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My band is on the verge of releasing our new album "Glimmer and Glamour" but before we do we were hoping to get some comments/criticism on the songs that we think are done.
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Edit in the add-on of " Icarus Rising " into your thread title. Sure to get the attention of Icky and his fans.
I don't think I'd be much help as a critic; eg I've never liked CreedenceClearwaterRevival, Chicago, Prince, CelineDion, U2, GreenDay...
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Honestly? You need either different vocal lines or different vocalists. The vocals are killing your tracks.
The mix also needs serious improvement if you're planning on doing a serious release. The fidelity of the recording of your strings vs drums & vocals is distinctly different, and the mix quality is extremely bad, even for a garage band. Every part needs several more takes.
The music is fun, although the lyrics are utterly ignorable. Your friends & family will probably like it a lot, and with a new vocalist you'd likely be show-worthy in the right places.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Agreed erso. I mean, no matter how hard I try, I can't take your vocalist's voice seriously. The music is nice though.
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2006
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I liked "Retro Girl" best. Specifically, I liked your use of harmony in that song, and, FWIW, I would encourage more of the same in other songs. It was very nice.
And your band's name rocks. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Noah, I don't know enough to comment on the mixing or recording quality, but I did listen to both this and the CD you brought to KamaCon and I can hear tons of improvement in your music. I know it's a different style, but I still think your singing and songwriting has improved a lot in the last couple of years.
That said, I liked Anomaly best, and Boomers better than Grow Up and Retro Girl. The lyrics of the latter two are kinda inane. I disagree with SoaP about not being able to take your voice seriously -- not everyone's style is going to be to everyone's taste, and that's fine. You sound young and pop-y, and you are, so that's cool. But the lyrics don't really tell a compelling story, which makes it hard to become invested in the songs. (I don't consider a description of a hallucinogenic trip a compelling story, although I guess there are plenty of other songs about it, and it was somewhat amusing to hear it in a 50's pop style.)
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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The lead voice isn't necessarily bad...but the range seems really limited. All the songs sound sort of the same, but with different background music. The lyrics didn't grab me at all, even after listening to all of them all the way through I've already forgotten them all. The singing seemed to crack here and there when you go out of range.
I had my best friend listen to them too, as she listens to a LOT more music than I do and likely have a better opinion, and she said the page won't totally load for her, but she listened to a minute or two of the first song that popped up. Her only comment was that she didn't like the lead's voice at all. Personally I don't think it's automatically bad (though the backup singers were a bit piercing).
I'd like to see better lyrics and a little more variety in the lead vocal. And I think the background music is a bit flat. But there's plenty to work with I think.
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I'm not a mixing expert, but the music did sound kind of odd. The songs were kind of catchy, but the balance of the instruments made it sound kind of flat.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl: I just wanted to pop in here and say "hi", Noah -- because you don't post much here anymore.
Except to pimp his mediocre band.
Yeah Primal, you're cool.
I spent plenty of years as a full-fledged member of the community on this website to the point where if I want to pop in once a year and ask for opinions on my music and get a little extra exposure, I more than earned it. If you don't like the music or you don't like the fact that I post a whopping single post about it once a year then you could easily ignore it.
Instead you feel like taking the time to be flat out mean to someone who was never mean to you. Get over yourself.
As for any bashing comments that were made, it doesn't phase me. I have a decent-sized and rapidly growing fanbase in the d.c. area, and I'm proud of my art. It makes me and many who listen to it happy, and that's what art is meant to do. Is it for everyone? No. I don't expect it to be. But for those of you who don't know how to give constructive feedback, you shouldn't be posting in this thread. If you don't like my music, fine. I'm not hurt. But what's the point of saying something unhelpful like "Your music sucks".
For those of you who did post constructive feedback, thank you for giving my music a listen. I appreciate your time and help and I'll certainly take your comments into consideration as I always do. It's a huge factor in how I'm able to grow as a musician.
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Upon first listen, I'm getting kind of a Beach Boys vibe. Which isn't good or bad necessarily.
I think the vocals are just fine. However, I can agree with others who said they didn't relate to the lyrics at all. I can't get into that aspect of the songs.
I do like the background music.
Is "Boomers" supposed to be a little bit goofy and tongue in cheek? Because, if not, I don't think that song adds anything to your sound.
Unless you do drugs, I think the song will get you a reputation you don't necessarily want.
It's not my favorite genre of music, but I can appreciate the effort inherent in the songs. And I'm mostly impressed.
Thanks for sharing it. Good luck with the CD.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I would love to have a band as mediocre as yours.
(I say that in all sincerity -- I'm not being sarcastic, ironic, or any other excuse for saying things you don't mean. )
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I like the vocals. They don't try to be anything that they aren't, and they serve the music well. It's got a nice "Sublime-ey" feeling to it. From what I can tell, you didn't use very many takes while recording. It sounded (production-wise) like a couple of guys jamming, not like a studio album. Turn the bass way, way up. I could only hear it when it did fills. What are you using to record your guitars? Crank up the mids on those. To perfect the sound, it's going to take literally hundreds of takes overall, so have a little patience.
Posts: 1594 | Registered: Apr 2006
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I agree with ElJay you've improved since I last heard you, of course the last time I heard you was over a cell phone, you singing with a guitar. This isn't the type of music I'd like to listen to on cd or ipod over and over, but I think you would be great live at small locations. Young, vibrant, sort of indie but not overly so, very much the college scene.
Are you back at Oberlin or still living in DC?
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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D.C. over the summer, but yes, I'll be back at Oberlin for one more year come the end of the month.
Posts: 1934 | Registered: Jun 2001
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There's nothing wrong with the texture of your voice, especially for the style, but you go noticeably flat in some places and I found it really distracting (and I don't have perfect pitch). I'm not sure what to advise, though, because I have a similar problem in my singing.
I also found the mixes a bit muddy and indistinct. In particular I had a hard time making out the guitars -- maybe a less mellow tone with a bit more bite would make the guitar lines clearer.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Well, I won't pretend to be a music expert at all, but I can tell you what I got from a short listen.
Noah, I really don't mean any offense by this at all, but I have to agree with the folks who weren't fans of the vocals. Your voice and singing has a very punky Green Day/Dropkick Murphy's quality to it, but you're trying for the more relaxed and melodic. As it currently stands it's just really not working for me. You're not a bad singer, at least no worse than the lead singers of some really successful and awesome bands (some of my personal favorites). But, imho, the way you're currently trying to sing just isn't working so well. It kinda ground on me to be honest.
I'd recommend you try for a more punky style to your singing, a little more raw, a little more energy. That could really work very well with your voice. Or alternately if you want to stick with the current style, maybe let one of your band mates have a go at the vocals and you do guitar? (You can play guitar too, right?)
Anyway, that's just my uneducated opinion, you can take it or leave it as you please. And I wish you luck with the band, hope you guys make it Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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