idk what got this thread poppin again but I'm loving it btw Orensanz version of "A Decade Under the Influence" >>>> original
...honestly you could maybe sell me on that I think "New Again" and "Set Phasers to Stun" are the only songs that don't work beautifully in that performance, but they're still pretty good
Picking a "best song" would be hard. I just know its not Sad Savior (a song which I have warmed up to over the years!) Also, not to stir this up again, but I do wonder what exactly went down with Eddie. Because it must have been something realllllly bad if he has gotten treatment for his alcoholism/is sober now, and they still don't seem interested in having him back (at least last we heard anyway). Like, as long as those guys have been together and have been friends, for them to still not want him back, like.....my imagination goes to the worst places there. Something traumatizing had to have happened. I just hope he's in a good place now health wise. He's the only member of the band I ever met and he gave me a nice/polite 'hey how you doing' as we walked by him in Huntington before a show.
Let's not steer the thread into Eddie speculation again, whatever happened is in the past, I always feel weird speculating about this considering it has to do with someone's addiction struggles. i'm still friends with him on FB and he seems happy and in a good place.
Yeah i don't want to speculate I just feel so bad because they just seemed like they all love/look up to him and I hate that he's not in the band now. I'm glad it sounds like he's still doing good. I'm sure the other guys are nice too but he just seemed really nice when we briefly talked to him in passing. It was a Huntington, NY show in.....hmm...2014? Maybe before that? And I just remember it because we got there early so we walked around town a little bit and there was an ambulance in front of the venue with the lights on and we were walking and Eddie was walking our direction and I go to my wife/gf at the time "hey, that's Eddie!" and he looked up and was like hey guys how you doing? And we did the usual big fans, cant wait to see the show tonight, etc, and then I said "There's an ambulance outside of the venue right now, I don't know what's going on" and he was like "oh shit really?" and then we said goodbyes and he hurried off towards the venue lol. I've heard John is really cool/chill in person too.
they honestly aren’t really a band in need of a rhythm guitarist. i can’t think of a single contribution of eddie’s of note. i’m sure there are plenty, but there aren’t any that are obvious just from listening to their music
john and adam both lived in my neighborhood until all three of us moved out in 2020. john was very nice when i would see him around. i only saw adam around twice and once was him aggressively running through a cig outside of a bar lol. apparently john is a non-existent uber tipper which stinks, per @nohandstoholdonto
Oof this one is tough...For me it's gonna be between Death Wolf, Ghost, and Phasers.....You know how I do is close. Live acoustic-y album they did with the full band and a backing string ensemble and stuff while the Matts were still in the band.
Yeah it's not so much like "omg that guitar part really sticks out!" or anything, it's more that I know he's come up with a lot of the riffs chord progressions and such that they've had. It's an interesting band because the song writing does seem super collaborative compared to some other bands. It's gonna be weird to have an album without his influence on it. Wonder which direction the sound goes, if they get weirder/less rock and roll-y like adam and john's side project is right now lol