dredg

[SoundscapeMN]

I've wondered this for a few years, but really don't know what happened to the previous dredg thread(s). But they were deleted.

So, we need a new thread about them I think, especially considering there are many fans around here, and the fact the band just entered the studio today to write and record a new album.



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Drew Roulette Day one of writing a new record.

[Mladen]

Many fans will probably find this exciting, but I'll go out of my way to express my disappointment that they just began the writing stage. I was hoping they were at least at the point where they had loads of material and could already record. But late is better than never.

Also, that photo would make a hilarious album cover. 

[DTA]

Better late than never!! I guess Chuckles must've done more damage to them than I previously thought since it's taken them this long to make a comeback.

[Zantera]

I'll be honest, Chuckles pretty much killed off my interest in the band to the point where I barely revisit their good albums, but I might check out a new one if reviews are great.

[SoundscapeMN]

Chuckles seems to be one of the most misunderstood albums in the history of rock music.

The band made it kind of as an experiment to work with Dan the Automator.

Drew mentioned in more than 1 interview, if it wasn't exactly released as it should have been, it would not have been released under the dredg name, but under Dan the Automator's name or dredg w/ Dan the Automator, etc. As it was so different a process for them, it wasn't really like anything they've ever done before.

In other words, it was basically a 1-off side-project/collaboration.

Which is why I haven't and still don't follow why so many people have treated it and the band as being done.

It was just a 1-time experiment that really is not indicative of what they are overall as a band.

Why it's been so long since they have made new music? I get the sense that  Pariah, while successful, probably didn't elevate them to another level of success, the band just felt they don't need to try and become huge. All the members have other things they do, so dredg didn't need to be a top priority necessarily anymore. But at the same time, they didn't break up. They just took a break and are or were going about things slower.

They have still done live shows here and there since Chuckles came out. Special anniversary shows.

And their whole catalog is out on Vinyl now (sans for the 1 live album "Live at the Fillmore").

But I for one anticipate something more along the lines of Pariah or Catch with this new album. For those who think it'll be like Chuckles, may be surprised.

[goo-goo]

Chuckles seems to be one of the most misunderstood albums in the history of rock music.

The band made it kind of as an experiment to work with Dan the Automator.

Drew mentioned in more than 1 interview, if it wasn't exactly released as it should have been, it would not have been released under the dredg name, but under Dan the Automator's name or dredg w/ Dan the Automator, etc. As it was so different a process for them, it wasn't really like anything they've ever done before.

In other words, it was basically a 1-off side-project/collaboration.

But this is were the problem was for that release. A lot of people don't read the interviews. I surely didn't. When I got the album and listened to it, it was a massive turn off and disappointment. Chuckles for me IS THE MOST MASSIVE TURN OFF in my collection. My first thoughts were "Yo got to be shitting me!! From El Cielo, to Catch, to Pariah, to THIS? WTF". I thought Dredg sold out.

It should have been released as a non-Dredg related album..side project, collaboration, etc.

The Chuckles songs in a live setting sounded very good. Maybe if they would have released a live version of Chuckles, it would have been better received by the fans.

[Zantera]

Collab or not I just thought Chuckles was hugely disappointing. But I'm also suspecting to feel like maybe Dredg was just a phase band for me, because I listened to them a lot during my initial discovery phase and while I have gone back a few times to check out the older albums (that are still great), I still rarely get the urge to listen to them.

[Nick]

It was just last week or so I randomly had the thought that Dredg really needed to start doing something again, so very good news indeed.

[DTA]

If it's half as good as Pariah, I'll be happy. People single out El Cielo as being their best, but Pariah blows it out of the water.

[ReaperKK]

Chuckles seems to be one of the most misunderstood albums in the history of rock music.

The band made it kind of as an experiment to work with Dan the Automator.

Drew mentioned in more than 1 interview, if it wasn't exactly released as it should have been, it would not have been released under the dredg name, but under Dan the Automator's name or dredg w/ Dan the Automator, etc. As it was so different a process for them, it wasn't really like anything they've ever done before.

In other words, it was basically a 1-off side-project/collaboration.

Which is why I haven't and still don't follow why so many people have treated it and the band as being done.

It was just a 1-time experiment that really is not indicative of what they are overall as a band.

Why it's been so long since they have made new music? I get the sense that  Pariah, while successful, probably didn't elevate them to another level of success, the band just felt they don't need to try and become huge. All the members have other things they do, so dredg didn't need to be a top priority necessarily anymore. But at the same time, they didn't break up. They just took a break and are or were going about things slower.

They have still done live shows here and there since Chuckles came out. Special anniversary shows.

And their whole catalog is out on Vinyl now (sans for the 1 live album "Live at the Fillmore").

But I for one anticipate something more along the lines of Pariah or Catch with this new album. For those who think it'll be like Chuckles, may be surprised.

This. There is a great podcast with Mark where he talks about how they wanted to call the allbum Dredg with Dan the Automator or something like that but the label wouldn't allow it.

[SoundscapeMN]

Chuckles seems to be one of the most misunderstood albums in the history of rock music.

The band made it kind of as an experiment to work with Dan the Automator.

Drew mentioned in more than 1 interview, if it wasn't exactly released as it should have been, it would not have been released under the dredg name, but under Dan the Automator's name or dredg w/ Dan the Automator, etc. As it was so different a process for them, it wasn't really like anything they've ever done before.

In other words, it was basically a 1-off side-project/collaboration.

But this is were the problem was for that release. A lot of people don't read the interviews. I surely didn't. When I got the album and listened to it, it was a massive turn off and disappointment. Chuckles for me IS THE MOST MASSIVE TURN OFF in my collection. My first thoughts were "Yo got to be shitting me!! From El Cielo, to Catch, to Pariah, to THIS? WTF". I thought Dredg sold out.

It should have been released as a non-Dredg related album..side project, collaboration, etc.

The Chuckles songs in a live setting sounded very good. Maybe if they would have released a live version of Chuckles, it would have been better received by the fans.

see, I guess from the 1st time I listened to it, I had the mentality that Chuckles was a different approach, per a different album. It came out so fast, and even before it was released, the fact they were working with Dan the Automator basically had my expectation for it to sound quite a bit different. More electronic, etc.

And I honestly never hated Chuckles. But I agree, many of the songs do sound better live.


That all being said, someone needs to ask Drew or any of the members about all the unreleased B-sides, which I would not expect to be on this new album. But hopefully sometime soon as well. Many if not all of them were played live and also recorded or at least Demo-ed for Pariah.

Bloodstains
Fucking Smile 2
Holding a Remedy Potion
It's Not Worth It
Push Away
Can We Start Over/Time Will Tell
The Warbler
Where I'll End Up
Wonderous Miracle

[ReaperKK]

Holding a remedy potion was a really great snippet, I would've loved to have heard the entire song

[Phoenix87x]

I really hate chuckles. I don't know what the fuck they were thinking. Everything up to that was awesome and they were building momentum as a band and then chuckles was like the iceberg in the night that sunk their ass.

I will listen to the new one and if its solid, then I am right back on board.

[lordxizor]

I agree Chuckles was a huge disappointment. I don't care if it wasn't meant to be a straight up Dredg album. A lot of the songs were just terrible. It was the bad melodies that killed it for me. I wasn't turned off by the new approach.

Super excited for new music though!

[ReaperKK]

I think that was the saddest thing about Chuckles, it really seemed to kill their momentum.

[Mladen]

I've always thought their momentum was killed by the four-year gap between Catch without arms and Pariah. Not to mention that Pariah, although a very good album, didn't have the exact same commercial appeal. Chuckles was just the next step in the wrong direction, although I don't think it's a horrible release - it just lacks great songs.

Ranking the albums?

Catch without arms
Pariah (despite my comments, it actually used to be my number one for a while)
El Cielo
Chuckles
Leitmotif

[SoundscapeMN]

I've always thought their momentum was killed by the four-year gap between Catch without arms and Pariah. Not to mention that Pariah, although a very good album, didn't have the exact same commercial appeal. Chuckles was just the next step in the wrong direction, although I don't think it's a horrible release - it just lacks great songs.

Ranking the albums?

Catch without arms
Pariah (despite my comments, it actually used to be my number one for a while)
El Cielo
Chuckles
Leitmotif

I agree with you about the large gap between CWA and Pariah, but Interscope dropped them when CWA didn't blow up like they hoped.
I think the band were at a crossroads at that point, where they could have just made another record and try and find another label to release it, or work longer on the current record and release it on their own, which they did.

I think Pariah came out better than it may have, had they rushed it. But many songs didn't end up on it, or may have ended up differently had they released their 4th album say in 2007; (Information for example, was originally called "Waterborne").

[KevShmev]

Great news!  This is long overdue.

I think Pariah was loaded with catchy songs, so I think it had plenty of commercial appealed.  It must not have been marketed well.  I too think that record is slightly better than El Cielo.  Catch Without Arms is also really good, but not as good as those other two.

At the time, I thought Chuckles wasn't as bad as everyone else was saying, but still not that good.  Years later, it probably was as bad as everyone was saying. It has a couple of songs I think are keepers, but the rest I have no use for.

[ReaperKK]

Tough to rank the albums but as it currently stands:

El Cielo
Catch Without Arms
Pariah
Leitmotif
Chuckles

If I could I’d insert Conscious EP above chuckles. The riffage is strong on there

[SoundscapeMN]

there's also the Coquette demo, which technically is not an official release, but has some of my favorites like Uplifting News Channel and On Again and Off Again along with some earlier arrangements of some of the songs from CWA.

Also Orph, which like Conscious, is an early EP that the band's sound drastically changed from. But for collectors, it's like the holy grail, physical copies are incredibly rare.

[ReaperKK]

Orph is good stuff although incredibly short. It’s be interesting to hear if they ever took a heavier approach for the new album.

[Xanthul]

Let's hope the long break has inspired some good material for another dredg classic

[millahh]

I can see Chuckles as the experiment/one-off that it is.  I don't care for most of it, but that's ok.  The only thing that pisses me off is "The Ornament"...they took something haunting, beautiful and suspenseful, and made it into a particularly bland pop song.  Uggh.

[Phoenix87x]

I can see Chuckles as the experiment/one-off that it is.  I don't care for most of it, but that's ok.  The only thing that pisses me off is "The Ornament"...they took something haunting, beautiful and suspenseful, and made it into a particularly bland pop song.  Uggh.

Agree 100%. They turned it into elevator music. super lame

[ReaperKK]

The Chuckles version of The Ornament was pretty lame but I really enjoyed the Live at the Filmore version.

[Xanthul]

I love The Ornament

[SoundscapeMN]

I love The Ornament

same here. I suppose the Live at the Fillmore version is still better, but I enjoyed the Chuckles version.

[KevShmev]

Where I'll End Up is probably the only song I still listen to from Chuckles (that one sounds like it would have fit on any of their other records).  I liked Down Without a Fight quite a bit when the album was first out, but it hasn't aged well.  I still like the melodies, but the electronics are too overpowering.

[ReaperKK]

Down Without A Fight is good, Kalathat is probably my favorite song from Chuckles.

[ReaperKK]

I ran a dredg survivor years ago, I wonder if there would be an interest for a survivor this time around.

[DTA]

Where I'll End Up is probably the only song I still listen to from Chuckles (that one sounds like it would have fit on any of their other records).  I liked Down Without a Fight quite a bit when the album was first out, but it hasn't aged well.  I still like the melodies, but the electronics are too overpowering.

The bridge to Where I’ll End Up is the standout moment on the album to me, but the rest of the song is a bit meh. Upon Returning and The Thought Of Losing You are the only songs that I think are legitimately awesome. The rest is decent to downright embarrassing.

[DTA]

I ran a dredg survivor years ago, I wonder if there would be an interest for a survivor this time around.

I’d be interested, though I can already guess the winner (The Canyon Behind Her) and loser (The Tent).

[ReaperKK]

You're probably right, I don't remember the results last time I did it.

[SoundscapeMN]

new interview with Gavin
https://twitter.com/RnRBeerGuy/status/976112624571105280

[ReaperKK]

Can't wait to take a listen