The Last Blackbird Fortress Remains The Sky III.5 (that name is even more ridiculous than last time.)
01. Cry Of Achilles
02. Isolation
03. Ghost Of Days Gone By
04. Lover
05. Metalingus
06. Broken Wings
07. Calm The Fire
08. Blackbird
09. Show Me A Sign
10. Forever Falling
11. -
12. -
13. -
14. -
15. -
16. -
17. -
PLEASE DO NOT VOTE "WALK THE SKY" SONGS JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE FRESH IN YOUR MEMORY. PLEASE CONSIDER ALL SONGS AND HOW MUCH YOU LOVED THEM WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THEM. TAKE YOUR TIME VOTING.
"The End is Here" and "Clear Horizon" are really the only choices here. As much as I love "Clear Horizon", I'm going with my gut and voting for "The End is Here".
Ranked: The End is Here - an AB classic with such a cool vibe, somehow combining clean-picked verses with one of Mark's all-time most badass riffs Clear Horizon - a cool song through-and-through, particularly the chorus with its perfectly melded guitar riff and drums All Ends Well - perhaps a bit cheesy, but nevertheless an uplifting message. I recall the first time I listened to this one, TABN admin Jim had described how the song was about the things Myles' mom would say to build him up as a child. I won't deny being moved to tears when the first chorus hit! Twilight - one of the weaker songs on TLH, it just kind of blends into the noise. I feel like this one would've worked better with the verse arranged acoustically. Break Me Down - a lot of hardcore fans say this one is underrated... I think it's appropriately rated Breathe Again - the poor man's "Before Tomorrow Comes"
All Ends Well
Clear Horizon
Breathe Again
The End Is Here
Break Me Down
Twilight
Honestly, I think I give The End Is Here a bad rap because of its opening "London Bridge" riff. I think that while it's meant to add to the song, it sounds disjointed and weird. I do not think it's a good riff. I do love the song's chorus, though.
All Ends Well was a really, really funny surprise. I remember first reading a review for Fortress when someone described one of the songs as a ballad, but I couldn't remember the title. As I was going through the songs, I thought maybe it was Farther Than the Sun... until I heard the song, and went: "Ugh, that wasn't it." I must've fallen asleep during my first listening through the album or somehow skipped by Track #11 when I was like: "Album is damn good, but I couldn't find that ballad." A couple of days later, I'm shuffling through AB's discography, and this one song pops up with a warm D-sounding riff (technically C#, but **** it). "What the hell is this?" I ask myself. It sounds nice. Open Myles' calming words, a welcoming pre-chorus, and then "If you be-LIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE" comes in, and I've never felt more goosebumps before in my life. That song completely came out of left field, I didn't know what it was or where it came from, and later that day I discovered that it was the track I somehow never heard on Fortress. All Ends Well, it was.
About a year later, one of my students once disclosed to me that she was having suicidal thoughts. I of course did the mandated reporting thing and she got the support that she needed, but during that time that we were alone together (after a long back-and-forth conversation with her), I did an exercise with her where I asked her to sit with her arms rested on her legs, eyes closed, and I played All Ends Well for her through my HT-like system I had at school (which captured the song well). When the chorus came, she was grasping for breath. When the second verse came in with: "If I could heal the scars, show you what you are..." she went into shambles. Not really ever opening her eyes fully, as the song was still playing, she rose up from her seat, came to me and gave me a big hug, and said, "You're a great person." I think she mostly just wanted someone in her corner, and I was there... as was Alter Bridge.
As I said, she eventually got the help that she needed... and that was about five years ago. Now she's a third year college student in LA and we interact through social media all of the time. We've even done some cover songs together (she sings). I want her to do this one with me someday.
Anyway, my point is that All Ends Will cannot be surpassed on this list for me. It'll easily stand triumphant.
It's pretty much a tie between Twilight and Clear Horizon for me, and since I think that Twilight is really underrated, it gets my vote. It's got a strong AB III nostalgia vibe for me and has an incredibly strong bridge, including one of the best non-melancholic solos Mark has written so far.
All the other candidates are nice tunes as well, although Breathe Again is the weakest song off AB III and All Ends Well is just a weaker Life Must Go On/The Bitter End.
Twilight
Clear Horizon
The End Is Here
Break Me Down
Breathe Again
All Ends Well
The End Is Here; Clear Horizon and All Ends Well are the 3 I need to decide between. One is a brilliant album closer, another one of the best tracks from the new album and the third one a beautiful ballad the other 3 I honestly don't remember how they go...
Tough choice for me between The End is Here and Breathe Again but I chose the latter. Don't understand the love for Clear Horizon. I think it's my least fave on WtS.
Scott Stapp:
28th March, 2014 at The Opera House in Toronto
MuffinMcFluffin wrote:All Ends Well
Clear Horizon
Breathe Again
The End Is Here
Break Me Down
Twilight
Honestly, I think I give The End Is Here a bad rap because of its opening "London Bridge" riff. I think that while it's meant to add to the song, it sounds disjointed and weird. I do not think it's a good riff. I do love the song's chorus, though.
All Ends Well was a really, really funny surprise. I remember first reading a review for Fortress when someone described one of the songs as a ballad, but I couldn't remember the title. As I was going through the songs, I thought maybe it was Farther Than the Sun... until I heard the song, and went: "Ugh, that wasn't it." I must've fallen asleep during my first listening through the album or somehow skipped by Track #11 when I was like: "Album is damn good, but I couldn't find that ballad." A couple of days later, I'm shuffling through AB's discography, and this one song pops up with a warm D-sounding riff (technically C#, but **** it). "What the hell is this?" I ask myself. It sounds nice. Open Myles' calming words, a welcoming pre-chorus, and then "If you be-LIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE" comes in, and I've never felt more goosebumps before in my life. That song completely came out of left field, I didn't know what it was or where it came from, and later that day I discovered that it was the track I somehow never heard on Fortress. All Ends Well, it was.
About a year later, one of my students once disclosed to me that she was having suicidal thoughts. I of course did the mandated reporting thing and she got the support that she needed, but during that time that we were alone together (after a long back-and-forth conversation with her), I did an exercise with her where I asked her to sit with her arms rested on her legs, eyes closed, and I played All Ends Well for her through my HT-like system I had at school (which captured the song well). When the chorus came, she was grasping for breath. When the second verse came in with: "If I could heal the scars, show you what you are..." she went into shambles. Not really ever opening her eyes fully, as the song was still playing, she rose up from her seat, came to me and gave me a big hug, and said, "You're a great person." I think she mostly just wanted someone in her corner, and I was there... as was Alter Bridge.
As I said, she eventually got the help that she needed... and that was about five years ago. Now she's a third year college student in LA and we interact through social media all of the time. We've even done some cover songs together (she sings). I want her to do this one with me someday.
Anyway, my point is that All Ends Will cannot be surpassed on this list for me. It'll easily stand triumphant.
I can see why you absolutely must vote for All Ends Well. What a heartwarming story.
That's a really cool story, McFluffin. There are a few songs I often dismiss because they are a bit cheesy, but then I hear stories like this that make me realize how much they mean to people. I definitely got the goosebumps feeling when the first chorus hit as well ("if you BELIEEEEVE...").
Andy92 wrote:Twilight with 3 votes is a bit...surprising lol
Right? Haha. I listened to it when trying to rank the track 11s, and to be honest I completely forgot how the bridge and solo went. I guess I just listen to it that infrequently.
abw1987 wrote:That's a really cool story, McFluffin. There are a few songs I often dismiss because they are a bit cheesy, but then I hear stories like this that make me realize how much they mean to people. I definitely got the goosebumps feeling when the first chorus hit as well ("if you BELIEEEEVE...").
Andy92 wrote:Twilight with 3 votes is a bit...surprising lol
Right? Haha. I listened to it when trying to rank the track 11s, and to be honest I completely forgot how the bridge and solo went. I guess I just listen to it that infrequently.
I've actually gone Break Me Down because I've grown to appreciate it over the years. I used to think it was their worst song but AB have since eclipsed it with some other filler tunes. The simplicity has grown on me. I like the verses and the chorus and the whole thing just chugs along so very acceptably. TEIH is great but it never truly grabbed me. The others I can all take or leave entierly.
So that was you! Ladies and gentlemen, we have our "Break Me Down" voter.
I'm cracking up at the idea of "so very acceptably" describing one's favorite song. I get what you mean though. Sometimes balance and moderation are more important than being the most epic or emotional, having the most badass riffs or solos, etc.