Anberlin Band • Page 210

Anthony at least has a surreal quality to his voice that can match, if not replicate, what Stephen has.

 

i think Anthony would definitely be a better choice to match Stephen's pitch (and exceed it), but there's something soulful about Stephen's tone that neither Matty nor Anthony have, imo.

 

Anberlin still has subtle (and not so subtle from Stephen) Christian vibes that I really doubt Anthony would want to take part in

 

I honestly think a female vocalist could've matched Stephen's vibe well

 

Seems a little paradoxical that the non-Stephen members wanted to continue the band but also needed a little pick-me-up by way of matty’s effort level.

 

It's just the way the band has handled this that's tough to swallow. The "Adapt or Die" terminology at the beginning. The mislead about Matty being a "touring" vocalist (which Christian sort of shrugs off in that interview). The band's frustration with fans for being frustrated. The trolling without ever being straightforward.

As a band that has gone above and beyond for fans, it just feels weirdly disrespectful. This interview confirms the band had a certain measure of frustration with Stephen, and now I feel like that frustration is transferring to fans who don't love the change. It's great that Matty has a great work ethic. I'm glad the band can continue to tour. Can we not keep Stephen as a studio vocalist? And if not, can we respect fans enough to be honest with them about that?

I will never be happy with Matty as the band's vocalist. I just won't. I know many fans feel the same. But there's a world where that could have happened and it still not be this frustrating. I can respect the band wanting to continue, and I'm glad they're having fun, but it feels like a large portion of their fans are being left behind for a party they're not invited to. And if it's going to be this way, I just wish there was some understanding on the band's part as to why the change is hard for a lot of fans.

 

Stephen's still a studio vocalist though? maybe not the only one, but definitely the lead one, and he's still recording? for the record, i agree the transition hasn't been handled as well as it could've (and i wish they chose someone other than Matty to fill Stephen's touring spot), but it's not like Stephen is gone forever - coming from both him and the rest of the band.

 

I honestly feel like Stephen being gone is going to evolve into a permanent thing, I'd be very surprised if the workload of a pastor in a mega-church ever gets light enough to tour again shy of small outings here and there.

 

maybe so, which would be sad, but i think i'd be more upset if he stopped recording with them, and that definitely doesn't sound like that's gonna happen. i don't go to a ton of shows as it is, so i've resigned myself to probably never seeing them live and making peace with that, but i can get how frustrating that would be for everyone.

 

It’s remarks like this that are getting old. Like, the original comment is whatever, but why respond like that and basically make your fans the butt of your jokes.

 

moral of the story: Never Take Criticism Personal?

 

I just can't get over that Matty thought that was so funny/clever, that he responded like that, then screenshot it and shared it to his story, then either someone else in the band or him decided to share it AGAIN on the band page.

It's just lame.

 

They do seem to be quite prickly over people criticizing this decision on social media, Christian especially. Now, I personally would never @ a band and talk shit to them like people are doing, but they're definitely seeing people's thoughts on all of this.

 

in all seriousness, i agree that the responses like that to other's critiques are unnecessary. like i can understand the rest of the band's frustration about being inundated with tons of comments about how people aren't vibing with Matty as a touring/occasional studio vocalist. on their end, of course that's gonna get annoying after a while, and regardless of how anyone feels about the decisions they've made (which are valid criticisms), they know they're obviously in a less than ideal situation, so i can understand how they'd be frustrated that they're attempting to make the most with what they have and that fans are still upset.

i can also understand how Matty would feel upset that people aren't receptive to his addition to the band. while i'm not a big fan of his vocals (the two or three MMF songs i've heard have been pretty mediocre or just not my speed, and don't get me started on his godawful solo music; Walk Alone is tolerable to me - not great but not the worst thing i've ever heard), it must suck to start singing for your favorite band and try to do the songs justice and not get the reception you'd hoped for from longtime fans (which again, those critiques are legitimate).

that being said, it just feels unnecessary to engage with the criticism whatsoever? like if you're confident in your decisions and feel like you've explained yourself and your choice of direction carefully (which i honestly think was covered by the initial announcement video), why can't you just ignore it and do whatever the fuck you wanna do? of course people aren't gonna vibe with it, so maybe focus on those who might or just don't care either way? their social media comments seem to have tons of people who are fully on board with Matty, so if you're gonna respond to any of them, maybe go for those?

i don't think Matty's addition to the band is the death knell that some think it might be since Stephen is still gonna be heavily involved with/taking lead on the studio recordings (nor do i feel like Walk Alone is indicative of what the band will sound like going forward), but if the rest of the band feels the same way, why engage with those who disagree and piss them off more?

 

I won’t be surprised at all if they walk back on Stephen being the primary studio vocalist and eventually Matty just takes over as the singer and Stephen occasionally does guest spots and shows here and there with them.

 

Really REALLY don't want this to happen, but I could totally see it happening. There will be a point in the future where we get a 100% Matty vocal Anberlin album. Then in 5 years, Stephen will come back again and then dip out again after 5 years.

 

i'm not ruling out the possibility of this happening (and i definitely don't want it to happen), but i feel like the extent and timeline of it is probably predicated on the overall reception to Matty's songs. only one has been released and obviously the reception has been mixed. despite the band saying they're gonna make whatever music they want, they're also well aware that many fans want Stephen. they wouldn't shift that balance to being primarily Matty-led unless the reception to his songs was overwhelmingly positive. until Matty has more than two songs under his belt that the general public seems to love - or until Stephen fully decides that he wants out of recording with the band as well (which i don't think is going to happen because the holdup has always been touring and spending time away from his family and job, otherwise he'd probably stop making music under any moniker like Anchor & Braille) - i don't think Stephen's gonna take a backseat to Matty on recorded tracks.

this is why LP9 is gonna be important for understanding the direction they're headed, since Vega mostly repackages a bunch of Stephen-led material written and recorded before he decided to step back from touring. i think the next album might have a slightly-increased number of Matty-led tracks, but will most likely either have Stephen lead the majority of them, or perhaps include songs that trade off on both of their vocals. if the goal would be that Stephen takes a backseat or leaves entirely, they'd want to make the strongest and most well-received Matty-led material they could on this next album before handing him the reigns. you can't do that with just two songs, and the songs for LP9 might not even achieve that goal. i could be completely wrong and Stephen could decide to hand it all over to Matty, but given everything the six of them have said and the fact that Matty likely hasn't proven himself to the masses (and might never), i just don't see this happening anytime soon.

 

After listening to the podcast, and confirming a thought I had that Stephen was mostly the reason for the breakup and reluctance to tour since they got back together; I'm going to just assume this is whats going to happen long term anyway (wither with Matty or someone else). I think the same thing of it as Skiba Blink, yeah its different, but I don't think it's different enough to boycott the band or for them to not call themselves Anberlin anymore (r/anberlin is all up in their feels).

I really think that there's something good here, the boys just need to get their legs about them and mesh as something different but kind of the same, but I don't think that Stephen popping in and out is going to do them any favors, at some point just let it go and be transparent with the fanbase who ultimately is paying the bills.

 

In one of the recent podcasts Stephen mentioned that he took this and the previous hiatus mainly, because of his family. When he was a kid his dad was always traveling, always far away from them, so for the sake of his children he wanted to avoid becoming like his father. And you know what? As a father myself I can totally understand this and his decision to take a step back from touring and being in a band, if it means that he can be with his family and not miss out on them. Of course as an Anberlin fan this whole situation is bittersweet, but rather this, than to lose them for other worse reasons.

 

That's fine and all, but it's kind of like you're favorite TV show getting cancelled, then deciding to come back, but without the lead, and at first you're like, "Well, I guess this is better than it not being on at all" but then after a while it starts to get kind of embarrassing, like maybe they should've just left it cancelled when the lead wasn't in it anymore, and the other actors should've gone on to other shows/movies instead of trying to cash grab off the success of what the show was previously.

That sounds more harsh than I meant it to when I started typing, but yeah.

 

i get the sense of panic that Stephen might be hanging it up for good, but ultimately nobody (Stephen included based on prior comments) knows what's gonna happen at this very moment other than that he's still gonna record with the band at a minimum. i'll take every new song with him i can get. i doubt Matty's vocal tone is gonna change, but if the rest of the band continues down the sonic path they've been exploring the past few years (Walk Alone aside), i'll put up with his vocals if they can reign in the artificiality and do some unique stuff with the other elements of the music.

 

Giving me zombie season of Scrubs PTSD

 

Well was El Camino after Breaking Bad necessary? Not really. Was I still happy it happened? Sure I was.

Ten years ago I thought my favorite band was gone for good. No more new music. Then they gave us 2 incredibly good EPs. For this sole reason, I am happy they came back and who knows what the future holds, maybe there will be other gems like these new EPs.

 

this take has always felt weird to me. the other core members are still bringing their A-game 20 years later, and they're just as responsible for the sound of the band as Stephen is. i know Stephen's voice is a defining feature, but vocals aside, the music remains unchanged. why shouldn't they be allowed to do whatever the hell they want with the name and sonic identity they built?

 

El Camino isn't the right comparison, it would be if Jesse and Walt were played by Zac Efron and Mel Gibson