I was pretty meh on this after my first listen. Gonna have to spin it a few more times this weekend. I think it’s one of those albums that will have to grow on me.
Ah the vinyl finally arrived! I finally understand what everyone's been talking about with Starting Over/Slow Down. Holy hell that song is amazing. Definitely my favorite on first listen, along with It Is Real.
His bass is a funny thing. Typically he plays only 8th notes and is just keeping time with the right hand and following the melody with the left. So I was like that’s kinda cool. Let’s make it a point to ONLY do 8th notes on this entire record. And instead of just recording him playing bass (cause that’s boring) I was like how can we make this sound “too good to be true?” So I decided he should only play 1/4 notes. We’d track section by section. Sometimes note by note. And I’d chop it all up and program it to be 1/8th notes. Kinda like programming a bass synth. Every hit is super consistent.
It's funny that The American Scene got brought up earlier. I remember their first stuff being very reminiscent of the TDS. Now it's come full circle with TDS working with the same producer.
Now knowing what's coming, I get goosebumps every time Prologue starts cuz I know that "I love you, dude" emotional explosion is around the corner.
It’s worth noting I’ve been working on new material with the Twins (Matt & Charles) from TAS. You’ll be hearing from them soon!
There seriously isn't a single skipable song on here. I was trying to add select songs to my gym playlist and ended up just putting the whole album on there lol
awesome news. I still have both of their full lengths on vinyl. I saw your comment about how HAZE could've been so much more than it was. While disappointing to hear, I still greatly enjoy a lot of songs on there.
@Samuel Pura -- Just wanted to say this album is great. I love all the subtleties in the mixes. It really fills it out. Also the whole really capturing the emotion thing.
She said "you gotta realize it And fuckin' fight till you're dying" I remember the time spent, and the winds all pushed me home
One of my favorite lyrics “Will you throw me away and have all the interns write my songs?” There is so much depth behind that lyric. So true and so good.
One of my favourite lyrics is every damn word. How did you guys write the ending to Virginia? Were you like "fuck it just let loose this kick in the face burst of emotions"? Cause I'm dying.
The bridge and ending to that song is what I love most about AJ. The way he just takes it to another level in an organic way really pulls me in. It reminds me a lot of "Weathered".
No clue. The dudes were setup in my east live room to jam and record live. So we’d work on a song all day together in my west studio... call it a night. Then the dudes would just let loose and jam for hours into the night with the audio recording. So the intro of that song is THE TAKE from their demo. The energy and vibe. They are working it. Communicating together. Natural live feedback etc. so I kept that and overdubbed the drums. And then kept the ending where they are like FUCK YEAH! I woke up to that song and was like holy shit. This is like a classic rock song. Lots of vibe. I didn’t really have a heavy hand in that song. Only with the drum arrangement to open up some space and keep the momentum going on that song. That song and violent red were pretty easy and fun ones to knock out. Kinda classic rock band approach. No fuss. Kept it simple.
Just wanted to say @Samuel Pura I really gained so much more respect for your craft from reading your responses on here... it’s clear your dedication is immense and a key factor in why so many records you’ve worked on have turned out as great as they have. I think rock music needs more producers with your passion and work ethic.
Which variant are they selling on tour? Also vinyl people, does it come with a lyric sheet? @Samuel Pura i don’t have any questions because you’ve been so thorough but wanted to tell you that you killed it. This sounds amazing and the drums are truly next level. Also even though I haven’t gone back to Under Soil and Dirt in a while I still think your production work on that is so great. Everything sounds so clean. Hope you keep making records like this with bands that want to be pushed to the next level.
I thought this was coming out today and got really disappointed when I checked Spotify this morning and it wasn't there. Just ordered the vinyl so I can internally justify downloading the leak tonight. Excited to hear what all of the hype is about because I've loved the three pre-release singles.
As an aspiring producer myself I appreciate the insight into how one of my favorite bands works and goes about the creative process