The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Discuss Myles Kennedy, Slash, MF4 etc
User avatar
anguyen92
Expert Comma Negotiator
Posts: 10442
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:31 pm
Location: California

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by anguyen92 »

Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:46 pm
Dolo wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:27 pm
Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:19 pm Who knows, maybe he will introduce some kickass backing vocalist on his next tour?
Scott Stapp?
I rather thought of Wolfie. He would be also able to play the rhythm guitar. (Now I expect someone to post that pic of Scott Stapp holding a guitar from the Creed Winter Olympics concert)
I mean Wolfie is certainly more than qualified to do the job and has that connection, but why in the world would he want to take time doing something in a minor role while he got his solo project, that he's the leader in, to focus on?

User avatar
Mr. Slash
On The Rail
Posts: 1802
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 6:40 am
Location: Germany

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Mr. Slash »

anguyen92 wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 4:10 pm
Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:46 pm
Dolo wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:27 pm
Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:19 pm Who knows, maybe he will introduce some kickass backing vocalist on his next tour?
Scott Stapp?
I rather thought of Wolfie. He would be also able to play the rhythm guitar. (Now I expect someone to post that pic of Scott Stapp holding a guitar from the Creed Winter Olympics concert)
I mean Wolfie is certainly more than qualified to do the job and has that connection, but why in the world would he want to take time doing something in a minor role while he got his solo project, that he's the leader in, to focus on?
Of course, I wasn't really serious. But I believe that a backing vocalist and a rhythm guitar player would add quite a lot to his live performances.

User avatar
Dan Dando
On The Rail
Posts: 1668
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2013 10:39 am
Location: Wales, UK.

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Dan Dando »

anguyen92 wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 1:27 am Mr. Downside: Oooo, I think I'm feeling some Big Wreck vibes on this. I think I would have liked it a lot if Myles would try an attempt to sound like Big Wreck for an entire album.
My favourite from the record. It has a cool/fun energy. Can see Myles and his bandmates grinning as they play it.

User avatar
SHEAKENBAKEN
BACON
Posts: 9455
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:27 pm
Location: TABN

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

The bridge riff and solo of How The Story Ends is the best part of the record. Could see that in an AB song.

Could also see the intro riff to Dead To Rights in an AB song.

Nothing More To Gain reminds me of QOTSA's No One Knows.

I dont really think this record is better or worse than either of the other records. Myles solo albums all pretty much sit on the same level for me.

I like the amount of guitar solos (albeit there aren't really any memorable ones) and some of the riffs are fun.

Standouts: How The Story Ends, Behind The Veil, Say What You Will

User avatar
Schulzy
Loyal Follower
Posts: 346
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 8:05 pm
Location: The Hawkeye State

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Schulzy »

Initial thoughts...after listening to it in the car today a few times. I like it...and am pleased that it doesn't sound completely like Slash/AB.

Saving Face and Dead to Rights fit into that category for me.

What Shea, Timotheus, Addicted to Pain, and chtimixeur said - several songs sound like other Myles songs we've heard before or in the instance of Nothing More To Gain - I thought exactly the same thing - Queens of The Stone Age.

Mr. Downside - reminds me of Outright and even a little Season of Promise
Miss You When You're Gone - it's very similar to My Champion
Behind The Veil - has a Jimmy Hendrix feel to it in the beginning/end. Also reminds me of When The Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin.

My favorites so far are - Say What You Will, Mr. Downside, Behind The Veil, Dead To Rights, and How The Story Ends.
Image
I'm walking the Black Road

Dolo
Burn It Down
Posts: 2409
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:51 pm
Location: Lublin, Poland

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Dolo »

Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 4:26 pm
anguyen92 wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 4:10 pm
Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:46 pm
Dolo wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:27 pm
Mr. Slash wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:19 pm Who knows, maybe he will introduce some kickass backing vocalist on his next tour?
Scott Stapp?
I rather thought of Wolfie. He would be also able to play the rhythm guitar. (Now I expect someone to post that pic of Scott Stapp holding a guitar from the Creed Winter Olympics concert)
I mean Wolfie is certainly more than qualified to do the job and has that connection, but why in the world would he want to take time doing something in a minor role while he got his solo project, that he's the leader in, to focus on?
Of course, I wasn't really serious. But I believe that a backing vocalist and a rhythm guitar player would add quite a lot to his live performances.
Just for the record - I was not being serious either. But yeah, having an extra band member handling the other guitar and some vocals would be helpful. Eric Friedman and Frank Sidoris from the Slash backing band come to mind (not sure if Frank does vocals tho).

On an unrelated note - I'm experiencing crackling in my headphones as soon as an overdriven guitar track is on it's own in the song (like 'How The Story Ends' at 2:33), is it Elvis' magic again? Happened to me a few times when listening to Pawns & Kings. I'm using Spotify Premium. No crackling occurs when all the instruments are in the mix again.
Check out my solo project Slight Isolationism:

Facebook
YouTube
Spotify
Bandcamp

User avatar
Mr. Slash
On The Rail
Posts: 1802
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 6:40 am
Location: Germany

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Mr. Slash »

Speaking of similarities to other songs: Eternal Lullaby sounds like a slow verison of World on Fire to me. I'm refering to the verses which have a similar vocal melody.

User avatar
Ubik
Bachelor Daddy
Posts: 4549
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:12 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Ubik »

anguyen92 wrote: Fri Oct 11, 2024 1:27 am Honestly, I would rather have Myles be Slash-like on the guitar rather than he come up with melodic stuff to work with Slash's guitar ideas if that makes sense. It just feels more enjoyable to me if the guitar ideas come from Myles for this kind of style of rock. I'll just type my thoughts while I hear some of these songs.

Mr. Downside: Oooo, I think I'm feeling some Big Wreck vibes on this. I think I would have liked it a lot if Myles would try an attempt to sound like Big Wreck for an entire album.

Miss You When You're Gone: This is basically an AB ballad along the likes of All Ends Well, My Champion, and You Will Be Remembered.

Behind the Veil: I agree with Ubik. I think if the rest of the song was along the lengths of the first minute, it could have been something different. He opted to want to build it to a certain climax. The bridge section with the standalone solo is neat though.

Eternal Lullaby: Now, here's a song where it sounds like a title named Eternal Lullaby. Nice, soft, and soothing at the start before it built to another crescendo.

How the Story Ends: There are some guitar parts in this I do like in the intro. Great bridge section.

Overall, I like it, as a whole, slightly better than Ides of March. That album did have the one big epic song (the title track) this album doesn't have though.

Favorites so far: The Art of Letting Go, Mr. Downside, Eternal Lullaby, Nothing More to Gain, and How the Story Ends.
Agree on the Big Wreck vibes with Mr Downside. Interestingly Myles says Dead to Rights is actually a direct tribute to Ian Thornley, which I can definitely see with the solo in particular.
For all of the hope that it brings...

User avatar
Addicted To Pain
On The Rail
Posts: 1530
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:57 am

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Addicted To Pain »

Dolo wrote: Sat Oct 12, 2024 1:46 am Eric Friedman and Frank Sidoris from the Slash backing band come to mind (not sure if Frank does vocals tho).
Frank does sing backing vocals in Mammoth WVH.
We are the left behind...
Forgotten and undefined...
Love us or hate us, you'll never break us, stand at the end of the line...
We are the left behind, and won't be left behind!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post

User avatar
Crumbso
On The Rail
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:32 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Crumbso »

Ubik wrote: Sat Oct 12, 2024 9:44 am Agree on the Big Wreck vibes with Mr Downside. Interestingly Myles says Dead to Rights is actually a direct tribute to Ian Thornley, which I can definitely see with the solo in particular.
I actually questioned whether it was Ian Thornley for the first 15 seconds or so of the solo, then determined it was Myles doing his best Ian impression :lol
Image

User avatar
Crumbso
On The Rail
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:32 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Crumbso »

You know, the production on this is pretty good. Elvis has been hitting as much as missing with me at the moment. Marching in Time sounded great, Kings and Pawns sounded pretty good and darn it, Myles is right about the Diezel Paul. That thing sounds great.
Image

User avatar
scarecrow
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:46 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by scarecrow »

myles and mark seem a little burnt out to me. not a judgment (who hasn't burned out on something?) and i appreciate their insane work ethic and consistency.

but i do wonder what a break might do for them. the very wise dan wilson ('closing time,' 'someone like you') once said that the songwriter occasionally needs to step back and consciously live a life outside of their musical one for a while. have different experiences and interactions.

i think that's a lot easier applied to songwriters who don't have 3-4 MAJOR projects going at the same time. and i'm not implying the guys aren't living. they're *maximizing* their lives, if anything.

and yet they've kept up this wild schedule (even THROUGH the pandemic) for at least a decade now with creed being a new ingredient for this recipe.

it's a lot. in the end i just wish them as much relaxation and quality time as they can stomach lmao.

User avatar
anguyen92
Expert Comma Negotiator
Posts: 10442
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:31 pm
Location: California

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by anguyen92 »

I mean, what else are they going to do with their time if not doing this? Myles hasn't done a live show since like April with Slash and since then, he's just been promoting the new album and doing the usual radio spots on both sides of the Atlantic. Maybe to him, this is probably as good enough as a break for him.

Dolo
Burn It Down
Posts: 2409
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:51 pm
Location: Lublin, Poland

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Dolo »

scarecrow wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 8:28 pm myles and mark seem a little burnt out to me. not a judgment (who hasn't burned out on something?) and i appreciate their insane work ethic and consistency.

but i do wonder what a break might do for them. the very wise dan wilson ('closing time,' 'someone like you') once said that the songwriter occasionally needs to step back and consciously live a life outside of their musical one for a while. have different experiences and interactions.

i think that's a lot easier applied to songwriters who don't have 3-4 MAJOR projects going at the same time. and i'm not implying the guys aren't living. they're *maximizing* their lives, if anything.

and yet they've kept up this wild schedule (even THROUGH the pandemic) for at least a decade now with creed being a new ingredient for this recipe.

it's a lot. in the end i just wish them as much relaxation and quality time as they can stomach lmao.
Exactly what I've been wondering about myself lately. Myles has been on tour/in studio pretty much non-stop since 2010 with the exception of the pandemic.

I think somebody already brought it up while discussing Pawns & Kings, they pretty much wrote and recorded the whole 54-minute record within a couple weeks, I'm a songwriter myself, can hardly imagine doing it so quickly and being 100% happy with the result.
Look at Tool and the fact that it took them 13 years to release a follow-up to 10,000 Days. I'm sure they had enough time to reflect upon every section of that album and look at it from every angle making sure that they are happy with it. 13 years is obviously a bit excessive but I'm wondering what the result would be if AB gave themselves a solid year to write the record, step back then look at the material once again critically and adjust accordingly.
But yeah, all of them have families to feed and deadlines to meet so the only way out is to churn out records for all projects as quickly as possible so that everybody is happy.
Check out my solo project Slight Isolationism:

Facebook
YouTube
Spotify
Bandcamp

User avatar
Timotheus
Little Belgian Waffle
Posts: 16869
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:52 am
Location: Belgium シ
Contact:

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Timotheus »

They make most of their money from touring as far as I know. Make shorter EP's if you desperately want some new material to promote, but I largely agree with Dolo.

It's really just quantity over quality at this point. Myles has to write so many lyrics and melodies that everything starts to mush together. It's really Alter Bridge where it bothers me. In their own projects they can do whatever they like, I guess. But I don't associate the name Alter Bridge with high-quality songwriting and emotional depth anymore, because there's so much filler, and even the best of the best does not live up to its full potential.

This album has maybe 2 songs that I might listen to every now and then. Remember when those Mayfour Field B-sides were leaked and everybody was super excited about it? That's the difference between quality and quantity. I'd gladly wait a few more years for a better album.
Image
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

User avatar
Crumbso
On The Rail
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:32 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Crumbso »

Timotheus wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2024 5:00 am They make most of their money from touring as far as I know. Make shorter EP's if you desperately want some new material to promote, but I largely agree with Dolo.

It's really just quantity over quality at this point. Myles has to write so many lyrics and melodies that everything starts to mush together. It's really Alter Bridge where it bothers me. In their own projects they can do whatever they like, I guess. But I don't associate the name Alter Bridge with high-quality songwriting and emotional depth anymore, because there's so much filler, and even the best of the best does not live up to its full potential.

This album has maybe 2 songs that I might listen to every now and then. Remember when those Mayfour Field B-sides were leaked and everybody was super excited about it? That's the difference between quality and quantity. I'd gladly wait a few more years for a better album.
I think I agree on the Alter Bridge point. Alter Bridge feels like it should have a concept and emotional reality behind it that requires time to make it 'special' and get the best out of the material and performances. Though I don't know if that's just teenage nostalgia talking really.

With regards to this album? I've been spinning it all week and I think it's actually a genuinely good album. Production is not crazily overdone, the songs are good (fantastic in spots), the performances are nice. The weak point is the lyrics but I guess I'm just not looking for wisdom from an MK record. I can live with some good rock n' roll. I'm actually more excited to see him in a 3-piece live band than I would be to see AB live again.

However, I think that these guys see this stuff as their job. They put what emotional content they have into their songs, for sure, but ultimately they "go to the office" and put in their day's work efficiently and professionally. Maybe I could actually face them being a little more pretentious about it :lol
Image

User avatar
Schulzy
Loyal Follower
Posts: 346
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 8:05 pm
Location: The Hawkeye State

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Schulzy »

Timotheus wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2024 5:00 am They make most of their money from touring as far as I know. Make shorter EP's if you desperately want some new material to promote, but I largely agree with Dolo.

It's really just quantity over quality at this point. Myles has to write so many lyrics and melodies that everything starts to mush together. It's really Alter Bridge where it bothers me. In their own projects they can do whatever they like, I guess. But I don't associate the name Alter Bridge with high-quality songwriting and emotional depth anymore, because there's so much filler, and even the best of the best does not live up to its full potential.

This album has maybe 2 songs that I might listen to every now and then. Remember when those Mayfour Field B-sides were leaked and everybody was super excited about it? That's the difference between quality and quantity. I'd gladly wait a few more years for a better album.
Well said, Timotheus. I have been feeling that way about AB for quite some time. That's why I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this new album from Myles. I wish AB would do what Breaking Benjamin did. Take 4-5 years, maybe tour a little, but TAKE THEIR TIME to create the next album. I know that will not happen based on Mark's new interview with Nik Nocturnal, but I can still dream.
Image
I'm walking the Black Road

User avatar
Addicted To Pain
On The Rail
Posts: 1530
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:57 am

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by Addicted To Pain »

Schulzy wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2024 11:48 am I know that will not happen based on Mark's new interview with Nik Nocturnal, but I can still dream.
Mark did an interview with Nik Nocturnal?!? I need to watch it. NOW.
We are the left behind...
Forgotten and undefined...
Love us or hate us, you'll never break us, stand at the end of the line...
We are the left behind, and won't be left behind!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post

User avatar
scarecrow
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:46 pm

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by scarecrow »

an album a year is brutal. it's commendable that there are gems on almost every one, but it's still a crazy schedule to maintain (especially if they're putting their all into it).

User avatar
anguyen92
Expert Comma Negotiator
Posts: 10442
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:31 pm
Location: California

Re: The Art Of Letting Go - MK III

Post by anguyen92 »

I mean, this is the first album from the AB camp since Pawns & Kings in 2022 and I wouldn't doubt it if the motivation for Myles to do this album, in particular, was for him to see what ideas appear to him after playing around with his newly released PRS signature model.

Post Reply