Anticipating the days ahead
Gym tomorrow morning and the usual chores. I'm wiped out on a positively crappy Friday night! Nonetheless, things are moving along nicely.
More tweaking to the web site and my own MySpace music page, which I hope you visit. It's early goings, but it seems the few who've visited it, have liked what they've heard. Even though I'm using "Train Of Thought", it's a good way to keep chugging ahead. If I sound restrained, it's only because I want to deliver a good piece of work in total, rather than a build up like I'd done with my former band's album.
Reading back through the posts, especially the early ones, I realized that much of it was trying to convince myself (which, in turn, meant anyone who read this blog at the time) that "...to get to the other side" was going to live up to the self-induced "myth" status we'd given to it. I was wrong on so many levels and I don't intend to do that again. My goal is to make sure that once I do complete "...Arlington Line", I can say, "yes, this is what I wanted it to be"; not forcing myself to say "oh, this is perfect, etc.", which I did with the band's album when it was quite the opposite.
I will say this much: nearly four years after its' recording: "...to get to the other side" is an okay album; it has some very good songs that unfortunately fell short of the standards and quality I'd wanted for them or hoped for. Some of it is the fault of the budgetary constraints and studio limitations ("Bitter Sweet" needed horns--it should never have been recorded without them and the end result sounds empty and tinny; "Second Time Around" aches for proper pedal steel guitar, etc.); some of the songs needed to be refined by taking more time with them instead of "let's just get this done" ("Inside", "Puppet Master", "Someone") and some fell short due to musical mis-steps (the bass lines on "Train Of Thought" [being inconsistent on the choruses] and "Bitter Sweet" [the James Jamerson-styled "walk" on the middle 8 not being done as the melody in tandem with the keyboard, which was mapped out on the demo]). I really made a mistake by letting it conclude; my frustration led me to wash my hands of the process when I should have said "either we get it right or we don't release it". Julian Cope once said "a first album should be a culmination of all your ideas, not a sense of loss when you're done" (see last post) and I have to admit, the album was an overall letdown for me. At the same time, it was also 17 years too late to truly mean something, so you have to put it in perspective. The passing of the last few years has made me see this album as a good exercise in what not to do and I won't make the same mistake twice.
I would hate to think anyone would interpret what I said above as sour grapes or dumping on the band; it isn't by any means. I say the same thing for many of my favorite artists who have released less-than-stellar product. Never give anything less than your best to a recorded project. You owe it to yourself (and if you're famous/successful, you certainly owe it to your fans).
The quiet of the night; the rain and the time to think allows me for this kind of rational thinking. Seeing Gary's show tomorrow is well-anticipated.
Here's a final plug--go read Clementine's Folly; LeFig is back with a vengeance and she kills me. She'll bring a bulge to your funny bone.
More tweaking to the web site and my own MySpace music page, which I hope you visit. It's early goings, but it seems the few who've visited it, have liked what they've heard. Even though I'm using "Train Of Thought", it's a good way to keep chugging ahead. If I sound restrained, it's only because I want to deliver a good piece of work in total, rather than a build up like I'd done with my former band's album.
Reading back through the posts, especially the early ones, I realized that much of it was trying to convince myself (which, in turn, meant anyone who read this blog at the time) that "...to get to the other side" was going to live up to the self-induced "myth" status we'd given to it. I was wrong on so many levels and I don't intend to do that again. My goal is to make sure that once I do complete "...Arlington Line", I can say, "yes, this is what I wanted it to be"; not forcing myself to say "oh, this is perfect, etc.", which I did with the band's album when it was quite the opposite.
I will say this much: nearly four years after its' recording: "...to get to the other side" is an okay album; it has some very good songs that unfortunately fell short of the standards and quality I'd wanted for them or hoped for. Some of it is the fault of the budgetary constraints and studio limitations ("Bitter Sweet" needed horns--it should never have been recorded without them and the end result sounds empty and tinny; "Second Time Around" aches for proper pedal steel guitar, etc.); some of the songs needed to be refined by taking more time with them instead of "let's just get this done" ("Inside", "Puppet Master", "Someone") and some fell short due to musical mis-steps (the bass lines on "Train Of Thought" [being inconsistent on the choruses] and "Bitter Sweet" [the James Jamerson-styled "walk" on the middle 8 not being done as the melody in tandem with the keyboard, which was mapped out on the demo]). I really made a mistake by letting it conclude; my frustration led me to wash my hands of the process when I should have said "either we get it right or we don't release it". Julian Cope once said "a first album should be a culmination of all your ideas, not a sense of loss when you're done" (see last post) and I have to admit, the album was an overall letdown for me. At the same time, it was also 17 years too late to truly mean something, so you have to put it in perspective. The passing of the last few years has made me see this album as a good exercise in what not to do and I won't make the same mistake twice.
I would hate to think anyone would interpret what I said above as sour grapes or dumping on the band; it isn't by any means. I say the same thing for many of my favorite artists who have released less-than-stellar product. Never give anything less than your best to a recorded project. You owe it to yourself (and if you're famous/successful, you certainly owe it to your fans).
The quiet of the night; the rain and the time to think allows me for this kind of rational thinking. Seeing Gary's show tomorrow is well-anticipated.
Here's a final plug--go read Clementine's Folly; LeFig is back with a vengeance and she kills me. She'll bring a bulge to your funny bone.
posted by R L Ross at
8:53 PM
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