Considering their credentials and experience, I really am not worried. Mike and Neal have been working together for over a decade, so they work very well. Steve and Dave have been in the Dregs for awhile, and while I don't know much about them or that band, I can only hope they work very well together as well.
Steve, Casey and Neal seem to be VERY capable singers and songwriters, particularly the latter two as they're the POP side of this band, good at writing shorter songs and ballads I'm sure. Dave and Mike have proven to be a powerhouse rhythm section before, so I'm not worried about that aspect.
And the fact that three of the members play guitar, two play keyboard/piano, and they can ALL sing (I think Dave does, does he?), I don't doubt this project to provide anything but very amazing music.
Here's the thing for me: I have seen these kinds of calculations too many times in my life to know that you can't build a good music album like a lego kit. Chickenfoot, simply by its make-up, should have been absolutely awesome. And it was only lukewarm. Same with Transatlantic III, which I thought was disappointing.
So, when I see these "super groups" and then statements like "XYZ wrote 2 songs in one day!" and "I finished my drumming in 2 days!!", I get a bit anxious. I'd rather read a statement like "I threw away the first 10 takes because I didn't like it, and when I slept over it I had a really good idea.".
rumborak
Perhaps Mike isn't telling us those sorts of statements because he only wants to share the exciting parts of his days with this band? And I think he did mention Steve or Neal "sleeping over" things and rushing to talk about music in the morning. Either way, I'm sure a LOT of work went into each song, and it seems like having SIX guys talk about it means there's a lot of input and sharing and suggestions, so when it gets down to it, they really put out what everyone thinks is best for the music. There may not be enough TIME for ten takes, but with guys as good as they are, they may not NEED ten takes - maybe three or four - to decide what they like. Besides, this is still the WRITING stage, and not the recording stage.
Mike said in his last studio report that he will do all his PROPER drum tracks in the next few days before he heads off to NAMM, and I'm sure Neal will work out schedules with the other three guys to get their tracks done at his studio later on, or at their own studios on their own time, and have all the tracks emailed to the mixer(s), whoever they happen to be. While they've only had about 8-10 days together, they're not recording it all right now - just writing. They'll probably spend the next 2-3 months tweaking tracks, laying down proper guitars/pianos/keyboards, doing vocals, etc. etc., and probably spent another month or two mixing and mastering before all is said and done.
Also, the comparison to Chickenfoot is a bit off, IMO, as I think the dynamic in that band (without knowing a lot about them) is likely different than the dynamic presented here. It seems that on Chickenfoot's debut album, all the music was written by Hagar and Satriani, just half the band, while the others probably had little input. This band with both Morses and McPherson includes three experienced writers and two other musicians who work well with writers on arranging and offering plenty of suggestions, as well as a well-known and often-praised producer.
I think just knowing how consistently good these musicians are helps me believe that this "supergroup" will churn out an amazing album. I can only hope that it rises high above the likes of Chickenfoot, Them Crooked Vultures and Black Country Communion in recent years' rock supergroups.
-Marc.
Topic: The Official Flying Colors Thread (Read 385916 times)
