[NEW ALBUM DISCUSSION THREAD] Gibson Launches Record Label, to Release Slash Album Next Year

[Free Bird]

Still looking forward to the stream in an hour but not as psyched as before the release.

All songs suffer from the bad production.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words seems to be a good track, caught me nodding a few times listening to it.

C'est La Vie is another good one, which deserves a better solo. But it's ok how it is.

I definitely like Fall Back To Earth.

Nothing there that I loved right away but I'll watch the show when its gonna be streamed.

 

 

[Estranged Reality]

1 minute ago, Free Bird said:

Still looking forward to the stream in an hour but not as psyched as before the release.

All songs suffer from the bad production.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words seems to be a good track, caught me nodding a few times listening to it.

C'est La Vie is another good one, which deserves a better solo. But it's ok how it is.

I definitely like Fall Back To Earth.

Nothing there that I loved right away but I'll watch the show when its gonna be streamed.

 

 

What don't people like about the production out of curiosity? I didn't notice anything, to me the songs just felt a little unmemorable. 

[Free Bird]

4 minutes ago, Estranged Reality said:

What don't people like about the production out of curiosity? I didn't notice anything, to me the songs just felt a little unmemorable. 

They are.  But to me they're sounding muddy and I think Slash's guitar could have been louder or more highlighted. And as other mentioned, the drum sound on previous records was much better. All in all it doesn't sound good and that was always a factor of Slash records. They always sounded awesome imo.

[MaskingApathy]

6 hours ago, skik08 said:

I am not sure what most of you are listening to but all reviews are positive and the album is great. And some only giving it one listen? What is the point in that.

I know right? I've had to listen to it several times through before developing my opinion; I'm not going to judge it just from one listen.

8 hours ago, Chuerta86 said:

Yes, Fill My World and Fall Back To Earth are beautiful. River Is Rising and April Fools are great rockers. There are some cool experimental tracks and a cool groove that I'm digging.

My favorite musician is releasing great music and promoting it through interviews, talk shows and a tour. The mix has a lot to be desired but the songs are there and we will have acces to them through the livestream with what sounds like a better mix.

Exactly

Ok so here are my thoughts:

Firstly I think it should've been 12 songs, it feels just a little bit short.

Secondly the mix leaves a lot to be desired, which I've posted about before. For me the main things are that the drums sound like crap (and are too far back in the mix), Todd's vocal is buried (which is a real shame because imo his voice is the secret sauce of SMKC that makes every song better), and in a lot of places Slash's guitar isn't prominent enough and you're hearing more Frank than Slash (reason being that Slash's tone is more compressed so it comes across as softer so when mixing the engineer needs to adjust for that). Some of his solos should've been boosted more as well.

Here's the thing: these songs absolutely rock. There's a lot of cool moments on the album and as mentioned before it sounds like Slash and the guys were trying to do something a little different musically. This is great because it's always good for artists to explore and evolve. However, it's held back from its full potential by 2 things: the mix and the fact that they didn't take as much time to develop the songs and make sure the best performance is what went on tape. Imagine how the drum intro in Whatever Gets You By would sound like with WOF drum sound and mix. That kind of production would make these (already good) songs absolute bangers. And the arrangements etc are pretty good but I think if they had spent more time on workshopping the songs before recording it could've been even better, including some of the drum parts and solos. Some of the drums are not as good as what Fitzy has done in the past; to me it sounds like he's still figuring out what he wants to play in certain sections. With the solos they could've been really memorable like what's on the last 2 albums; Slash and Elvis spent a lot of time getting them right instead of going with whatever came out on the first take. Recording live was a cool idea but I think they could've done it in a way that still got the best performances out of everyone. Like for the last 2 records Slash Todd and Fitzy (and Frank on LTD) played together to get the drum tracks then they recorded their parts separately, so this time they could've kept all those rhythm tracks but then add in solos that have been properly worked out.

Regarding Myles, yeah it's clear that he's singing more in his lower voice (including at these last 2 shows). I think him getting covid really affected his voice (esp on The River is Rising) along with being off the road for a year. But the main thing that's affected him is using the takes off the floor (which would otherwise be the scratch vocals) instead of recording separate vocal takes after the instruments are done. Because then he can record in sections and really work out the parts beforehand.

I think we may have now entered the era of SMKC where the previous material is like the old classic stuff and anything new is going to be different instead of doing the same old thing again (kind of like what the Foo Fighters do now). Yeah I would've liked an album like WOF but I think eventually they'll cycle back around to that kind of album.

Personally this album and tour is something I really need at this time, the last month or so has been pretty rough for me and I haven't been in a good place mentally. SMKC and their music have gotten me through some hard times in the past, which is a big part of why they're my favorite band (over GnR as well) because I have an emotional connection to this music. Listening to the record last night was pretty emotional for me and ultimately it's a great record because it's able to move me in a time when I've been numb to pretty much everything else.

[StrangerInThisTown]

I think the livestream deserves it's own thread so I've started a separate one. The stream is starting in 5 minutes

[MaskingApathy]

2 hours ago, Estranged Reality said:

Btw here are a couple pics I took of Slash on the last tour that I never shared here. I don't know if there was a photographer in front of me that explained why he kept looking my way, but it felt like he was looking right at me and posing for shots, it was kind it surreal. Being up close for that show was one of my favorite concert memories ever. They killed it. 

 

 

 

These are great pics, thanks for sharing.

1 hour ago, Estranged Reality said:

What don't people like about the production out of curiosity? I didn't notice anything, to me the songs just felt a little unmemorable. 

Listen to a couple songs from WOF or LTD then listen to 4, there's a pretty big difference (esp with the drums).

54 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

They are.  But to me they're sounding muddy and I think Slash's guitar could have been louder or more highlighted. And as other mentioned, the drum sound on previous records was much better. All in all it doesn't sound good and that was always a factor of Slash records. They always sounded awesome imo.

100%

[Stro]

This album sounds terrible. Super muddy, super compressed, drums have no power at all, bass is overpowering in every song, and Myles is bringing the blandest melodies possible to every song. 

[Ralphelmo]

Whats wrong with the melody in e.g. Whatever Gets You By, especially in chorus? You call it bland I call you deaf or ignorant, seriously dude.

[jacdaniel]

Love Spirit Love and Fall Back to Earth. Really solid album. 

Anybody else hear Hotel California in the Fall Back to Earth outro soloing?

[Gunsdrummer63]

As a drummer who does some recording for fun

 

this is one of the worst mixed albums in terms of drum quality I’ve heard in Awhile. The Tom’s on fills sound so flat and quick with hardly any tone. Which sucks cuz fitz is a great drummer and live he has an amazing sound. This just didn’t capture that sound 

 

listening on high Quality headphones was a bit better than my car speakers. Car speakers you lose slash way too often during certain parts. Even some solos weren’t mixed great cuz I lost him often at parts 

 

theres something really special about the riffs here though. Musically I think this has a lot of peaks and high points. But the mix, some vocals and some lyrics are a turn off. But I’ve had some of the riffs in my head all day. It’s class slash catchy riffs that seemed to be missing in LTD at times. This was a back to the roots classic rock album. Hence why we see Shades of zeppelin, Aerosmith, and GNR/Snakepit and VR. There’s some real hard rock riffs and music parts. It’s really kinda beautiful in and instrumental sense and I’m sure the livestream (I couldn’t watch) did some of these better justice 

[GoBucky]

Is the deluxe cd delayed? I ordered on Amazon and they have no delivery date. 

[Stro]

14 minutes ago, Ralphelmo said:

Whats wrong with the melody in e.g. Whatever Gets You By, especially in chorus? You call it bland I call you deaf or ignorant, seriously dude.

Specifically in Whatever Gets You By? He's just following the guitar and basslines. He completely blends into both to the point where it wouldn't make a difference if he wasn't even singing at all. It's not like this is a new critique of Myles. His melodies and lyrics are very bland and generic. This particular album he sounds (and looks) completely bored out of his mind.

[merces]

Does the deluxe contain bonus tracks ?

Must say it feels a bit short indeed, and a bit too much "live", some songs feel a little sloppy at times, Cest La Vie, Love Spirit and Fall Back To Earth stand out the most to me

Edited February 11, 2022 by merces

[Top-Hatted One]

I just took a break from work and drove to Target to buy the cd and they had nothing! Now I gotta try Best Buy or Walmart tomorrow.

am I missing something? They stopped selling cds at box stores? Wtf!

[felixGNR]

7 hours ago, Ralphelmo said:

I disagree, It's the first time I honestly can say that Myles couldn't squeeze more from the material he got. And it's the first time he did some interesting work on melody (WGYB, ASLTW, April Fool, Fill My World, CLV) using his lower registers. After few listens what made this album average is lack of any good solos and terrible production.

 

'Whatever Gets You By' has obvious 'Rocket Queen' riff, maybe that's why it's my favorite so far.

'Actions Speaks Louder Than Words' is my second favorite. I knew it's gonna be really good just by the snippet on youtube 'making of' series. I don't think it's the Led Zep song mentioned above, I know this rhythm from some kind of a hit song, very popular one. Will figure it out...

'April Fool' my third favorite is pure Slash, too bad it has no memorable solo, because the song itself is one of the best SMKC ever did.

it's a party by Buckcherry.

[Ralphelmo]

31 minutes ago, felixGNR said:

it's a party by Buckcherry.

Didnt even know this song before, it's something else

[IrishgunnerII]

Half way through the new album and imo it’s the worst mixed album of his solo stuff. Its like a trifle and nothing stands out and the drums sound like they were recorded under water which is a shame because Brent Fitz is a superb drummer.  Maybe they’ll sound better live but the album sounds poor.

[StrangerInThisTown]

13 minutes ago, IrishgunnerII said:

Half way through the new album and imo it’s the worst mixed album of his solo stuff. Its like a trifle and nothing stands out and the drums sound like they were recorded under water which is a shame because Brent Fitz is a superb drummer.  Maybe they’ll sound better live but the album sounds poor.

After much comparing I've come to the conclusion that, except Whatever Gets You By, every single track sounds better from the Studio 60s performance. Download it from Youtube, splice it into individual tracks, and then you have good songs with a good mix. The way it should have been.

[GoBucky]

1 hour ago, Top-Hatted One said:

I just took a break from work and drove to Target to buy the cd and they had nothing! Now I gotta try Best Buy or Walmart tomorrow.

am I missing something? They stopped selling cds at box stores? Wtf!

The Target by me had the cd, but no one else had either the cd or vinyl. 

[moreblack]

43 minutes ago, IrishgunnerII said:

Half way through the new album and imo it’s the worst mixed album of his solo stuff. Its like a trifle and nothing stands out and the drums sound like they were recorded under water which is a shame because Brent Fitz is a superb drummer.  Maybe they’ll sound better live but the album sounds poor.

Was the country guy out of his depth mixing a hard rock band?

[MaskingApathy]

2 hours ago, Ralphelmo said:

Whats wrong with the melody in e.g. Whatever Gets You By, especially in chorus? You call it bland I call you deaf or ignorant, seriously dude.

That song is currently my favorite, the chorus is super heavy.

2 hours ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

As a drummer who does some recording for fun

 

this is one of the worst mixed albums in terms of drum quality I’ve heard in Awhile. The Tom’s on fills sound so flat and quick with hardly any tone. Which sucks cuz fitz is a great drummer and live he has an amazing sound. This just didn’t capture that sound 

 

listening on high Quality headphones was a bit better than my car speakers. Car speakers you lose slash way too often during certain parts. Even some solos weren’t mixed great cuz I lost him often at parts 

 

theres something really special about the riffs here though. Musically I think this has a lot of peaks and high points. But the mix, some vocals and some lyrics are a turn off. But I’ve had some of the riffs in my head all day. It’s class slash catchy riffs that seemed to be missing in LTD at times. This was a back to the roots classic rock album. Hence why we see Shades of zeppelin, Aerosmith, and GNR/Snakepit and VR. There’s some real hard rock riffs and music parts. It’s really kinda beautiful in and instrumental sense and I’m sure the livestream (I couldn’t watch) did some of these better justice 

100% agree. Really disappointed with the drum sounds, the toms sound like he's hitting the cardboard box that my deluxe vinyl will come in.

And a good mix will translate well to all sound systems: car, laptop, different headphones, etc. I'm finding the same thing, it sounds different in the car than my desk speakers at work. Didn't have that problem with WOF and LTD.

2 hours ago, merces said:

Does the deluxe contain bonus tracks ?

Must say it feels a bit short indeed, and a bit too much "live", some songs feel a little sloppy at times, Cest La Vie, Love Spirit and Fall Back To Earth stand out the most to me

No bonus tracks.

[Top-Hatted One]

24 minutes ago, GoBucky said:

The Target by me had the cd, but no one else had either the cd or vinyl. 

Thanks I’ll try another Target tonight. Crazy how hard it is to get a new release cd these days!

[MaskingApathy]

Can someone with SiriusXM record this for us?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ12ZgOu3oq/

 

[kozydogg]

Really puts into perspective Axl's songs; most notably, the latest releases of Absurd and HS.  They're honestly just much more interesting in my opinion.  After listening to SLASH, I had to cleanse my pallet by giving Absurd and HS a listen.  Yes, Slash can come up with some cool riffs.  But riffs alone are NOT SONGS.  Each of these songs is sooo formulaic it's nauseating.  At least with GNR we get something different and interesting...whether or not you like it is a different story.  I for one prefer it over this boring, generic rock.  

 

I mean, if you're going to go down the generic or formulaic rock avenue, at least have some balls and sleaze!  Totally lacking in Slash's band.

[Towlie]

Fall Back to Earth is my early favourite.