"A Perfect Memory" is a concept album I have been working on since September 2009. Originally, I was intending on this to be one epic song, about 20 minutes. After I began writing the lyrics, however, I noticed that there was no way I would be able to fit everything into 20 minutes. So I decided to turn it into a concept album so each part of the story would have enough time to be fully expressed. At first, I planned on this being a complete solo project where I composed all of the music, but this quickly changed when I met my friend Jake in November 2009. The first day we hung out, I showed him the lyrics to "From Afar", and he wrote a song around it, just like that. I knew there was something special there, and since then we have been making steady progress. It is still gonna be one song that will (for the most part) flow together, but the song will be divided up into 12 different tracks, since each section will be quite distinct and will work on it's own.
The concept you ask? It is more or less the story of my life from August 2007 to the present day. That (almost) 3 year period contains my highest highs, as well as my lowest lows, and everything is recorded here. I wrote all of the lyrics for the album, and they are some of the most personal things I have ever written. Musically, the album starts off quite happy sounding and upbeat, until "And The Leaves Have Fallen", which brings about a drastic change that sets the mood for the rest of the album. Theres gonna be some angry, more metal oriented parts towards the middle of the album (most notably Confusion and Chaos). I have not planned out the mood for the finale yet, I'm simply gonna let it come to me when we get there.
Anyways, we currently have recorded three songs (Remnants of A Past, And The Leaves Have Fallen, and From Afar), and we are working on composing the fourth song (A Perfect Memory) now. I have written and completed all the lyrics for the album.
Current line-up:
Jake Mattison: Guitar, piano, vocals
Mike Dembkowski: Bass, vocals
The drums, cello, violin, flute, and strings are programmed, so please forgive their quality. We are trying to get access to the previously mentioned instruments, but we're having a hard time doing so. And neither of us can play drums, so we're gonna need to find a drummer.
The tracklisting:
A PERFECT MEMORY
I. Remnants of a Past [INSTRUMENTAL]
II. From Afar
III. A Perfect Memory
IV. Snapshots (Beneath the Tree) [INSTRUMENTAL]
V. And The Leaves Have Fallen
VI. A Shadow is Cast [INSTRUMENTAL]
VII. Confusion and Chaos
VIII. Another Broken Chain
IX. Progressing Forward [INSTRUMENTAL]
X. A Perfect Memory... Revisited
XI. Here Again
XII. Beneath the Setting Sun
At my estimates, the album should be clocking in around the 70 minute mark... much longer than the originally planned 20 minute epic!
ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff! Here are two songs I would like to share with you all!
REMNANTS OF A PAST:Download:
https://www.megaupload.com/?d=S6MTCRC1This is the beginning of the album, the overture. There is also going to be a short 30 second to 1 minute intro before the start of the track, but I'm having a hard time picking something that really fits well. In this song, we establish three different theme that reoccur throughout the album.... the bright theme, the depressed theme, and the angry theme.
AND THE LEAVES HAVE FALLEN:Download:
https://www.megaupload.com/?d=N4N1FDK1My personal favorite song. Its meaning is something very personal to me. The moment I heard Jake play this for the first time, I honestly had an out of body experience. This is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote the lyrics back in September, when this whole album was nothing more than a dream. As far as lyrics go, out of the 500 lyrics I have ever written, this is probably my second favorite of all time. This is also my first time singing on a song (that has been released to the public atleast!) and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I double Jake's vocals on various parts throughout the song.
Lyrics:
PART V. AND THE LEAVES HAVE FALLENAnd in the blink of an eye
He was gone... gone forever
In his hospital room in shock
We counted down the final hours
And tears would fall
From eyes that can't be dried
As you said your final goodbye
Bowed your head as he slowly died
And in that final hour
Things would change... change forever
How you'd miss those gentle eyes
The arms that raised you and let you fly
How could you leave this behind
How could you go on to survive?
Staring at that cold stone grave
Things will never be the same
We used to be able to sit beneath this tree
It protected us and let us live
But that was so long ago
Now the winter storm has hit us hard
And there is nowhere left to go
The snow is rough and bitter on the faces
Of the youth standing out in the cold
And I'm scared to think of what is to come
And I don't know where to turn
The ice clings to what I once loved
And the leaves have now fallen...
Please let me know what you guys think. I've been spending months and endless hours trying to perfect the concept of the whole thing, and I would like to get some feedback on it so far. Please bare in mind though that these are rough demos, and the mixing/sound isn't the greatest at this point.
Myspace:
https://www.myspace.com/aperfectmemoryprogThanks for reading!
-Mike