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Might be a little early but this thought excited me. Assuming AB continues the "every three years" tradition they've been following to this point, we're coming up on the middle mark between Fortress and the next album. Any reason to believe we could be hearing something about album writing come April or May?

I believe one of the guys mentioned in an interview that they would be doing some writing in the second half of this year. Pretty freakin' exciting. These guys keep upping their game. I don't really know how they can top Fortress, but then again I didn't think they could top Blackbird either.

Honestly, I kind of wish they'd tour Fortress some more before returning to the writing table. Maybe it's because I skipped the fall US tour so I could take my honeymoon, but I feel like that album still has some life in it.

^^ That Fortress album does still has some life in it to do some touring. AB usually does two headlining runs at Europe and they did not do that (they allegedly wanted to in January, but that didn't happen). Canada, Mexico, South America still wants to see them at a headlining capacity.

Heck, I think they can do one more US run as well. I wouldn't mind seeing them again. They, oddly, did not have a show at Vegas. I don't know if I would want to go see them that far away, but I would like to have the option of it.

I'd just assume they start writing a new album. If they tour again they'll think they're rusty and play a bunch of Blackbird stuff at every show anyways.

Yea, selfishly I'd rather have them spend more time on new material than on touring.

They'll never top the nostalgia I get when I listen to Blackbird and One Day Remains, but if they keep pushing themselves like they did on Fortress (hopefully even more) there's no reason why they can't top that album.

Fortress was a big step in the right direction after what AB III was. They tried to push themselves with some longer songs. They just need to cut loose on the next one. I would like to hear some more acoustic based stuff on the next album though. I think this band excels at being aggressive (Bleed It Dry, Slip to the Void, Ties That Bind, etc), but I think they really excel at ballads. I get slightly bored at times on the mid tempo rockers that are somewhere in between. Rise Today is an example of what I'm talking about, because even though the message is good, the song just sounds a bit boring.

I think they do mid tempo really well. It's just when 3/4th of an album is mid tempo and the entire album is already really long it's just a bit too much.

But yea, I agree they really excel at ballads. I'd love them them to use an orchestra on a song or something. I just want to hear things from them I haven't heard them do before. In the end there will always be a bunch of typical AB songs. Songs like Calm The Fire, Cry Of Achilles and Fortress are where things get interesting.

I still think that they should tour some more before AB V because they barely even toured on the Fortress cycle. But yes I'm looking forward to the next record. Still waiting for Slash to tour extensively.. He barely has toured as well

Andy92 wrote:Fortress was a big step in the right direction after what AB III was. They tried to push themselves with some longer songs. They just need to cut loose on the next one. I would like to hear some more acoustic based stuff on the next album though. I think this band excels at being aggressive (Bleed It Dry, Slip to the Void, Ties That Bind, etc), but I think they really excel at ballads. I get slightly bored at times on the mid tempo rockers that are somewhere in between. Rise Today is an example of what I'm talking about, because even though the message is good, the song just sounds a bit boring.

YES

Every single ballad they put out is amazing. I hope they have some more acoustic stuff on AB V in any way. Fortress was a natural progression of the band and for the first time, I don't really know what to expect with their next release. Which I'm okay with that. It will be interesting to see how they grow.

I hope they can do a double-album. Somewhere in the veins of Foo Fighters' In Your Honor, where it's one-disk electric, having all the elements that identifies them as a hard rock band, and another-side acoustic where, hopefully, they incorporate songs and elements that people might not expect from them, but know they can deliver and still retain that AB identity.

Fortress was an album that deserves a lot more touring behind it, maybe even the most so far, and it's the one that's gotten the least.

At any rate, Brian posted on Facebook new AB in 2016.

I don't think they should make a completely separate acoustic disc. It would be great if they could incorporate all of the electric and acoustic features into songs as a whole. That's what Opeth or Porcupine Tree do.

I agree with dolo. I'd like stuff with heavy electric parts that transition into a bridge done on acoustic guitar (or any type of arrangement similar to this). I've also been wanting to hear them bring in strings on occasion since the Blackbird days.

Ryan wrote:At any rate, Brian posted on Facebook new AB in 2016.

I cool with that. It means they've got a whole year to pump their talent into that album, all the better for us.

Fortress was completely under-toured. They should still be riding that wave now

Why this under-touring ? This was such a good album that deserves a lot more touring !
Also still waiting for a decent official live-recording of this tour - Milan ?
Is happening here that some of us fear and already spoken out ?
Will AB really be the side project in the future for Tremonti and Slash ?
I hope not, that would really be a shame.

I don't think every tour needs an official live recording, especially if there isn't much variety between the setlists.

But yea, Milan was a great show that deserved to be released, considering that during the next album cycle most of the Fortress songs will never be played again (besides Addicted To Pain, Cry of Achilles and maybe 1 other song).

When you have musicians in multiple bands, you have to choose which you want less of. Myles and Mark still put out AB albums every 3 years like clockwork while also releasing albums for Slash and Tremonti. Compare that to someone like Corey Taylor who takes longer time with each project. Slipknot had a 6 year gap between records, but they still toured a decent amount in that time span. Anytime you're in multiple projects and you want them both to succeed, you have to cut your time somewhere.

I never really liked the word 'side project'. I get that it is used to describe the amount of time but for me it always had the vibe of 'not putting as much effort in it'. And that's not fair imo.

Slash and Tremonti are just different in style and Mark and Myles seem to have fun with it. I would rather they have fun with it and continue to work on AB stuff (on a regular basis ) instead of doing AB only and realizing after a couple of albums that they don't enjoy it anymore, hence putting AB on hold / having no inspiration anymore / breaking up the band. THAT would be a shame...

But I guess it helps that I like the Tremonti and Slash stuff

vChris wrote:I never really liked the word 'side project'. I get that it is used to describe the amount of time but for me it always had the vibe of 'not putting as much effort in it'. And that's not fair imo.

Slash and Tremonti are just different in style and Mark and Myles seem to have fun with it. I would rather they have fun with it and continue to work on AB stuff (on a regular basis ) instead of doing AB only and realizing after a couple of albums that they don't enjoy it anymore, hence putting AB on hold / having no inspiration anymore / breaking up the band. THAT would be a shame...

But I guess it helps that I like the Tremonti and Slash stuff

Great point, and this is exactly why I see the current arrangement as a blessing in disguise. The Slash collaboration provided both Myles and Mark with opportunities to explore other creative outlets. At the very least, it prevents Alter Bridge from getting bored and even sick of each other. Beyond that, it has very likely made them better musicians with a broader songwriting approach. So yes, I wish Alter Bridge spent more time together, but it's hard for me to complain for the aforementioned reasons and because the Slash & Tremonti music is so damn good.