sound than prior albums.
Would The Last Hero album follow suit? I fail to see otherwise, since the circumstances going into making The Last Hero is pretty similar to when they made Fortress (creating this album after touring the hell out of the other projects' albums).

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Ubik »

Nah I know your point, that change by degree adds up in the end. One difference with Alter Bridge has been that they've seemed to aim to be less "commercial", for want of a better term, with every release, rather than the stereotypical journey in the opposite direction. Might be freaking fans out a little if they perceive a drift the other way, but yeah, I'm sure there's not much to worry about on that front.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by DCooper727 »

I do think AB excel at the heavier, progressive material, and for them to cater to people that want ODR sounding tracks and radio singles seems pretty detrimental and yes, a step backwards as anguyen put it.
I'm not saying the older material is bad in any way (I love almost all of it), but you can't expect them to stay put forever. Their propensity for writing the more progressive/epic tracks is pretty telling of their skills as songwriters/musicians, so I'd definitely like to see them pursue that avenue full steam ahead.

Edit: I'd honestly kill for a 5-6 track EP that was just full of 6-7 minute tracks.

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

Don't call 6-minute songs epic. As good as they are, they're just 6-minute songs. :D
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

Lotha wrote:Don't call all 6-minute songs epic. As good as they are, some of them are just 6-minute 'more-awesome-than-the-average-song' songs. :D
FTFY ;)

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by DCooper727 »

Lotha wrote:Don't call 6-minute songs epic. As good as they are, they're just 6-minute songs. :D
AB uses said terminology for those tracks, so I'm just going by their usage of it. I'm a huge prog fan, so I'm very aware that they aren't truly "epics".

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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

^ Statement was general and not aimed specifically at you, it's just something that I find funny normally. :cheers
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Mister Gold »

Lotha wrote:Don't call 6-minute songs epic. As good as they are, they're just 6-minute songs. :D
I'd say that depends on the songs, imo. Also worth keeping in mind that the ones on TLH are both almost seven minutes long each. I'd say that's close enough to consider them epics, especially in context of Alter Bridge's personal catalogue.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Lotha »

In context of their catalogue, yeah, probably, though it still is funny when you compare that to some song-beasts out there. It shouldn't be called that just based on the length. But, as we haven't heard those two yet...
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by Timotheus »

I wouldn't mind them going backwards if that meant better lyrics and less copy/paste instrumentals.
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Re: Official "The Last Hero" Thread

Post by AB23 »

DonHarry wrote:Don't fret. The 3 releases (Sources suggest) aren't the strongest songs on the album. Although I do genuinely love SMAL. I have time for the other two, I like the licks in MC, I agree the lyrics are a little generic though. Personally I don't see why 'heavier' always seems to be a measure of improvement or progression for a lot of people.
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