The Fortress Reviews Thread - press reviews & early listens

[Ubik]

Rick Florino's a big fan so you can take it with a pinch of salt. On the other hand, I'm also a big fan, so it sounds like I'm going to love it too! Cheers for posting.

[sam_j]

I would be grateful if somebody could quote the review and post it here.
The website is not opening on my phone.

[Felipesh]

I would be grateful if somebody could quote the review and post it here.
The website is not opening on my phone.

Myles Kennedy's coming off a successful album with Slash and worldwide tour, and Mark Tremonti shook up the metal world with his long-overdue solo album All I Was last year. Of course, Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips are also hot off a big Creed tour as well.

For the uninitiated in AB Nation, Alter Bridge led its most successful campaign to date with 2010's masterful AB III, culminating in a sold out show at Wembley Arena in the UK. Lest we forget, they even sold out places such as the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Los Angeles couldn't be any more anti-rock these days, and that's how on fire Alter Bridge are. That fire hasn't dwindled on Fortress either. In fact, it burns brighter than ever.

Fortress commences with the classically influenced furious finger-picking of "Cry of Achilles" which quickly builds into a modern thrash epic. Its towering rhythms and incendiary riffing temper raw grooves with some of the most impressive playing you'll hear all year. Crossing the six-minute mark, it's clear that Alter Bridge are erecting more of a castle than a Fortress right out the gate. First single "Addicted to Pain" coasts from a stadium-size refrain into fret-burning soloing—some of the best in the game. Kennedy and Tremonti stand out as a formidable duo. From the former's monumental range and impeccable six-string work to Tremonti's metallic mastery, it's a dream team on the likes of "Bleed it Dry" and "The Uninvited".

Alter Bridge still know how to slow things down for the lighters to come out. That happens most elegantly on "Lover", which has big single potential, while "Peace Is Broken" boasts a massive hook. Tremonti's own powerful voice drives "Waters Rising" adding another dimension to the record. Throughout, Marshall and Phillips hold down the foundation in an airtight synchronicity.

The finale of "All Ends Well" and "Fortress" leaves an ominous bookend upon this downright amazing journey. It's metal at its finest. It's also Alter Bridge at their best. Hole up in this Fortress and experience a milestone hard rock record. They've joined the likes of Metallica, Alice in Chains, and Pantera at the top…

[sam_j]

Thanks a lot man!..Appreciated!..

[austinjhnsn]

Cool interview!

[Decay]

Cool. Thanks for sharing that review.

Really hoping all this hype will pay off in the end. I'm sure it will. Everything AB puts out is gold.

22 days till Japanese release and 27 days until the rest of the world release! Can't wait!

[Bob_BleedItDry]

Oh my god I am so ready for this album I just can't wait to finally hear it. These next 20 or so days are gona drag

[Daniel]

The finale of "All Ends Well" and "Fortress" leaves an ominous bookend upon this downright amazing journey. It's metal at its finest. It's also Alter Bridge at their best. Hole up in this Fortress and experience a milestone hard rock record. They've joined the likes of Metallica, Alice in Chains, and Pantera at the top…

Read more at http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainme ... 2FB0C7D.99

Now this is exciting! I've purposely not hyped myself up for this record and built unrealistic expectations like I did with AB III. However after reading these reviews I think I'm going to be pleasantly surprised!

[antiwal]

4 star review (or 85/100) from Killyourstereo here; http://www.killyourstereo.com/reviews/1 ... -fortress/

REVIEW.
One wouldn't be blamed for assuming they had received the wrong album while listening to the first 30 seconds of opener 'Cry of Achilles,' which features a smooth, unaccompanied classical guitar progression. However, after just half a minute in, the guitars and drums kick in when Alter Bridge make their intentions clear. Yes, Alter Bridge are back with another dose of the hard rock that they do better than most of their peers in the industry. Put simply, 'Fortress' is 12 tracks of searing hard rock at its finest.

The guitar work on 'Fortress' is, as on all Alter Bridge releases, impeccable. Both Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti manage to constantly blow you away with some next level phrases and layering across both guitar parts, as well as some virtuosic, face-melting solos that will leave you well and truly stunned. However, it wouldn't be fair to review this album without mentioning some of the riffs that Alter Bridge have to offer ('Addicted To Pain,' 'The Uninvited,' and 'Farther Than The Sun' to name a few), which just breathe life into the songs on the album.

It's all too common to pass off the bassist in rock music as an almost unimportant member of the band, but it's people like Brian Marshall that prove the stereotype wrong . At times simply giving backing to the superb drumming from Scott Phillips and the aforementioned delivery from the guitars, and at others laying down a completely new element to the album (bridge of 'Cry of Achilles,' intro to 'Lover'), Marshall well and truly exceeds expectations placed upon him.

There's a bit of what you would expect in the various soundscapes of the tracks, with the heavy, loud and brutal on one end of things ('Cry of Achilles,' 'Addicted To Pain') and some of the more laid back sounds we've heard the band hit on previous releases ('All Ends Well,' 'Waters Rising'), which often ends up with a dash of the former. There is however, the intro to 'Calm The Fire,' which comes fairly left of field, with an intro that sounds like it has been heavily influenced by bands like Muse (it's a good thing), which adds an interesting element to the track and to the album when viewed as a whole.


CONCLUSION.
'Fortress' is an excellent release. But really, who's surprised? Alter Bridge consistently bring the goods, and this release is no different to that. It's no shock why these musicians are some of the most accomplished and respected in their part of the industry

[axlar]

@antiwal, the words of the review don't match the score.. he has nothing bad to say and yet deduct 15 points just because "it's an excellent release. But really, who's suprised?"

[fix]

@antiwal, the words of the review don't match the score.. he has nothing bad to say and yet deduct 15 points just because "it's an excellent release. But really, who's suprised?"

IMO that's a mistake a lot of reviewers make. If the score is not 100%, there should be a reason why it's not and they should explain why instead of only writing about the positive points of an album.

[axlar]

@antiwal, the words of the review don't match the score.. he has nothing bad to say and yet deduct 15 points just because "it's an excellent release. But really, who's suprised?"

IMO that's a mistake a lot of reviewers make. If the score is not 100%, there should be a reason why it's not and they should explain why instead of only writing about the positive points of an album.

exactly, i DO understand an album could almost never make a 100% score, though deducting 15% of a score after only praising the album.. all he should have done was stating why he deducts points, like album art, lyrics, or whatever..

[sam_j]

Ahhh..after a long time a review is there which doesn't give a 100 to this album.But it is of no use since we don't know WHY it doesn't get a hundred.Somebody please tell us at least SOME faults in the album.I'm tired of hearing the same praises again and again.It's getting boring now LOL.

[Timotheus]

Hahaha, I love that we're complaining about the lack of negativity in the reviews now

I agree with you though, Stijn!

[fix]

Hahaha, I love that we're complaining about the lack of negativity in the reviews now

I agree with you though, Stijn!

! I was complaining about why it didn't get a 100 score, while (apparently) there's nothing wrong with the album? There can't be anything wrong with this album..... right?!

[BSC]

If I was a reviewer, I'd be nervous to give albums an 100 score. Even though there may be nothing wrong with it, by giving an album your highest score on such a refined scale (if it was out of 5 stars or something, 5 stars would be alright imo) you're pretty much saying it's the greatest album ever and that every other album needs to be compared to that album. There's probably nothing wrong with the album in the reviewer's opinion, he's just got a different perspective on what it comes to trying to rate albums. In fact, I don't even know why reviewer attempt to quantify the quality of album for this reason

And yeah, we're complaining about lack of negativity? Next time someone whines at someone else for being negative I'll give them a link to this page.

[Ubik]

Some people won't find any particular faults in something, they just won't like it to the extent they like other stuff which they've rated higher. 8.5 is a pretty darn good score anyway, it's what I rate Blackbird and ABIII at.

[Timotheus]

Ha! I found a review with some negative feedback at the end. I think it got translated through google translate though.

http://www.listal.com/viewentry/5156287

[fix]

Ha! I found a review with some negative feedback at the end. I think it got translated through google translate though.

http://www.listal.com/viewentry/5156287

Nice Google Translate read... But what is the source?

[Timotheus]

I don't know. Just found this one