The Official Alter Bridge Thread v. PAWNS & KINGS

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

I hope they go back to the vocal production style of Blackbird. Not too many layers of Myles, Mark doing a lot of the harmonies, etc. I think Mark's voice perfectly compliments Myles' voice during harmony sections. A big part of the reason I'm not a huge fan of The Last Hero is because of the vocal production. It's just got too many layers of Myles. It begins to sound a bit whiny and jarring/harsh.

[mikeyd23]

Pumped to hear what they have come up with 

[Samsara]

I hope they go back to the vocal production style of Blackbird. Not too many layers of Myles, Mark doing a lot of the harmonies, etc. I think Mark's voice perfectly compliments Myles' voice during harmony sections. A big part of the reason I'm not a huge fan of The Last Hero is because of the vocal production. It's just got too many layers of Myles. It begins to sound a bit whiny and jarring/harsh.

You know, that's really a good point. I mean, I know time-wise, it is easier to just have the lead singer do the harmonies, since he's there. But I agree wholeheartedly. The bad hot mastering on TLH, and your point on the harmonies is spot-on.

All that said, I'm excited as hell for the new record and tour. My fam and I have made it a family affair, going to our local show, and traveling to another. Just such a great band.

[Anguyen92]

All right, Mark has confirmed that everything in their end is done.  Sadly, he intentionally covers the titles and not leaves us with some letters to give us hints.  However, some people may note that the first track has no vocals crossed off.  Will an AB instrumental finally make its way on an album?  Yes, please.



https://www.instagram.com/p/BxTnjjsACBA/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=iaevojb8mn8r

[axeman90210]

I wonder what Prog 808 means

[Max Kuehnau]

I wonder what Prog 808 means

most likely a drum machine programme. The Roland TR-808 was a legendary one.

[mikeyd23]

I wonder what Prog 808 means

most likely a drum machine programme. The Roland TR-808 was a legendary one.

Yeah, that's exactly what it is, they have had that on their last couple album white boards.

[Samsara]

re: first song. Remember, it could be something that won't ever see the light of day. There are 14 tracks there. That's a lot of tunes. But you could be right. Be nice if we got an instrumental.

"Prog 808" could mean "programming." Not necessarily drums, but keyboards. Would be a new direction if used sparingly (which it looks like it is), and not surprising at all.

GETTING EXCITED FOR NEW AB!!!!   

[Anguyen92]

AB's twitter dropped a few could-be lyric teasers in the last few days.  I'm pumped!

“Heed my advice
May you hear every word
Don’t sacrifice meaning
For riches that burn.”

"You're digging in
We'll step around
Cause in the end
We will stand our ground"

In other news, AB has been announced in a few shows with hopefully full tours to come to fill out the Fall and Winter.  They will be playing a festival in October in Manchester, Tennessee and they will play behind Lamb of God, Coheed & Cambria, Deftones, and GNR.

Also, they, along with Halestorm, will be headlining Shiprocked 2020.  I don't think anyone here will care about the line-up, but a chance to be on a cruise ship for a week and see (and possibly meet) AB and a lot of bands you would normally hear on Sirius XM Octane sounds like a great time (at least for me anyway).

https://www.shiprocked.com/

Sadly, I will not be at Shiprocked.  Don't have the money at the moment.  That stated, if there was a line-up that would have convinced me to go to Shiprocked, it would have been in 2017 where AB, Papa Roach, Breaking Benjamin, and Sevendust headlined it and I'm seeing all four of those bands in some form this September.  I don't care what hardships have hit upon me or my finances, nothing is going to stop me from going to the Alter Bridge album listening party in Orlando.  I already missed out on seeing them in LA back in 2017 due to moving to the OC that weekend of the show.  I am not waiting any longer.

[mikeyd23]

  Can't wait for the new record!

[Samsara]

I saw both of those on social media (posted at Twitter and FB). Cool!

The first one sounds like a bridge. The second sounds like a chorus. Can't wait to find out.

I'm not one to do those cruises, but I'm excited for a new album and tour. We've made it a family affair. We all take the day of the show and the day after the show off, and go enjoy it and do the meet and greet. Worth every penny. We'll see where they come around for the first leg of a U.S. tour. Thankfully, after ignoring the Bay Area on the first couple of records, they have been stopping here regularly starting with AB III. Hoping that continues. If not, we'll fly down to LA or up to Seattle or Spokane. 

Really hoping they continued expanding their sound, and hopefully took the feedback on how washed out The Last Hero sounded. That record had some great songs, but everything was way too in your face. Not enough subtlety.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Album title/release date and possible cover artwork leaked, as well as UK arena dates!

https://www.rocksins.com/2019/06/alter-bridge-to-return-to-uk-for-december-2019-arena-tour-with-shinedown-and-sevendust-36219/

[Samsara]

Album title/release date and possible cover artwork leaked, as well as UK arena dates!

https://www.rocksins.com/2019/06/alter-bridge-to-return-to-uk-for-december-2019-arena-tour-with-shinedown-and-sevendust-36219/

WALK THE SKY! I like it! Artwork is interesting if that is indeed it.

Looking forward to October 18!!!   

[mikeyd23]

Walk the Sky sounds like a cool title!

[Anguyen92]

Official announcement looks to be tomorrow.  10 AM, probably EST.  This may be the actual cover but specifically blurred.

[Samsara]

Oh, its all up.

https://alterbridge.com/

    LP
    SIDE A    (running time 17:36 )
    01. One Life
    02. Wouldn‘t You Rather
    03. In The Deep
    04. Godspeed
    05. Native Son


    SIDE B    (running time 22:41 )
    01. Take The Crown
    02. Indoctriniation
    03. The Bitter End
    04. Pay No Mind
    05. Forever Calling



    SIDE C    (running time 20:12 )
      01. Clear Horizon
      02. Walking On The Sky
      03. Tear Us Apart
      04. Dying Light

    Side D with an Alter Bridge Logo Etching

Also, I pre-ordered the limited edition green vinyl from Napalm's German store. https://napalmrecords.com/english/alter-bridge-walk-the-sky-transparent-green-2-lp-gatefold.html?___from_store=deutsch

Check out this tidbit (bolded at the bottom) for all us U.S. people:

    EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE VIA THE NAPALM RECORDS MAILORDER AND ONLINE STORE!

    Strictly Limited Napalm Records Mailorder Edition to 300 double Gatefold copies in TRANSPARENT GREEN 180g Vinyl incl. Downloadcode

    For over 15 years, Alter Bridge has been a band known for blurring the line between hard rock and heavy metal. Building upon the sound that has won the band worldwide critical acclaim and a devoted global fan base, the band returns with their sixth studio album, Walk The Sky. The fourteen-track opus marks a creative highpoint for the quartet comprised of Myles Kennedy on vocals/guitars, Mark Tremonti on guitars/vocals, Brian Marshall on bass and Scott Phillips on drums. Walk The Sky is a complete career retrospective drawing upon elements from each of the band’s previous releases to create something new from the band. Recorded in a way never done before, the album was born from complete song ideas created by Kennedy and Tremonti. These songs would then be worked on by the entire band to create the fourteen songs that would make Walk The Sky the listening experience it is.

    This varies from the band’s previous method going back to their sophomore release Blackbird where Kennedy and Tremonti would combine individual ideas and riffs alongside producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette to form some of the band’s most revered songs. From the opening vocal melody on “One Life” to the moving finale of “Dying Light,” Alter Bridge have created a formidable addition to their music catalog. Songs like “God Speed,” “Native Son” and “Walking On The Sky” are sure to be early additions to the live set. The first single “Wouldn’t You Rather” is quintessential Alter Bridge and “Forever Falling” also marks a lead vocal return from Tremonti with Kennedy taking the chorus as done previously on the Fortress favorite “Waters Rising.” Alter Bridge will be heading out on a worldwide tour beginning in September in the United States before heading over to Europe to close out 2019. 

[Anguyen92]

14 songs in one hour.  Huh.  Seems like a shorter average song length in comparison to the prior two albums which averaged over 5 minutes a song.

Tour with Shinedown opening in the entire Europe tour has been also announced.  The Raven Age will open in the non-UK shows.  Sevendust will open for them in the UK shows. 

[Samsara]

I wish the openers were flip-flopped. Sevendust-Alter Bridge is a dream billing for me.

[mikeyd23]

I love that album cover. There is a couple cool song titles in there too.

Looking forward to the single in a couple weeks.

[Samsara]

I love that album cover. There is a couple cool song titles in there too.

Looking forward to the single in a couple weeks.

It's different for them. Which I dig. Not sure if I like it per se, but I like that it is different.

Did you read the way they wrote the record? It was sort of confusing. Did Mark and Myles each come up with fully-written songs, or did they from scratch, together, write full songs, instead of piecing together riffs? It's vague, and I'm not sure if it is on purpose, or just badly worded.

[Adami]

Not sure I dig the idea of it being a "career retrospective".

That's good for a band that is very diverse over their albums, but aside from getting increasingly heavier, AB are not terribly diverse. So this just sounds like it'll be more of the same but with less heaviness? I dunno. I was hoping for expansion, not retraction. Ah well. I'll still check it out.

[Anguyen92]

I love that album cover. There is a couple cool song titles in there too.

Looking forward to the single in a couple weeks.

It's different for them. Which I dig. Not sure if I like it per se, but I like that it is different.

Did you read the way they wrote the record? It was sort of confusing. Did Mark and Myles each come up with fully-written songs, or did they from scratch, together, write full songs, instead of piecing together riffs? It's vague, and I'm not sure if it is on purpose, or just badly worded.

I think the interpretation is that Mark and Myles each came up with fully-written songs for the majority of the album, bring it to pre-production and then the band would put their finishing touches on these songs.  It's different than the usual approach where Mark and Myles has lots of ideas and parts they want to use, get together to write and take these parts and put them together to create songs around January or so, and then go into pre-production.

It is a different approach than how they have written the last couple of albums and it can be something that they need to shake up their approach to writing songs.

[Samsara]

I love that album cover. There is a couple cool song titles in there too.

Looking forward to the single in a couple weeks.

It's different for them. Which I dig. Not sure if I like it per se, but I like that it is different.

Did you read the way they wrote the record? It was sort of confusing. Did Mark and Myles each come up with fully-written songs, or did they from scratch, together, write full songs, instead of piecing together riffs? It's vague, and I'm not sure if it is on purpose, or just badly worded.

I think the interpretation is that Mark and Myles each came up with fully-written songs for the majority of the album, bring it to pre-production and then the band would put their finishing touches on these songs.  It's different than the usual approach where Mark and Myles has lots of ideas and parts they want to use, get together to write and take these parts and put them together to create songs around January or so, and then go into pre-production.

It is a different approach than how they have written the last couple of albums and it can be something that they need to shake up their approach to writing songs.

Hmm. Well, regardless, I am stoked for a new AB album. I do, however, think that they need to devote more time to writing together, from scratch.

[Anguyen92]

Hmm. Well, regardless, I am stoked for a new AB album. I do, however, think that they need to devote more time to writing together, from scratch.

Yeah, as much as I love that idea, that's never happening at the rate both Mark and Myles' schedules are.  I'm just actually shocked that after Year of the Tiger and A Dying Machine that both guys still had full song ideas and felt that these songs can go well with AB's great catalog.

[Samsara]

Hmm. Well, regardless, I am stoked for a new AB album. I do, however, think that they need to devote more time to writing together, from scratch.

Yeah, as much as I love that idea, that's never happening at the rate both Mark and Myles' schedules are.  I'm just actually shocked that after Year of the Tiger and A Dying Machine that both guys still had full song ideas and felt that these songs can go well with AB's great catalog.

Probably not, no, but my guess is, if GnR is writing and recording, and touring, Myles will be able to step away from Slash, and then just do solo and AB. And Mark is doing his project and AB. So hopefully, with Slash in the rearview, it will happen.

As an aside, I'm a vinyl guy, and AB III was released in gold vinyl. I noticed Napalm had THREE (3) left this morning. I just placed an order for one, so there are just two left. If that interests you, and you don't have it yet, jump on it before they are gone.

Loved that tour. Saw it twice, in San Fran and Seattle.

[Anguyen92]

Well, don't think anyone here is going to be too interested in this, depending on how much you like the other band on this bill.  It has been announced today that AB and Skillet will co-headline a tour together in the Fall and it will be called the "Victorious Sky" tour after Skillet's forthcoming album, Victorious and of course, AB's album, Walk the Sky.  Opening band will be Dirty Honey (never heard of them). 

As a long-time fan of both bands, I was hoping when a co-headline tour for both bands would happen and here we are now.  No west coast dates though.  That's because Skillet will be in that region with Sevendust (called the Victorious War tour since Sevendust is touring on the backs of All I See is War album) in late Summer where I will be there for the LA show.  AB will probably hit West Coast in 2020.  Hopefully, early 2020.

Here are the dates.

Sept. 22 — Baltimore, Md. @ MECU Pavilion
Sept. 24 — New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5
Sept. 25 — Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Met
Sept. 27 — Columbus, Ohio @ Express Live!
Sept. 28 — Grand Rapids, Mich. @ 20 Monroe Live* (Featuring special guest BRKN LOVE)
Sept. 30 — Toronto, Ontario @ REBEL*
Oct. 03 — Worcester, Mass. @ The Palladium
Oct. 05 — Cleveland, Ohio @ Agora Theatre
Oct. 06 — Detroit, Mich. @ The Fillmore
Oct. 08 — Minneapolis, Minn. @ Myth Live
Oct. 10 — Chicago, Ill. @ The Chicago Theatre
Oct. 11 — Kansas City, Mo. @Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Oct. 13 — Manchester, Tenn. @ Exit 111 Festival
Oct. 14 — St. Louis, Mo. @ The Pageant
Oct. 16 — Mobile, Ala. @ Saenger Theatre
Oct. 17 — Birmingham, Ala. @ Avondale Brewing Company
Oct. 19 — San Antonio, Texas @ Vibes Event Center
Oct. 20 — Dallas, Texas @ The Bomb Factory
Oct. 22 — St. Petersburg, Fla. @ Jannus Live
Oct. 24 — Orlando, Fla. @ House of Blues
Oct. 25 — Orlando, Fla. @ House of Blues
*No Dirty Honey

https://loudwire.com/skillet-alter-bridge-dirty-honey-2019-tour/

[mikeyd23]

Nice! I haven't really followed Skillet in a long time, but that Cleveland show is probably only like 2 hours from me, so I'll probably go just for AB.

[sylvan]

Oh shit! Back-to-back nights in Orlando! I wonder if they'll mix the set up night to night. I was hoping they'd get a Florida show before Europe and I'll definitely be at one of those two shows.

[Samsara]

AB will be back on our coast next year, Anguyen92. We're hoping to take in two shows, preferably Bay Area, and either LA, PHX or Spokane (all easy flights).

I'm really curious to hear where the album goes. All this talk about it being the opposite of AB III, and having some 80s synth in it has me extremely curious.

[JayOctavarium]

I'm really curious to hear where the album goes. All this talk about it being the opposite of AB III, and having some 80s synth in it has me extremely curious.

It's a collab with Haken. Affinity pt II: 1986

[PixelDream]

New single is out, sounds like a good song but, again, compressed to hell. Such a shame. I can handle the ‘hotter with each following record’ mastering up and until Fortress, but The Last Hero was just too much. And now this: no clarity at all, distorting from the moment the drums come in.

[Adami]

Yea. Painful production. And while the song was fine, it was just standard AB. Nothing new or fresh.

They clearly have a great method of essentially being a song factory. They can keep making good songs forever, but they are (more and more each album) feeling less inspired and more by the numbers. While they sound pleasing (minus the production) they no longer give me any kind of emotional reaction, which is unfortunate.

I'll check out a few more songs on the album, but if they're this much AB by numbers, I'll probably pass. As sadly has been the case recently for bands like Amaranthe for the same exact reason.

[Samsara]

Loved the new song. Killer Sevendust-like riff, a positive message wrapped in a darker musical tune, and a killer melodic solo from Tremonti (who has made some great strides picking up tidbits from Myles on that). Happy as hell! 

[Grappler]

Wow.  That was surprisingly more rocking than I expected and rather heavy.  Maybe I'll become an Alterbridge fan yet!   

[Samsara]

Wow.  That was surprisingly more rocking than I expected and rather heavy.  Maybe I'll become an Alterbridge fan yet!   

If you can get me into Iced Earth, I can return the favor.