New Album “Distance Over Time’, First Set of 2019 Tour Dates announced!

[rab7]

but geez, in this case, it's just a few hours. We'll have the rest of our lives to listen to the album. What a few hours or a day of difference really make? like those people lining up at midnight to buy a new book from a store, I don't get it. Maybe it's the social aspect of it, it's a meet up with other fans of something you like, but you have the rest of your life to read and re-read the book, what's a day of difference?

I personally don't think it's just a social aspect, as I have no friends who share my interests but always want to get things as soon as possible. I absolutely would've gone to every midnight release of Harry Potter if I had been an adult with autonomy when they came out. 

You say "you have the rest of your life, what's a day of difference?" which is completely valid and makes 100% perfect sense. However, people like me see it as "I had my whole life before this, I can't wait any longer". Might be a discipline or psychology thing.

[Dave_Manchester]

That short but very cool section that plays under Labrie from about 6:13 - 6:18 is part of why I love the band so much. Such a great moment in the song, I love it when they throw melodies like that in there.

[RoeDent]

InsideOut is a record company, what did you expect? It's what record companies do. They annoy people.

Fair enough, but how are they maximizing the exposure of the band by the releases coming at midnight?

Because midnight is the start of a new day. And you can wait until morning to hear it if you want. It's not like we all have to gather at our local record store at midnight to pick up a CD single.

And on IO, they've made some questionable decisions since they became part of Sony (and hence The Music Industry™). The first of those arguably being giving away their independence and becoming part of The Machine, whose industry progressive rock should be railing against, not making alliances with. Smash the system!

[bosk1]

Last warning.  Any further discussion before official release EST in about 7 hours will result in banning from the forum.

[cramx3]

InsideOut is a record company, what did you expect? It's what record companies do. They annoy people.

Fair enough, but how are they maximizing the exposure of the band by the releases coming at midnight?

Because midnight is the start of a new day. And you can wait until morning to hear it if you want. It's not like we all have to gather at our local record store at midnight to pick up a CD single.

And on IO, they've made some questionable decisions since they became part of Sony (and hence The Music Industry™). The first of those arguably being giving away their independence and becoming part of The Machine, whose industry progressive rock should be railing against, not making alliances with. Smash the system!

I understand midnight is the start of the new day so from that perspective it makes sense, but wouldn't you want to debut it when the most people are able to watch it?  If they want to keep the regional idea going, at least release it at noon or something regionally so most people are awake and aware of the release so they can watch it quicker. 

[rab7]

If they want to keep the regional idea going, at least release it at noon or something regionally so most people are awake and aware of the release so they can watch it quicker.

Yeah, then people will just start hounding the Australians at 8 pm EST instead of 8 am EST

[cramx3]

If they want to keep the regional idea going, at least release it at noon or something regionally so most people are awake and aware of the release so they can watch it quicker.

Yeah, then people will just start hounding the Australians at 8 pm EST instead of 8 am EST

I didn't think it would resolve that problem, but I look at it this way:

What time are most people awake?
What time are most people able to watch or listen to a new song/music video?
What time for a release is going to give the song the best chance of getting the most eyes and ears on it immediately?

I don't think the answer is at midnight. 

For us hardcore fans, whatever, we will listen the first chance we can, but the casual fan is the one who needs to be bought over by this.  The casual fan is not staying up to listen and the casual fan may forgot by the next morning to even check it out.  Sure the band will send out more reminders, but in this day and age, it really helps to get best initial rush as possible so it has the best chance of trending in a world where media quickly fades if it isn't caught on by it's target audience fast.

[noxon]

I REALLY don't think that is as much of a problem as you think it is

[cramx3]

I REALLY don't think that is as much of a problem as you think it is

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?  I'll admit my own annoyance of having to wait until midnight is making me want to argue for something better, but I think I listed some reasoning to show this can be better unless someone can explain why releasing at midnight is best for the band that makes more sense.  I'm open ears.

[bosk1]

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?

I recommended to them that they release the next one on 45 only.  You all can go down to the record store and pick it up on release day.  Problem solved! 

They said they would think about it.

[erwinrafael]

Last warning.  Any further discussion before official release EST in about 7 hours will result in banning from the forum.

Hmmmm. I thought as long as it is spoiler-free, it is ok? Not even vague discussions?

[erwinrafael]

I REALLY don't think that is as much of a problem as you think it is

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?  I'll admit my own annoyance of having to wait until midnight is making me want to argue for something better, but I think I listed some reasoning to show this can be better unless someone can explain why releasing at midnight is best for the band that makes more sense.  I'm open ears.

Releasing it at midnight instead of 8 AM gives the band 8 more hours worth of streaming revenues.

[MinistroRaven]

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?

I recommended to them that they release the next one on 45 only.  You all can go down to the record store and pick it up on release day.  Problem solved! 

They said they would think about it.

 

[rumborak]

I have not watched it myself, but there is a guy on YouTube playing the solo of FITL. That I find impressive

[cramx3]

I REALLY don't think that is as much of a problem as you think it is

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?  I'll admit my own annoyance of having to wait until midnight is making me want to argue for something better, but I think I listed some reasoning to show this can be better unless someone can explain why releasing at midnight is best for the band that makes more sense.  I'm open ears.

Releasing it at midnight instead of 8 AM gives the band 8 more hours worth of streaming revenues.

Then why didn't they release it two days ago?

[Ninjabait]

If they want to keep the regional idea going, at least release it at noon or something regionally so most people are awake and aware of the release so they can watch it quicker.

Yeah, then people will just start hounding the Australians at 8 pm EST instead of 8 am EST

I didn't think it would resolve that problem, but I look at it this way:

What time are most people awake?
What time are most people able to watch or listen to a new song/music video?
What time for a release is going to give the song the best chance of getting the most eyes and ears on it immediately?

I don't think the answer is at midnight. 

For us hardcore fans, whatever, we will listen the first chance we can, but the casual fan is the one who needs to be bought over by this.  The casual fan is not staying up to listen and the casual fan may forgot by the next morning to even check it out.  Sure the band will send out more reminders, but in this day and age, it really helps to get best initial rush as possible so it has the best chance of trending in a world where media quickly fades if it isn't caught on by it's target audience fast.

I think you guys are blowing this all WAY out of proportion here. Most of the plays for singles are probably going to come from YouTube rather than anywhere else, since it's the only place besides SoundCloud where singles actually can thrive (Spotify and retailers tend to be more album or playlist driven). That's where most casual fans are going to hear the song for the first time. This is going to be bolstered by several facebook/Twitter/Instagram reminders throughout the week to make sure it hits the most people possible. Larger artists with bigger followings and more clout will also typically play the songs on live television shows. It's not like they're going to just drop the song once and not tell anybody about it. Albums and Singles have an initial standardized roll-out at midnight on Friday in every timezone, with supplementary things being dropped in the following week or two. These include things like lyric videos, music videos, vertical videos (which seems to be a trend now), etc. It'll show up in Spotify notifications for certain people too later in the day, and the label will typically also show support for it. Only about 1%, if that, of the people who hear the song for the first time will listen to it around midnight when it immediately drops. Everyone else will hear it throughout the week.

Hell, I'll use myself as an example. I like Muse a lot. I consider myself a fan of Muse. For the last two albums, the first place I heard most of their singles was YouTube. I don't recall ever listening to the singles that much on Spotify when they first came out. I almost always listened to the song initially about midway through the day or during the evening when I saw the music video on Reddit or Facebook or something. It was the same with Haken, for the most part. I don't even remember excitedly waiting for anything but the final album release, and even then I just listened to it on the bus.

Y'all have to remember that the perspective that this forum that is dedicated to the artist has is different than the perspective of the GP. The current system is fine, tho I think prog and metal bands in general should put a little more emphasis on videos. It's one of the areas where they've been really lacking in both execution and roll-out (case in point: Spock's Beard's last album).

I REALLY don't think that is as much of a problem as you think it is

No probably not, but can't the release be improved?  I'll admit my own annoyance of having to wait until midnight is making me want to argue for something better, but I think I listed some reasoning to show this can be better unless someone can explain why releasing at midnight is best for the band that makes more sense.  I'm open ears.

Releasing it at midnight instead of 8 AM gives the band 8 more hours worth of streaming revenues.

Then why didn't they release it two days ago?

It's industry standard practice to release music on Fridays now. iirc it has something to do with most people getting paid on Friday so they're more likely to purchase the album. More info here

[cramx3]

I didnt think I was blowing things out of proportion nor meant to although I posted a bunch about mostly because I just want to hear the song.

Albums and Singles have an initial standardized roll-out at midnight on Friday in every timezone, with supplementary things being dropped in the following week or two. These include things like lyric videos, music videos, vertical videos (which seems to be a trend now), etc. It'll show up in Spotify notifications for certain people too later in the day, and the label will typically also show support for it. Only about 1%, if that, of the people who hear the song for the first time will listen to it around midnight when it immediately drops. Everyone else will hear it throughout the week.

If that's the standard, I can't fault the band for doing that.  I guess I haven't followed bands close enough to want to wait until midnight to listen to the new song, I just think things could be done better regardless of industry standard. 

[Lonk]

This is nothing new. It’s the same with any other “global” product. When a product is set to be released on a certain day, the eastern hemisphere gets a hand on it before the West does. This goes for phones, videos games, etc

[Ninjabait]

I didnt think I was blowing things out of proportion nor meant to although I posted a bunch about mostly because I just want to hear the song.

Albums and Singles have an initial standardized roll-out at midnight on Friday in every timezone, with supplementary things being dropped in the following week or two. These include things like lyric videos, music videos, vertical videos (which seems to be a trend now), etc. It'll show up in Spotify notifications for certain people too later in the day, and the label will typically also show support for it. Only about 1%, if that, of the people who hear the song for the first time will listen to it around midnight when it immediately drops. Everyone else will hear it throughout the week.

If that's the standard, I can't fault the band for doing that.  I guess I haven't followed bands close enough to want to wait until midnight to listen to the new song, I just think things could be done better regardless of industry standard.

Don't take it personally, you weren't the only one talking about it. You were just good to quote for it because you were one of the most recent.

Believe me, there's always room for improvement, but until a better system comes along this is probably one of the best systems we have right now. Which might as well be the motto for the entertainment industry at this point lol

[erwinrafael]

I've listened to UA and FITL back to back ten times now, and I have to say that noxon is correct in that UA will sound different when listened with other songs from the album. The songs have a Moment of Betrayal vibe, but when I listened to MoB with the two songs, the D/T songs still felt different. The D/T songs have a different level of energy, and if this indicates the vibe of the entire album, I wouldn't mind if this is played entirely in the coming tour.

[IDontNotDoThings]

Is it safe to discuss the song now?

[Ben_Jamin]

I've listened to UA and FITL back to back ten times now, and I have to say that noxon is correct in that UA will sound different when listened with other songs from the album. The songs have a Moment of Betrayal vibe, but when I listened to MoB with the two songs, the D/T songs still felt different. The D/T songs have a different level of energy, and if this indicates the vibe of the entire album, I wouldn't mind if this is played entirely in the coming tour.

That means they're taking what they incorporated from the Astonishing into this as well.

[Ben_Jamin]

Is it safe to discuss the song now?

I would think so. Only like 15 min left.

[rumborak]

It's available now on Google Music.

[LCArenas]

Is it safe to discuss the song now?

I would think so. Only like 15 min left.

It's available on streaming services right now.

I liked it, though not as much as AAAAAAAAAAAAAANTHETHERED Angel. Also is it me or is this one really influenced by Metallica?

[SystematicThought]

I really liked this one! That middle section is so cool! If the song never went back to that heavy riff and just faded out after another few minutes of that middle section, it would have been perfect! Overall, I really liked it. Hopefully they play it live.

The only part that drags it down for me is coming out of that middle section, the JR part feels out of place or rather forced...it doesn’t add anything for me and feels like he choose a random keyboard sound and noodled over it just so he had a part.

[gzarruk]

What Metallica would sound like if they had good players

[GasparXR]

My first impression is that it doesn't sound much like any other DT song I can think of. I do hear the Metallica influence on this one though.

[lonestar]

Very solid track all around. Listened to it on crappy laptop speakers so I'll wait till the car ride tomorrow to pass more judgement, but I really enjoyed what I heard there. Killer riffs in the beginning, sweet atmospheric middle section with a solid buildup to a climactic finale. This one gives me some real solid hope for the album.

[erwinrafael]

The only part that drags it down for me is coming out of that middle section, the JR part feels out of place or rather forced...it doesn’t add anything for me and feels like he choose a random keyboard sound and noodled over it just so he had a part.

Yes, this is also my only criticism. It's like this song was fit for a two guitar setup.

The vocal melody is not that memorable, but it fits.

[Ben_Jamin]

Yup...Everything JP described in that interview is present. The middle section made that song, really riff driven bridge like Peruvian Skies.

I would say its Peruvian Skies x10

[bl5150]

Like many above I really liked the midsection but was a bit indifferent to that point. Needs more listens but it seems that both songs released so far have sections I really enjoy but as a unit I am not so sure.  For me what made albums like I&W so magical was the brilliant individual sections working together to create an amazing song but I don't get that feeling with these songs.  James's vocal effects are starting to grate on me too - it can make everything sound very samey.

I did like the raw, stripped back feel at times and could hear a bit of Metallica (as already mentioned).

Still looking forward to hearing more from the album.   

[lonestar]

For me what made albums like I&W so magical was the brilliant individual sections working together to create an amazing song but I don't get that feeling with these songs. 

I kinda felt that  this track captured that aspect, finally. All the sections really appealed to me, and they all fit together nicely.

[As I Am]

  Another VERY uninspired song  This song could be straight from The Astonishing(ly boring album). Aside from the awesome middle section (by JP & JR), this song is another loser. Two for two bad ones so far. My hopes have faded.

[jsbru]

My first impression is that it doesn't sound much like any other DT song I can think of.

I agree, but I think that's a really good thing.  Hard to sound fresh after 14 albums, but this song is doing it.  I love the overall sound and production.  Untethered Angel was more "meh" for me, but I'm really impressed with this one.