My band's debut album - alternative/indie-rock

[trinitysong]

Hi everybody, it's been a while since I was on the forums. My band, after being on hiatus for a few years, has finally released our old recordings. I would really like some feedback on the music, genre specification, and anything else you could think of. I'm just happy that I finally get to say I have an album.

Here's the link:

http://outdamnedspot.bandcamp.com

Streaming is free and the album is pay what you like. Let me know what you think, thanks!

-Trinity

[trinitysong]

Any feedback at all?

[Gelatelli]

Well, I'm not exactly sure what kind of feedback you want on it, but, in my opinion, I could have done a better job recording and producing it. Most people would probably say it sounds fine, but to me it sounds demo-ish. It sounds like a band cutting tracks in a studio instead of a band taking me on a journey. I could say other things about it but they don't matter because you've already made the album. I will say that you should have looked for a production team that would have pushed you to your absolute limits, and then pushed you some more. I'm not saying that what you've done is bad, I'm just saying that it's not up to what it could be. I can hear more potential in the musicians and the singer than what has actually been recorded.

[Gregg Juke]

Well, I read the review, and to be honest, I could do a better job reviewing. It sounds like someone being a bit snide and self-inflating, but not really taking me on a journey; just like someone who bought a computer and started typing.
I could say a lot more, but it doesn't matter because the review is already written.

So, to offer an alternate review-- IT SOUNDS FINE.

GJ

[Nick Sevilla]

O.K. I'll offer some opinion.
The first song you to listen to on your link is "Blind".
So, I will opine on this song.

I like the lyrics a lot. Good job.

The style in which the song was chosen to be presented to the World I do have an issue with.

The playing is unemotional. As in I did not feel anything while listening to the song.
The singing is also unemotional. I only felt a little something at 1:46 where the voice opened albeit for a brief moment.

I felt the entire treatment of the song was like a long extended verse. There was no changes in emotion between sections. Doubling a vocal to indicate the chorus was not the right way to go, simply because the performance itself did not change enough between the verse and the chorus. It simply did not take me anywhere else different than the rest of the song.

Imagine if you can what a band like Massive Attack would do to this song. And then try to do that.

As to the quality of the recording, I could note that I did not hear any low end. And I admit I love low end. The snare is too loud and sounds like someone is hitting wet cardboard. The electric guitar could have been an acoustic and served the song better. The bass could have played notes other than the roots of every chord... introducing some harmony to the piece.

Cheers

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u7K72X4eo_s

[Gelatelli]

Well, Mr Juke, the person asked me what I thought and I told him. I was not aware that my review had to meet your approval first. If I didn't like it, then I just didn't like it. Why should I say I like it if I don't like it. But still I didn't say that I didn't like it - what I said is that it could have been better and that I could have done it better. Maybe that's too honest. Maybe I should have said it in a kinder way. The problem is that nobody responded to his music at all, so I took a listen to it. I guess though that if one is not thrilled with the music then it's better not to review it at all.

[Gregg Juke]

I guess it was the part about "I could ave done it better." Seems over the top. but what do I know?

GJ

[Gelatelli]

By the way, Mr. juke, since you posted, I followed your link and have been listening to your stuff. If I was to produce your band I would work on the lyrics. To me they sound too descriptive. I believe you are giving away too much information and not leaving anything to the listener's imagination. I believe you would do better to point a line in a particular direction and let the listener fill in the rest of the information in his/her own mind.

Take a song like "the thrill is gone". Extremely simple lyrics, yet powerful. The song doesn't describe every detail of the events that took place, but yet you understand exactly what it's about and can relate to it. So, in my opinion you need to leave some mystery in what you sing. Strip the songs down to rock bottom and then build them up choosing your words carefully. In my opinion, the blues is what you leave out of a song - the spaces in between the notes - that's the blues.

[ubertar]

This board is a tricky place to post something that's finished. It's a better forum for posting stuff in progress when you want some feedback, and can still make changes. I do it myself, though... but it helps in that case to explicitly post that you're not looking for engineering or production advice.

I only listened to "Blind"... at first I was put off by the prominence of the snare and the regularity of the chunka chunka chunka rhythm, (but I got used to it, for the most part) and I agree with Nick that the bass line could have been a lot more interesting. Maybe some of what Gelatelli was hearing as demo-like was how dry it is... I think the whole thing, especially the vocal, could have used a bit of reverb. There was a strange, percussive sound that came in from time to time; I found it distracting-- I don't think it added to the song.

What I liked about it were the vocals. She has a nice voice, with personality to it. It didn't bother me that the performance was restrained; not every song has to be intensely emotional. A nice voice isn't enough, though... there could have been more going on melodically and harmonically to make it a more interesting piece of music.

[Gelatelli]

This board is a tricky place to post something that's finished. It's a better forum for posting stuff in progress when you want some feedback, and can still make changes.

Yes, Sir, I have to agree with that. Once it's done, what do you want me to say? They're good musicians, I have no problem with that, but I would have pushed them more to try to get them out of their comfort zone. The singer, for example, has got to be a little bit sexy and mysterious - for lack of better words. She also has to use better "phrasing" to catch the attention of the listener - to draw them in. I think one problem is that people these days don't really listen to the classic great singers who knew how to deliver a line. I guess those days are gone forever.

[RoyMatthews]

By the way, Mr. juke, since you posted, I followed your link and have been listening to your stuff. If I was to produce your band I would work on the lyrics. To me they sound too descriptive. I believe you are giving away too much information and not leaving anything to the listener's imagination. I believe you would do better to point a line in a particular direction and let the listener fill in the rest of the information in his/her own mind.

Take a song like "the thrill is gone". Extremely simple lyrics, yet powerful. The song doesn't describe every detail of the events that took place, but yet you understand exactly what it's about and can relate to it. So, in my opinion you need to leave some mystery in what you sing. Strip the songs down to rock bottom and then build them up choosing your words carefully. In my opinion, the blues is what you leave out of a song - the spaces in between the notes - that's the blues.

This is petty and unwarranted.

[chris harris]

This whole thing is stupid. It had been 6+ months with no response. I'm sure the OP can take a hint. It was definitely not necessary to rub salt in the wound in such an up-your-own-ass kind of way.

I hope the OP doesn't take the lack of response, or the delayed childish bullshit too personally. The first thing I saw was "90s revival" in the bandcamp tags and got exactly what I was expecting. Of course if I produced it, I would have done some things differently. If ANYONE ELSE produced it, they would have done some things differently. And, none of them would be doing it right or wrong.

I hope the OP doesn't even come back to read this nonsense. Taste is subjective, assholes. And, the arrogance is a sign of someone who would be a nightmare to work with. Maybe you guys have impeccable taste. Maybe you have platinum records on the walls. But, you come off as the kind of people I wouldn't want anywhere near my projects.

[Gregg Juke]

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said anything at all, playful or not, but I was apparently right in surmising a bit of a "I'm the Man" attitude in this cat's response, and I had a moment and got all protector-y and whatnot, which then opened me up to this completely unwarranted criticism (BTW, no interest in a pissing contest here, but re: my music, the public, and international radio listeners and music critics have spoken, and well, there's two folks on the other side of the scale who vehemently disagree with their almost universal accolades-- a guy who is no longer posting on this board, and THIS guy, apparently... When you get something of your own that you're willing to expose to the world, we're waiting, Johnny)...

Anyway, sorry I missed the OP's stuff the first time around, because I did like it. Sorry I stuck my neck out to shoot down some high-flying BS, because, well, Nick is entitled to his opinion, even if it's sometimes harsh, because he has the experience and the knowledge, and the history here at the TOMB, to back it up-- and as Ubertar said, sometimes this is a tough place to post finished material. But Gelatelli? How about earning some community-participation points before spouting off about how great you are and how much better you could do it?!? Seriously??? End rant.

So anyway, To the OP: I liked it, and recognize the talent and the effort.
To everybody else, sorry. You're right Chris-- If I was a mod, I'd lock me out of this thread too...

GJ

[Gelatelli]

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said anything at all, playful or not, but I was apparently right in surmising a bit of a "I'm the Man" attitude in this cat's response, and I had a moment and got all protector-y and whatnot, which then opened me up to this completely unwarranted criticism (BTW, no interest in a pissing contest here, but re: my music, the public, and international radio listeners and music critics have spoken, and well, there's two folks on the other side of the scale who vehemently disagree with their almost universal accolades-- a guy who is no longer posting on this board, and THIS guy, apparently... When you get something of your own that you're willing to expose to the world, we're waiting, Johnny)...GJ

When I said I could do it better, that was simply the first thought that came into my head. I probably shouldn't have said it but that's just the way I felt about it. That doesn't mean that I'm trying to say I'm the man, but I simply don't like the recording. When I hear anything, I always compare it to a pro recording or a pro performance because that's what I've been listening to all my life - that's the only standard I know. If I put something up and somebody says they don't like it and can articulate that in understandable terms then that's fine with me. If they say it's absolute rubbish then I would simply ignore that because I know that it isn't rubbish. So, sorry for those who took it the wrong way. For those who like the recording I have no problem with that.

[Gelatelli]

This is petty and unwarranted.

I would reply to this if I knew what you meant by it. In the meantime I will say that it was not meant to be taken in a negative way - it was just my first thoughts said out loud. I know people are pretty stressed out on these message boards - I see that on Youtube all the time. If you say you don't like a song then there are ten people calling you an AH because you don't like their song. THAT to me is petty and unwarranted.

I do care about music and I respect every musician because I am one myself and I know the hard work it takes to even be half decent. I think GJ's music is fine, I wish him all the best, I have not come here to be his enemy or give him a hard time, BUT, what I said about his lyrics are exactly how I feel and if you want to remove my commentary then by all means please do that. Maybe I care about that aspect of songwriting more than other people do. Maybe GJ never considered that aspect before, but I give it to him as something he can either take or leave.

Anyway, I'm finished with this dreadful thread here. PLEASE take it off!