Summer Town, and that song rules and I will not/cannot tolerate any slander Only massive dud in their discography for me is Screamer, but I really like some of the songs on the first half. Tropic Scorpio, in particular. OOTV will always and forever be my favourite just for when it was released during formative years for me
I really enjoy the cover EP. Mostly because I don’t know any of those songs so it’s just the same as original music to me.
The Ursa Major/Ursa Minor era of 3EB was such an interesting and albeit frustrating time to a be fan. I probably spent time every day on The Village Churchyard forum reading the discussions of the new songs, the live performances, the demos, and all the debates. It was still early Youtube era so it all felt so new and exciting to dig into all the new stuff. But man, Jenkins really tinkered a lot of those songs to death. The original versions and demos of a lot of those tunes blow away what ended up on the record. Like this demo of Summer Town would have been an amazing, saudade inducing track fully fleshed out, but then it ended up some weird rap beach jam. Then later on leading into the Dopamine record, which I still dug, there was more of that. The worst was the original version of Dopamine. The OG version and the intro especially is just fire and so many felt like it got ruined on the album: 3EB has so many amazing b-sides and demos, especially from that era. Love this one especially:
There’s also an old live version of Got so High that was way more 90s alt-rock/pop-punk than what it became on Screamer.
I'm sorry but that demo of Summer Town is in no ways better than what it became. It keeps the killer chorus and then everything else is mostly forgettable. The final version is much better
Can we all at least agree that 2x Tigers is by far their worst song? Like what the fuck is that Stephan
What we ended up with on the album was such a sin. Hearing it live back in 2013 made me certain it was going to be a top 5 TEB song for me. It got reduced to sadness
I think there's worse songs on the latest album, but yes that song isn't good. But I'm glad they did it, I would rather they try word shit and it not hit than play it safe all the time
original Tattoo is an absolute classic, I don't remember off the top of my head what other versions there are
I think the only version I know of that song is the one that was on the CD single for "Semi Charmed Life" that I had when I was a kid.
Man, that site ruled. I built up this really solid demo collection around Ursa time from that site. I have no idea how people kept getting hold of stuff but I probably had an albums worth of demos (I recall one track named Stevie Ray Vaughan, and something that became Water Landing but had a different name...) Also had a really nice tab section that wasn't salvaged before the site closed up
Yep, it was an awesome website. And that tab section was such a go-to. I was getting into acoustic guitar around 2008 or so and took full advantage of those tabs. Learning how to play Motorcycle Drive-By and Wounded still puts a smile on my face.
Another demo that never saw the light of day on a record that I really dug (although it really draws from Crystal Baller):
Yes, believe that early Water Landing was called Break Me and that's a really cool song! It's like 1/3 Water Landing and 2/3 a whole different song, has a cool hook too
I believe this is it, or a version of what it was from what I recall (I think there were a few versions). Really good. I swear, 3EB has the best demos and b-sides of any band I know.
I like the non-stop/medley feel of the new live album. Only one moment where Jenkins does a brief insincere monologue about gratitude for the fans.
I rarely rarely enjoy live albums, is this one worth it? My major gripe is that live albums almost never can capture the true energy of live shows
It’s pretty energetic/frenetic. Songs bleed into each-other and they randomly go into some songs for just a moment so it’s kinda unpredictable.