Pawns & Kings (Alter Bridge - VII)

[zazthespaz]

Cool that on the cover of the album they have the band born date on the left side of the bridge and the release date of the album on the right side of the bridge. I hope it doesn't signal THE END.. but just a path to where they are now.

Still trying to find the blackbird in the album cover art.... nothing yet.

Think I found what looks like Blackbird?


EDIT: Also, seems intentional since none of the others have that indent/symbol on them.

Nice find! I noticed the figure on the left underside of the bridge looks like a king when the rest seem to be pawns, wonder if this means anything. The one on the right could be a king too based on the different base. I'm curious if there are easter eggs loaded on this cover, would be easy to do given everything going on.

[Arctic]

I’m enjoying the single, listened twice so far. I like the lyrics, very biblical at times, has to be written by Mark. It’s an odd blend of dark/light with heavy elements but also comes off kind of mellow at the same time. It works.

Also like the throwbacks on the cover, the bridge and the little Blackbird Easter egg. Nice find.

[DarkKnight12]

I’m enjoying the single, listened twice so far. I like the lyrics, very biblical at times, has to be written by Mark. It’s an odd blend of dark/light with heavy elements but also comes off kind of mellow at the same time. It works.

Also like the throwbacks on the cover, the bridge and the little Blackbird Easter egg. Nice find.

That’s definitely more of a Myles song in my opinion.

[Arctic]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

[zazthespaz]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

I think it may be a way of the band holding up a mirror to politicians/figures of power. Please don't use this as an excuse to start arguing politics, but MY OPINION of the "The meek shall sing until God's will is done" is referring to the "Meek shall inherit the Earth" line. I think it's a way of telling all the people with power on the news and TV who are spouting bible verses to back their cause, that they are not the "meek" ones.

(Again, my opinion - please note I did not say that the blue/red/purple/rainbow/etc. side is wrong)

[AB23]

It's alright. For whatever reason, it's not very memorable to me. I like the direction, but I wish they'd go all out with things like the chorus in these longer "epics."

Im sure plenty will disagree, but there just weren't many of those moments in the song for me. I couldn't even sound the chorus out for you right now, and I just listened to the song an hour ago.

[Andy92]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

I remembered hearing both Mark and Myles brought in two songs with similar titles which kickstarted the album theme and I found this old comment from Tim on Facebook:

"Totally true story, Myles brought in a song called Pawn & Kings and Mark brought in a song call King (since renamed).. everyone went, “well, we have a theme!”

Sounds like King got renamed to something else (assuming it made the album cut), but this track would have been from Myles.

The song does use a fair bit of religious references but I think the song in general is about class warfare.

[Dan Dando]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

I think it may be a way of the band holding up a mirror to politicians/figures of power. Please don't use this as an excuse to start arguing politics, but MY OPINION of the "The meek shall sing until God's will is done" is referring to the "Meek shall inherit the Earth" line. I think it's a way of telling all the people with power on the news and TV who are spouting bible verses to back their cause, that they are not the "meek" ones.

(Again, my opinion - please note I did not say that the blue/red/purple/rainbow/etc. side is wrong)

I don’t think it’s that complex. I think Myles (assuming he wrote the words) is using meek in the positive sense, because meek can also mean patient.

[cheesedip1]

It's alright. For whatever reason, it's not very memorable to me. I like the direction, but I wish they'd go all out with things like the chorus in these longer "epics."

Im sure plenty will disagree, but there just weren't many of those moments in the song for me. I couldn't even sound the chorus out for you right now, and I just listened to the song an hour ago.

Yeah I get what you’re saying.

Hopefully after lots of listens my mind will be able to finally know how I feel about the song. 4 listens so far and I’m not sure how to feel.

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Shea, when you gonna type up the lyrics?

They're already on azlyrics so I dont have to
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/alterbr ... kings.html

[MylesKennedy69]

Hey, as the new album cycle is coming around, I thought I'd share a community discord which was made during the leadup to Walk The Sky being released. It hasn't seen much action the past few years but I thought I'd try and get it going since there's new material.

For those who don't know, Discord is a community based instant messaging and audio/video call platform. It is different to TheAlterBridgeNation as it allows more instantaneous messaging and the aforementioned audio/video calls.

Everybody is welcome, the link is below if you'd like to give it a try.
https://discord.gg/zYpYZ5TeS

Apologies if this breaks any rules.

It says the invite is invalid or do not have permission to join

Updated the link. Here as well: https://discord.gg/yrWGhyj7R3

[mitch103]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

Sounds like King got renamed to something else (assuming it made the album cut), but this track would have been from Myles.

Maybe King was renamed to "Stay" ?

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Initial impressions/opinions after a few listens...
- Chorus melody/chorus vocals is the weakest part of the song
- I wish the bridge solos were longer or that Myles only had a solo in the bridge and Mark had an outro solo
- I wish the bridge breakdown build up was longer
- I wish Mark had backing vocals in the song instead of double Myles
- Decent production but at least on the YouTube video I can't really hear Brian's bass

[UninvitedZero]

I'm finally home from work, relaxing with a beer, listening to this song over and over again

It's stunning. THIS is the lead single?! Lord have mercy, we're in for a wild fucking ride with the rest of this record. If Pawns & Kings the track is any indication, I'm gonna go ahead and say this is the heaviest, most technical and maybe even most focused Alter Bridge album yet.

Musically, Pawns & Kings is like a fusion of The Last Hero and Dying Light.
The clean/acoustic intro had me fooled until the band tore into it... Devil On The Wall vibes.
I dig the verses but that tempo shift is kinda jarring.
The chorus sounds huge, it'll hopefully get over live.
The bridge is massively heavy!
I love the bends leading into the solo. I read in the thread that it's believed to be a dual solo from Myles and Mark? Sweet.
I dig the "sovereign wings" line in the outro and the outro in general.

This feels like a huge shift in the Alter Bridge strategy and I love it. Are there any arena bangers as we've come to know on this album at all? Is every song going this hard if not harder? Are the straight ahead Addicted To Pain/Poison In Your Veins rockers gone away in favor of really truly pushing their chops to the limit? At this point, why the hell not??
I'm so much more pumped for this album now!

[Andy92]

It just reminds me of ODR lyrics, lots of religious references, and an outright mention of Gods will at the end. Mark is the religious one, I just wouldn’t imagine Myles writing something like that.

Sounds like King got renamed to something else (assuming it made the album cut), but this track would have been from Myles.

Maybe King was renamed to "Stay" ?

Possibly. Hard to tell until we hear all the lyrics from the others songs. Might be able to pick it out if the word king shows up.

Also possible when they changed the names, Myles wrote new lyrics for the song that was Mark’s music. But my thought was to listen for other references of the word king throughout the album.

[AB23]

Don't get me wrong, there are some AB singles that have been released and I'm immediately like "this is not for me."

This song doesn't qualify as that. It's just not "memorable." I'm not saying it's bad. I certainly doesn't have the same feeling that I had when I first listened to Words or Blackbird or Achilles. But it just doesn't have that memorable moment in the song for me that sticks with you.

I'll keep on listening and maybe it'll get better. I dig the lyrics, at least. Even if I'm not a religious person myself, I love lyrics that I find thought provoking.

The cover is the best cover the band's had since Fortress, possibly even Blackbird. That kicks ass.

[Schulzy]

I'm six listens in......and not feeling it. I was really looking forward to this but sadly am underwhelmed.
I commented on the YouTube video that I like Myles' voice - very clear - and the mid section of the song is fun but that's about it. I think it tries too hard to be This Side of Fate morphing and mutating along the way. Also, I can't get over how Symphony of Agony (Last of Our Kind) sounds very similar.....especially the "there can be no compromise" part which I actually have sung over Pawns and Kings. It's telling that that song is more memorable to me than this one. Sorry, only a 4 or 5/10 in my book. Regardless, I still pre-ordered the vinyl album and a shirt because there are nine other songs to go and hopefully a bonus or two!

[abw1987]

Holy hell... THAT is how you do a lead single. Maybe not if you're going for maximum airplay, but these guys are totally doubling down on their core competency of writing epic, uncompromising masterpieces – saying this is who we are; this is what we do. They know why their fans are so loyal, and at this point have no need to pander to a larger aspirational audience. The last decade has seen notable growth in the niche of heavy, complex rock music, so there are plenty of fans left to win over by releasing honest, effortful music like this. Very excited they've decided to lead with such a bold choice.

[anguyen92]

Holy hell... THAT is how you do a lead single. Maybe not if you're going for maximum airplay, but these guys are totally doubling down on their core competency of writing epic, uncompromising masterpieces – saying this is who we are; this is what we do. They know why their fans are so loyal, and at this point have no need to pander to a larger aspirational audience. The last decade has seen notable growth in the niche of heavy, complex rock music, so there are plenty of fans left to win over by releasing honest, effortful music like this. Very excited they've decided to lead with such a bold choice.

I mean, ever since the record label change to Napalm, they've tried pretty hard on what they can do to capture what the metrics are looking for in terms of Top 5 single charting play on Active Rock and it just doesn't jive for whatever reasons (and it's not due to the quality of songs. AB's Active Rock singles totally outclasses the tripe you hear on Active Rock radio or Sirius XM). From what I am reading on people's thoughts on Pawns & Kings (the song), this song looks to be sending a well-defined message in who they are and what they want to present to the world.

[AB4Lyfe]

It’ll play well to Reaction channels. Which in this age is as good as radio.