On one hand I kind of empathize with Matty a little because imagine the singer of one of your favorite bands asks you to take his place… are you gonna say no just because other fans might not like it?
Anberlin related, since I couldn't find a page on this, but does anyone know where I can get Joe's side band SINS albums in digital format? I was going through my bandcamp app and in my wishlist section I had Sink Away wishlisted, I can listen to it there, but when I go to purchase on the website version it does not show up. I looked everywhere and can't find any of the albums available anymore. It is like he wiped them from the internet. I instagramed messaged him, but nothing. Was wondering if anyone knows any other place to buy the downloads, they are pretty good songs if anyone hasn't listened to them before.
i never picked up his second album, but i have Sink Away somewhere on my external hard drive. give me a bit and i can send it your way
if you need any more evidence that its only Matty now, the new Acceptance re-imagined album features a song with Stephen and a song with Matty. On streaming, the Matty song also tags Anberlin, but the Stephen song only tags anchor&braille
It really feels like the joke of them re-recording their entire discography to make it Anberlin (Matty's version) is actually going to happen. God help us all.
there's no reason for them to rerecord any of their songs with Matty, but rerecording Readyfuels makes even less sense. Blueprints already had its 20th anniversary, and most casual fans would probably put on NTFP, Cities, or New Surrender over that album. what practical reason could they have to rerecord it other than streams? genuinely stupid. unless they're pulling a Taylor Swift and want ownership of the songs, which, God help us all if they really do go back and rerecord everything with Matty to do that (they probably won't, but who the hell knows at this point?)
Are they really this creatively tapped out? How about working on some good new songs to win people over instead of rehashing even more of the catalogue?
Because nostlagia sells and this is one way to drum up that nostalgia. Would be even slightly positive about this current state of the band if they were making new music and going a route similar to the EP's we have. This new take on re-recordings and "trying to capture old Anberlin sound" or whatever Matty said about possible new music just is not interesting to me.
They'll all be awkwardly renamed, so prepare for Blackmarket, City, Newer Surrender, Dark/Way/Light/Place, V1T4L, and born. Cause it's in lowercase, get it?
it's the fact that all of them (Stephen included) are on board with this direction which makes it even sadder. if they had done only one nostalgic-sounding song with this lineup and then proceeded to make music that expanded upon the rest of their post-breakup output, i'd be less upset, but they've walked back on pretty much everything they've done or promised and have just leaned into being derivative of their older selves. i get that nostalgia sells, but you don't have to abandon your creative streak to have a successful career.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" They could have ridden off into the sunset so perfectly after Lowborn. Heck, even the EPs would have been fine to come back for. But this attitude of "everybody wants this, everybody wins!" is just so frustrating/delusional/sad
It's not hard, lots of bands change vocalists. Let the live show be its own thing. Yes, new vocalist, but play the songs faithfully. Even record new music or B-sides and unfinished old songs with a new vocalist. I'm not a Linkin Park fan, but most of the backlash there seems to be about the Scientology, not having a new singer at all.