Marching In Time

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Timotheus
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Re: would mind waiting that long

Post by Timotheus »

anguyen92 wrote: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:12 pm
Ubik wrote: Mon Oct 04, 2021 4:13 pm
anguyen92 wrote: Mon Oct 04, 2021 3:09 pm I just didn't care much for Found. I think I was hoping that it was more like Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad when I read that this was an instrumental, not one of those instrumental closers that you find at the end of Breaking Benjamin albums.

Edit: On that note, that can be something that AB could and probably should explore in doing a well-crafted instrumental while they still have the means to do so.
This sounds like a low-key threat :lol
I'm just saying that these guys are late 40s/early 50s and I want them to try something like an instrumental before they feel like they are too old to do something like that.
I wouldn't mind an instrumental shredfest from a 75yo Tremonti.
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anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by Timotheus »

The real tragedy of this album is Bleak. It's got super nice verses and one of the coolest moments of the record with the "It never ends" part around 2:11. And then they follow it up with one of the worst choruses Mark's written in his career. It's so confusing... The pre chorus would've been the perfect chorus if extended a bit.
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anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: Marching In Time

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Timotheus wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:48 am The real tragedy of this album is Bleak. It's got super nice verses and one of the coolest moments of the record with the "It never ends" part around 2:11. And then they follow it up with one of the worst choruses Mark's written in his career. It's so confusing... The pre chorus would've been the perfect chorus if extended a bit.
It's funny. I have the exact same opinion as you, almost word for word, but just change the song, In One Piece. I love Bleak all the way through.
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Re: Marching In Time

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Timotheus wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:48 am The real tragedy of this album is Bleak. It's got super nice verses and one of the coolest moments of the record with the "It never ends" part around 2:11. And then they follow it up with one of the worst choruses Mark's written in his career. It's so confusing... The pre chorus would've been the perfect chorus if extended a bit.
Yep, I agree.

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Re: Marching In Negativity

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Boy, tough crowd in here, huh?
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Re: Marching In Time

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Timotheus wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:48 am The real tragedy of this album is Bleak. It's got super nice verses and one of the coolest moments of the record with the "It never ends" part around 2:11. And then they follow it up with one of the worst choruses Mark's written in his career. It's so confusing... The pre chorus would've been the perfect chorus if extended a bit.
Agree
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Re: Marching In Time

Post by RevenantGB »

Yeah, Bleak is the song I've struggled most to enjoy so far and its purely because of the chorus. I really enjoy the bridge (fucking hits you like a truck after the fingerpicking) and the verse, but the chorus melody and transition to the chorus itself feel very jarring to say the least. It's interesting that for some this is one of the standout tracks, and that difference of opinion is definitely a good thing - nonetheless, the song does little for me overall.
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Re: Marching In Negativity

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Micky wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:17 pm Boy, tough crowd in here, huh?
most of us actually like the album, to varying degrees

also i recommend not paying any mind to the people who post in the comment section on ultimate-guitar.com lmao

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Re: Marching In Time

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bleak is the weakest point for me too, which is sad because there are cool moments in the song. chorus lands with a thud.

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Re: Marching In Negativity

Post by DCooper727 »

scarecrow wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:09 pm
Micky wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:17 pm Boy, tough crowd in here, huh?
most of us actually like the album, to varying degrees

also i recommend not paying any mind to the people who post in the comment section on ultimate-guitar.com lmao
Being in an echo chamber does no one any favors. Their opinions regarding the album are as valid as yours are.

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by anguyen92 »

As I mentioned before, the guy on Ultimate-Guitar that reviewed Marching in Time (who also has reviewed many kinds of albums in different sounds and such, including reviewing the bands that AB is associated with) has been typically fair for Mark's bands and the likes and what he stated is a fair and honest comment that some people here agree on. Here are some of the final comments which is honestly fair.
While "Marching in Time" is yet another solid Tremonti record, it is starting to show some cracks and flaws in the continuation of Mark's projects overall. At this point, it's easy to see how some might call this album "predictable" instead of "playing on Mark's strengths", and how some may also find the mixing job appalling.
But as it stands currently, "Marching in Time" is about as absolutely safe as a hard rock record can get right now, taking absolutely zero risks, and being extremely reliable... almost to a fault.
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews ... ime/49199/

Of course, as a guy that is as optimistic and ampted as one can get for AB-related projects, I just see thinks a bit differently. People see the album as playing it safe. I see it the album has taking the sounds he is most known for and refining it in certain ways and had certain things on it that Walk the Sky didn't have (that's a big plus when it comes to Marching in Time in my books). There's no right or wrong answers. It's just different approaches, mindsets, you name it, on how to enjoy the album.

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Re: Marching In Time

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by Andy92 »

I wish we had a UG comment section when Enter Sandman came out lol
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: Marching In Negativity

Post by scarecrow »

DCooper727 wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:59 pm
scarecrow wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:09 pm
Micky wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:17 pm Boy, tough crowd in here, huh?
most of us actually like the album, to varying degrees

also i recommend not paying any mind to the people who post in the comment section on ultimate-guitar.com lmao
Being in an echo chamber does no one any favors. Their opinions regarding the album are as valid as yours are.
guitar nerds are outliers. what they like is not why most people listen to alter bridge / tremonti.

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by scarecrow »

i understand the vibrato complaints but it's definitely not that prevalent on every song. it's most pronounced on the title track, for sure.

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by scarecrow »

okay, i have pinpointed my issue with bleak. the intro, verses, and bridge are kind of theatrical in an interesting way - both melodically and in mark's phrasing - while the chorus is just this boring sludgy thing that saps the song of all momentum every time it happens.

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Re: Marching In Negativity

Post by DCooper727 »

scarecrow wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:48 pm
DCooper727 wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:59 pm
scarecrow wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 6:09 pm
Micky wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:17 pm Boy, tough crowd in here, huh?
most of us actually like the album, to varying degrees

also i recommend not paying any mind to the people who post in the comment section on ultimate-guitar.com lmao
Being in an echo chamber does no one any favors. Their opinions regarding the album are as valid as yours are.
guitar nerds are outliers. what they like is not why most people listen to alter bridge / tremonti.
I've been refraining from being harsh, but wtf are you on about? There are plenty of guitarists who love AB/Tremonti precisely for Mark's guitar work. I would know, I'm one of them; I have 2 PRS Tremonti's, his wah, his amp, etc. You really need to learn not to speak for large amounts of people when you're making up statements such as that. Anyway, I'm done. This forum has always had a problem with clashing opinions, and it's always been in favor of the yes man, such as yourself.

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Re: Marching In Time

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CrowsOnAWire wrote: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:11 am https://bravewords.com/features/tremont ... ou-can-get
TREMONTI – “THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR HOW GOOD YOU CAN GET”
September 28, 2021

Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti has released his fifth solo album under the Tremonti moniker. Marching In Time, available now via Napalm Records, is the band’s gold medal performance! It’s their best set of songs by far. Not to belittle the four albums that came prior, but this sets a new standard. It’s also Tremonti’s most metal album to date. The opening track, “A World Away” is so heavy, then the melodic vocals bring it back to Alter Bridge territory, what a way to begin!

“It’s kind of been my goal with this band, to make it as heavy and as fun to play as possible; but maintain that melodic approach,” says Mark.

Tremonti has a slightly different lineup this time around, with Ryan Bennett on drums. Bennett replaced Garrett Whitlock, who joined former Tremonti bassist Wolfgang Van Halen’s band, Mammoth WVH. “Yeah, Wolfie stepped out years back when he was working on his solo thing. Then, Garrett had some personal stuff going on back in the day when we took Ryan out on tour with us,” explains Tremonti. “It just made sense for Ryan to continue with us. But I’m really happy that Garrett gets to go out and hit the road with Wolfie. I’m happy to see them out there in stadiums (opening for Guns N’ Roses).”

Although there’s a new guy behind the kit, “It’s kind of business as usual,” states Mark. “I write all the material I can and put it together in demo form. Eric (Friedman, guitarist) is really good with Pro-Tools and Logic so we can get in and make the demos pretty airtight before we hit the studio. So, by the time the demos are done… the drums and all the parts are pretty dialed in. By the time we hit the studio, everybody’s practiced their parts and hit the ground running. I don’t necessarily need to be in there for drums. I’m at home frantically writing my parts and finishing up whatever stuff I need to do. It’s usually the solos. When I do demos, I haven’t written the solos or worked them out yet, just because sometimes if the song doesn’t make the record, I’ve just wasted a week putting something together. It’s usually a race to the finish line with me to write 12 or 14, however many solos are on there. So, I stay at home while the drums are getting tracked. I just call in and ask how it’s going. As long as I get good reports, I’m happy and I continue with what I’m doing.”

Mark Tremonti has worked extensively with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette through the years, so the trust factor is solid. “Oh yeah, for sure. Especially with this band, having Eric and Elvis in there while drums are getting tracked, I know that they’re going to be solid. When we put these demos together, we program the drums to sound pretty much what they’re going to sound like in the end, outside of Ryan putting his own spin on fills, and putting his own flavor on it. There’s never been a point where I heard something that was a completely different vibe than I was anticipating. Every time I’ve heard it, it sounds great.”

Speaking of guitar solos, Mark’s fingers are just flying on this album, and he reveals his favorite. “I think ‘Let That Be Us’ is probably my favorite solo on there,” admits Tremonti. “Some progressions and moods are just more enjoyable to play over, and that one’s really good, high energy. I’ve been working on new techniques on the guitar, picking-wise, and that song fit the tempo just right for the technique I’ve been working on. Sometimes you work on things for years, then you write an album and none of the tempos quite feel right for what you’ve been working on, and it bums you out. But on this record, a lot of the techniques I’ve been working on fit right in.”

The most energetic song on Marching In Time is “Thrown Further”; it’s so invigorating! “That one came together relatively easily, which is good. Sometimes when a song comes together easily, the pieces were meant to be together. That’s one that we’ve actually started performing; we haven’t done it live yet, but we’ve got it rehearsed and ready to go.”

So much focus is put on Mark’s incredible guitar ability, and the heaviness of these songs, but he also sings some very compelling lyrics. “Now And Forever”, for example, contains the line, “My once jaded heart’s been fortified, but left on empty.” “Yeah, that’s probably my favorite chorus on the whole album.” Delving further into what inspired that line, Tremonti comments, “You just get beat down… sometimes the song isn’t necessarily about everything I’m going through. It could be about another person in my life, a book, or a movie, whatever it is. But I have definitely been in the shoes of the person I’m singing about in that song, where you build up these walls around you cause you have to protect yourself from whatever it is, whatever kind of criticism or things that are in your way at the time. So, you build these walls up and it kind of makes you a different person. If you’re this pure, innocent person growing up, and as you age, you have to put up these walls to keep the negativity out, it somehow changes your inner character.”

But the final song, and the title track, “Marching In Time” is very much autobiographical. It’s written about Mark’s wife giving birth to a baby girl during the pandemic. “Yeah, lyrically for sure. We found out that she was pregnant during 2020. Turning on the news and watching what was going on in the world was just disgusting at the time. People were attacking one another. Nobody could have a conversation anymore; it was you’re wrong and I’m right, no grey area. So, it’s a song about having a child during these times and trying to keep their purity, keep them from being affected by how negative the world is at the moment. I’m just trying to teach ‘em the right way of living.”

Despite all of the COVID restrictions, Mark was present in the hospital room for the birth of his daughter. “I was there. It was awesome! You could only have two guests, so it was me and my sister-in-law. There’s a silver lining in the whole pandemic lockdown, I’ve got to spend six months, every single day, with my new daughter. That would have never happened since 1997 with me touring as much as I have.”

When it comes to vocals, none other than Frank Sinatra serves as inspiration for Mark while preparing to hit the studio. Elaborating upon this unexpected influence, Mark reveals, “He was probably my biggest vocal inspiration. I just love Frank Sinatra, and I love singing Sinatra songs. It’s just a good way of controlling your voice, looking into phrasing, pronunciation, vibrato. When I sing the hard rock stuff, I’m always stretching my voice out and really having to push, which if I sat down in front of a proper singing instructor, they’d probably tell me I was doing it all wrong. But when I sink Frank Sinatra stuff, I feel like I’m doing it right and I’m in control. What it did for me on this record was, ever since I was younger, I didn’t like my voice and I would try to stay away from hearing my real voice on a record; that’s why I’d always push my vocals. But now, I’ve finally come to peace with my lower registers on this record. The way I approached vocals on this record was different than I’d ever done before. Usually, I just write the melodies, write the lyrics, and sing it almost unrehearsed. But this time, I really charted out all my vocals and made sure I knew all my vowel placements, where I was going to go vibrato, how I was going to phrase it exactly. I remember when Myles told me years ago, ‘I’ve got to work out all my placements for this song.’ I had no idea what he meant, until now.”

Presumably, Myles would be an excellent teacher, as he’s one of the best rock vocalists there is. “Yeah well, the funny thing is, his voice is so different than mine; it’s hard for me to learn from him. He sings very softly and he’s a very well trained, operatic, kind of a bel canto style singer. So, I never really learned much from him other than just seeing how brilliant he is at singing, and know that the sky’s the limit for how good you can get if you work hard enough at it.”

Looking back at laying down vocals in the studio, Tremonti recalls, “Usually, it’s at least one song a day, and then if I was feeling good, I’d push forward. But Elvis has a really good way of making sure that you don’t blow your voice out, so that you don’t ruin a week of recording. Even if he hears a hint of strain in your voice, ‘Alright, let’s come back tomorrow.’ When we were doing the demos, I had all my vocal parts worked out, all my lyrics, all my melodies and whatnot. Then when it came time to doing vocals, that’s when I started really going after it and making sure the way I was going to approach tracking was thought out beforehand. As I was doing that, I was also writing guitar solos. The rhythm stuff, all that was already well worked out. The most stressful thing for me on every record pretty much, is the moment you’ve figured out – in pre-production – which songs you’re going to go forward with on the record, then you make a chart of how many guitar solos are going to be on the record. You have to attack the guitar for… it seems like 12 hours a day until that record’s ready to go. I don’t know how many solos are on this record, nine or ten, but it takes me a long time to put together these solos before I record. You just see that deadline looming… that’s the most stressful thing every record.”

The artwork for Marching In Time is an interesting image. “The cover art, my brother came up with that design. I pretty much told him that I wanted it to be like a Lemmings kind of theme, where you see humanity just running off the cliff, one after the other type of thing. The blind leading the blind. So that’s what he came wp with, was this circular thing, and I love the image. Immediately I saw it on a record, on an LP.”

“Would You Kill” is a very bold title. “That’s pretty much asking somebody how far they’re willing to push themselves, or what are they willing to do, to accomplish what they’re going after. That was a song that I actually put together for, gosh, it might even have been the Cauterize and Dust sessions. That song was pretty well written back then. When I was doing this record, I was going through all my old files and came across it. I played it for Elvis and he immediately said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to do this song. This is something that fans of the first record are going to love. It’s kind of a throwback for you guys, which will be good.’”

“Not Afraid To Lose” has to be the mentality of any musician. “That’s right. In life, you can’t be afraid to lose. Or else you’ll just sit at home being nervous about facing down anything.”

When it comes to live shows, it would be a fan’s dream come true to attend a tour, or even a one night only special event, with Myles Kennedy, Tremonti, and Alter Bridge all on the same show. “You know, it’s been brought up in the past, and everybody’s saying how it makes sense to do that kind of thing. But if you look at it from a promoter’s point of view, it doesn’t make sense for them because you’re just bringing the same fan base in. That’s why they like to mix bands up. They want to have other bands in the fold to bring more people into the building. That’s why Myles Kennedy solo project and Tremonti solo project aren’t going to play in different venues in the same city on the same night, cause it’s a lot of the same fan base. But it would be a fun thing to do, especially if it was filmed.”

Alter Bridge has sold out Royal Albert Hall in England, that would be a perfect venue for such an event. “Yeah, that would definitely be the place we’d want to do something like that. England is – for all of our bands – our biggest fan base.” Why is that? “I thought in the beginning, it was because, with the success of Creed here in the States, it was hard to outrun the shadow of that. We never did much touring over in Europe, so when Alter Bridge hit over there, it was a blank canvas. We were just a new band to everybody over there. At the time, if you had a tenor vocalist and you were doing guitar solos, people dug it over there. I remember when The Darkness came out, they were huge there. It’s just a different vibe from the rock that was getting played in the States at the time, and it worked for us. If it weren’t for Europe, with Alter Bridge, we might be in a different profession right now. They, especially in England, really helped this band survive the transition between Creed and Alter Bridge.”

The last time BraveWords spoke with Tremonti, it was about the 2018 album, A Dying Machine. That was a very different record for the band, because it was a science-fiction concept piece. Now that three years have passed, Mark answers the question, would you ever tackle another concept album? “You never know, cause I never even planned on doing the concept record. It kind of just fell in my lap naturally. I’m actually rewriting the book, A Dying Machine, right now. Once that’s written, if it’s written – I’m rewriting it right now because there’s a publishing house that’s possibly interested in doing a deal for the book. If that happens, and it’s a success, then I would write a sequel. But until that point, there’s no point in doing a sequel for A Dying Machine. But, never say never on anything.”

This re-write, will it be radically different than the book that was made available in 2018? “It’s the same characters, same plot line, different order. And one big thing, a lot of it is going to be written in the first person, which really adds a modern, cool vibe to it. It’s inspired by authors like Andy Weir, who just came out with Hail Mary, which is an amazing book, that’s again from the first person. When you read it, for me, it’s a fresh approach to the book.” And if you happen to have a copy of the A Dying Machine book, it’s become a prized collector’s item. “The only ones that are left, I’ve got about 40 copies in my closet; but I’m going to keep those.”

Uh hold up.... did anyone else read the last two paragraphs?? That's huge! A re-written ADM book and possible sequel!?!

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by cheesedip1 »

—-“ From day one, Mark should have tried to distance himself as much as he could from the AB sound”

Sadly, there’s a lot of truth to this. I mean he can do whatever he wants, but honestly Tremonti music doesn’t really sound too different from AB or anything.


—— Down to my Last had great lyrics that fit the song.

It could be seen about the Creed breakup but the song could vaguely apply to some other normal situation that a lot of people go through.


—-Bleak is good all the way through.

— In One Piece is okay but that chorus is almost bad and almost terrible.

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Re: Marching In Time

Post by chtimixeur »

anguyen92 wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:09 pm As I mentioned before, the guy on Ultimate-Guitar that reviewed Marching in Time (who also has reviewed many kinds of albums in different sounds and such, including reviewing the bands that AB is associated with) has been typically fair for Mark's bands and the likes and what he stated is a fair and honest comment that some people here agree on. Here are some of the final comments which is honestly fair.
While "Marching in Time" is yet another solid Tremonti record, it is starting to show some cracks and flaws in the continuation of Mark's projects overall. At this point, it's easy to see how some might call this album "predictable" instead of "playing on Mark's strengths", and how some may also find the mixing job appalling.
But as it stands currently, "Marching in Time" is about as absolutely safe as a hard rock record can get right now, taking absolutely zero risks, and being extremely reliable... almost to a fault.
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews ... ime/49199/
Thanks for posting it. I couldn't find it yesterday.
That reviewer makes a lot of interesting points about Mark's work.
I find it funny that he's so harsh with the mix, because of all AB and Tremonti albums that have been released after Fortress, I think it's the album that sounds the best. It's still heavily flawed on the drums, but Walk the Sky was FAR worse in terms of production and mix.

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