SMKC's New Single - The River Is Rising.

[Free Bird]

I won't judge the song until I hear it in full.

I was often wrong by judging a song from short snippets. 

 

[metallex78]

2 minutes ago, Free Bird said:

I won't judge the song until I hear it in full.

I was often wrong by judging a song from short snippets. 

 

I just listened to the song in full, so I am fully judging it 

I just listened again, and it’s a nice song, and I can see the melody sticking in my head too.

[Free Bird]

1 hour ago, metallex78 said:

I just listened to the song in full, so I am fully judging it 

I just listened again, and it’s a nice song, and I can see the melody sticking in my head too.

 You posted your post while I was writing mine so I actually didn't respond to your comment. I'm looking forward to listen to it too.

[Ralphelmo]

Just listened to it using AnonymoX add-on (Firefox) and dutch IP xD It's the first time in a long long time, that I don't like the song but dig Slash's solo. It may grow on me though. It's not the epic ballad (like Battleground) but the radio-friendly one that should be compared to Bent To Fly... and it can't match I'm afraid.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Ralphelmo

[Free Bird]

1 hour ago, Ralphelmo said:

Just listened to it using AnonymoX add-on (Firefox) and dutch IP xD It's the first time in a long long time, that I don't like the song but dig Slash's solo. It may grow on me though. It's not the epic ballad (like Battleground) but the radio-friendly one that should be compared to Bent To Fly... and it can't match I'm afraid.

I listened to it as well right now and I'm not sure either what to think about it.

I like Slash's playing during the verses but while I think the melody is too poppy for my taste, especially the vocal melody during the chorus, I admit it's catchy and I might like it after a few listens. It could be an earworm.

The solo starts very interesting and promising but it ends a bit uninspiring imo... that's my first impression.

I have to listen to it again in better quality when it's officially released in Germany. 

[MaskingApathy]

I mean I didn't really like The River is Rising that much when it first came out either but then yesterday my Spotify Wrapped says that it was my #1 played song for the year so I guess I ended up liking it quite a bit. This is what his new bio says about the other songs:

And make no mistake: 4 is special. The album kicks off with the six-string clarion call of Slash’s Gibson Les Paul, which cuts through the mix like a siren forewarning what’s to come – in this case, opening track “The River is Rising,” one of the band’s toughest and most dynamic compositions to date. Unraveling via a menacing, tightly coiled riff and deep-in-the-pocket groove, the song builds to a trademark SMKC widescreen chorus, featuring Kennedy’s vocals riding over waves of guitar melody, before stopping on a dime to break into a furious double-time instrumental sprint, with Slash’s frenzied, nimble solo racing above, around, alongside and within his band mates’ full-throttle rhythm gallop. “It grabs you right out of the gate,” Slash says.

And from the chunky, deliberate stomp of “Whatever Gets You By” to the slinky grooves and talk box-drenched guitar hooks of “C’est La Vie,” the anthemic swell of “The Path Less Followed” to the cowbell-inflected boogie-shake of “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” and the grimy Aerosmith-esque funk of “April Fool” to the rampaging attack of “Call Off the Dogs,” 4 never lets go.

To be sure, this is SMKC like you’ve never heard them before.
Need more evidence? See, for starters, the exotica-tinged “Spirit Love,” which is introduced by a snaky Slash single-note theme played on an electric sitar (but don’t worry – it’s still run through “a Marshall at full blast,” Slash assures) and then erupts into a psychedelic fever dream fueled by a crushing, circular riff. Says Kennedy, “Every time I hear the song I see, like, a cobra dancing in front of a snake charmer.”

Or, on the other end of the sonic spectrum, the bright-toned pop-rocker “Fill My World,” a heart-on-sleeve love song – even if, Kennedy admits, it’s a love song about his dog – that blooms with irresistible major-key melodies and one of Slash’s most liquid and expressive solos to date.

Or album closer “Fall Back to Earth,” a six-minute “epic,” to use Slash’s word, awash in cinematic soundscapes and dramatic tonal shifts, and anchored by an indelible, at this point practically trademark, Slash guitar hook.
Throughout, 4 hits on a wide range of sounds, styles and moods, and does it all with laser-sharp musical focus and a lightning-in-a-bottle sense of immediacy.

So I think some of those other songs are going to end up being more rocking like what we're expecting, and maybe in the context of the whole album Fill My World will sound better.

[Gordon Comstock]

39 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

to the slinky grooves and talk box-drenched guitar hooks of “C’est La Vie,” to the cowbell-inflected boogie-shake of “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,”

the exotica-tinged “Spirit Love,” which is introduced by a snaky Slash single-note theme played on an electric sitar (but don’t worry – it’s still run through “a Marshall at full blast,” Slash assures) and then erupts into a psychedelic fever dream fueled by a crushing, circular riff.

 

I'm curious to hear these songs...

Fill My World is just bad though. Solo doesn't really go anywhere and the Ashba-inspired SCOM riff is annoying.

[MaskingApathy]

https://www.slashonline.com/bio/

[Free Bird]

2 hours ago, MaskingApathy said:

I mean I didn't really like The River is Rising that much when it first came out either but then yesterday my Spotify Wrapped says that it was my #1 played song for the year so I guess I ended up liking it quite a bit. This is what his new bio says about the other songs:

And make no mistake: 4 is special. The album kicks off with the six-string clarion call of Slash’s Gibson Les Paul, which cuts through the mix like a siren forewarning what’s to come – in this case, opening track “The River is Rising,” one of the band’s toughest and most dynamic compositions to date. Unraveling via a menacing, tightly coiled riff and deep-in-the-pocket groove, the song builds to a trademark SMKC widescreen chorus, featuring Kennedy’s vocals riding over waves of guitar melody, before stopping on a dime to break into a furious double-time instrumental sprint, with Slash’s frenzied, nimble solo racing above, around, alongside and within his band mates’ full-throttle rhythm gallop. “It grabs you right out of the gate,” Slash says.

And from the chunky, deliberate stomp of “Whatever Gets You By” to the slinky grooves and talk box-drenched guitar hooks of “C’est La Vie,” the anthemic swell of “The Path Less Followed” to the cowbell-inflected boogie-shake of “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” and the grimy Aerosmith-esque funk of “April Fool” to the rampaging attack of “Call Off the Dogs,” 4 never lets go.

To be sure, this is SMKC like you’ve never heard them before.
Need more evidence? See, for starters, the exotica-tinged “Spirit Love,” which is introduced by a snaky Slash single-note theme played on an electric sitar (but don’t worry – it’s still run through “a Marshall at full blast,” Slash assures) and then erupts into a psychedelic fever dream fueled by a crushing, circular riff. Says Kennedy, “Every time I hear the song I see, like, a cobra dancing in front of a snake charmer.”

Or, on the other end of the sonic spectrum, the bright-toned pop-rocker “Fill My World,” a heart-on-sleeve love song – even if, Kennedy admits, it’s a love song about his dog – that blooms with irresistible major-key melodies and one of Slash’s most liquid and expressive solos to date.

Or album closer “Fall Back to Earth,” a six-minute “epic,” to use Slash’s word, awash in cinematic soundscapes and dramatic tonal shifts, and anchored by an indelible, at this point practically trademark, Slash guitar hook.
Throughout, 4 hits on a wide range of sounds, styles and moods, and does it all with laser-sharp musical focus and a lightning-in-a-bottle sense of immediacy.

So I think some of those other songs are going to end up being more rocking like what we're expecting, and maybe in the context of the whole album Fill My World will sound better.

I'm most excited for Fall Back To Earth given the description in that bio

[Top-Hatted One]

1 hour ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

I'm curious to hear these songs...

Fill My World is just bad though. Solo doesn't really go anywhere and the Ashba-inspired SCOM riff is annoying.

Interesting. I’m a Sixx Am fan but never heard Ashba play that riff before. His riffs are usually Melodic but frantic 

[Gordon Comstock]

3 minutes ago, Top-Hatted One said:

Interesting. I’m a Sixx Am fan but never heard Ashba play that riff before. His riffs are usually Melodic but frantic 

 

Perhaps, like most of us, you tried to erase it from your memory.

 

[Free Bird]

4 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Perhaps, like most of us, you tried to erase it from your memory.

 

I wonder what Duff was thinking playing this show...

[Ratam]

Slash said in an interview he and and any SMKC has been with COVID, in spite of they was all vaccinated .

[StrangerInThisTown]

Wow song is dross, just the housewife radio-while-cleaning-the-dishes pop-rock Bon Jovi has been putting out since the 2000s. The solo is fucking good though, those melodies and played with that feel, intense. It's worth listening to just for that one short note at 3:21, gave me goosebumps which I didn't expect cause I wrote the song off by that point already. Too bad it's wasted on such a song.

Seems like there's gonna be a few songs I'm gonna like judging from the bio: Spirit Love, Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Call Off The Dogs and Fall Back To Earth seem like my kinda songs. Going in different styles like with Great Pretender or The Unholy is the only exciting thing this band has left to offer IMHO.

The rockers have turned so generic starting with LTD, only the fast and furious songs like Sugar Cane do anything, so it seems I was right on the money Call Off The Dogs is gonna be one of those. But none of this midtempo plodding generic stuff like Driving Rain or The River Is Rising for me anymore.

Edited December 3, 2021 by StrangerInThisTown

[smoking guns]

 

[skik08]

I'm a huge SMKC fan. Not only is this the worst single they have put out. It's probably Slash's worst single in his career. I will even go as far to say it's the worst SMKC song I've ever heard. This is a real kick in the balls because I really enjoyed River is Rising. 

 

[Top-Hatted One]

Not impressed . Yet another song I will put away forever after a handful of listens. Didn’t think they’d possibly put out something worse than LTD but with these 2 songs they managed to. Hope the rest of the songs are salvageable. Even LTD had some moments. They seem to be getting worse and even more generic with every release 

[rocknroll41]

Wow, I didn’t think it could get any worse than River Is Rising. That song at least had a catchy melody (despite Myles’s nasally voice ruining the delivery of it). This song, though? This one’s just trash…

Edited December 3, 2021 by rocknroll41

[smoking guns]

I am seeing a lot of love for the song everywhere except by the hard core folks here. 

[Chuerta86]

Love it! Slash is on a roll. Two for two! A catchy by the numbers radio friendly single with a beautiful thought out solo that will get airplay, nothing wrong with that. 

[smoking guns]

Myles sounds so good here. And no shred noodle stuff from Slash. Tasty tune!

[Ralphelmo]

33 minutes ago, smoking guns said:

I am seeing a lot of love for the song everywhere except by the hard core folks here. 

Still a minority here. And I really doubt about their hardcoreness.

[Martin Riggs]

On this active rock chart (updated today) The River is Rising is up to #11 and HS is down to #16. 
 

https://hitsdailydouble.com/mediabase_chart_details&fmt=R2

[Ralphelmo]

Another interesting thing...

Do you guys know how many views has 'World On Fire', 7 years after the official video was released? 2M!

And 'You're a Lie', 9 years after the release? 5,6M

 

River is Rising's numbers are really good! 

[GoForJMark]

I've shat on SMKC's past 2nd and 3rd records. But I just realized that I've been playing this one a lot lately. It fucking grew on me and that solo is fire.