Pawns & Kings (Alter Bridge - VII)

[WaywardOne]

I don't give a s*** what radio DJ's think. This band makes amazing music that makes my life better. I want the guys to be successful but ultimately how popular AB is makes no difference to me as long as the music is this good.

[AB4Lyfe]

I don't give a s*** what radio DJ's think. This band makes amazing music that makes my life better. I want the guys to be successful but ultimately how popular AB is makes no difference to me as long as the music is this good.

[VigilantSteve]

Realistically...with the number of people who are listening to music through streaming services, isn't rock radio largely useless in 2022 anyway? Why even try to chase the "radio single" when you can just put out your best song and have an equally likely chance of having any meaningful success on the radio or otherwise? The metrics are just different now...they should focus on their strengths.

In case anyone cares (I'm sure nobody does), I caved and listed to the song, and it's excellent. Exactly the type of song that I want from Alter Bridge.

[DarkKnight12]

Realistically...with the number of people who are listening to music through streaming services, isn't rock radio largely useless in 2022 anyway? Why even try to chase the "radio single" when you can just put out your best song and have an equally likely chance of having any meaningful success on the radio or otherwise? The metrics are just different now...they should focus on their strengths.

In case anyone cares (I'm sure nobody does), I caved and listed to the song, and it's excellent. Exactly the type of song that I want from Alter Bridge.

I thought as you do, until I saw a video of Ronnie Radke from Falling in Reverse where he explains why radio is important. He’s a bit of a c**t but his rationale here makes sense. You can check it out, starting at 20:05

https://youtu.be/YUyfIs5d01o

[scalthom]

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.

Which other alter bridge albums have hidden blackbirds in them. Blackbird is obvious, as well as walk the sky. Is there anything in fortress or the last hero? Upon close look at the last hero, the eyeline of on the featured face kind of look like the beak of a bird… is this a hidden blackbird?

[Schulzy]

The vocal melody in the bridge is just so Symphony of Agony…

Yes, that is exactly what I said in my earlier post. Agree with you 100%. There's even a lyric in Pawns and Kings about The Last of Our Kind which is the actual song title of Symphony of Agony. I wonder if some of this was originally that song.

[JGremore]

Random drummer nerd opinion, but this is my favorite snare sound from Scott since the My Own Prison/Human Clay days. Its a nice crisp/tight sound.

[scarecrow]

gave in and listened based on the overwhelmingly positive reaction

i'm glad people are enjoying it - for me it unfortunately meanders a bit in a 'last hero' kind of way, but i do like the chorus well enough

sonically this is the best they've sounded since blackbird (i felt like marching in time was a breakthrough project for mr. baskette and it seems that may have been correct

only one listen so far though, a few hours ago, so it may grow on me

might wait to hear again in the context of the whole album <3

(still not into the album art but dan and core twelve have always been extremely hit and miss for me - this would be a slight miss imo)

[scarecrow]

Not a bad album but Indotrication, Forevee falling, last rites, and clear horizon were weak. Dying Light was just okay.

agreed on all but forever falling, which I think is amazing. minus the mix. you can barely hear mark.

[scarecrow]

wait, second listen and i kind of think this might be... totally awesome ?!?!

i'm in an altered state lol but HOLY SHIT

[scarecrow]

OH MY GOD Y'ALL, THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THEIR GREATS

[scarecrow]

may have finally solved some of the forever falling / baskette mystery - i just used a relatively new pair of straight studio cans (beyerdynamic dt 770 pro 80) and mark's vocals are considerably more audible

but almost no one is listening to music 'flat' these days

all of the most popular bluetooth wireless headphones and earbuds (i have a pair of sony headphones i use many hours a day) fundamentally change the sound of the music - usually to bring out bass

it's a weird thing

[scarecrow]

^^a pretty basic take but i do write, perform, record, and mix music

[cheesedip1]

In other words, "I hope the whole album will be full of watered down, radio friendly stuff just like the rest of today's modern rock scene does cause 6:16 is too long for a song'?

You guys should check out some classical music or progressive metal if you think that 6-minute track is long.

——To show the other side of the issue, honestly I think sometimes short and sweet is better. I don’t want a song to drag on and overstay it’s welcome. Now with that being said I do enjoy some progressive music from time to time.

PAK the song has so many different parts to it. I like it. I’m glad they tried something different. It’s taking a lot of listens to let it all sink in and to finally see how I feel about the song.



——@scarecrow

Hmm I might have to get some of these better headphones.

[scarecrow]

In other words, "I hope the whole album will be full of watered down, radio friendly stuff just like the rest of today's modern rock scene does cause 6:16 is too long for a song'?

You guys should check out some classical music or progressive metal if you think that 6-minute track is long.

——To show the other side of the issue, honestly I think sometimes short and sweet is better. I don’t want a song to drag on and overstay it’s welcome. Now with that being said I do enjoy some progressive music from time to time.

PAK the song has so many different parts to it. I like it. I’m glad they tried something different. It’s taking a lot of listens to let it all sink in and to finally see how I feel about the song.



——@scarecrow

Hmm I might have to get some of these better headphones.

they're not necessarily 'better'

they're just sonically neutral - i much prefer listening to music for fun on my sonys

very useful for mixing though

[AHart96]

Unfortunately this song isn’t doing it for me, I’m glad to see I’m in the minority though. I still am looking forward to the rest of the album based off all the comments we’ve heard about it so far!

Side note: I think the production is excellent. I thought Elvis upped his game for Marching in Time, good to see that trend continue

[AB23]

I'll try to give a more in-depth take on my opinion of the song, both the good and the bad.

Idk, to me it just feels like there's something missing in the chorus. It just sounds like it could do more... like every time I listen to it, I think "okay it's gonna really wail away right here" and it never does. It kinda just toes the line and makes you crave for more, but never pushes past that line for me. It's almost like a tease. This is VERY similar to Cradle to the Grave to me. I know most people love that song, but it never really grew on me.

Also, I'm not a fan of the 1st verse from "there is no time to waste.." to "let their will be done." I wish they removed this small portion of the song. It starts SO beautifully, like we're going to hear about a beautiful and moving description of this "journey" that Myles is referencing. But instead of sticking with that theme, it feels like they threw in a head banging metal riff just for the sake of it.

Then the "Ohhhhhhh" before the "Stand up and hold your ground" is nice once again... it's really a pretty part of the song. I wish they had just transitioned straight to that. Maybe I'm nitpicking because we're only talking about 20 seconds of the song, but I find myself disliking this part every single time the song plays. There are two gorgeous parts of the song that are sandwiching a verse that feels very out of place for me. It should either have been moved closer to the end of the song or removed altogether, imo.

It's not a bad song at all. I like this song a lot more than most of their heavier singles. But I genuinely don't see many similarities between this and The Last Hero (saw a bunch of people calling this The Last Hero v.2 and stuff). This feels more like a sequel to Cradle to the Grave for me, which was also a song that never really did it for me for very similar reasons (chorus felt like it could've been a lot better, some parts felt unnecessarily heavy, some portions felt out of place to the rest of the song, etc.).

I will say, I dig the lyrics. I'm not a man of faith by any means, but I always appreciate it when music gives you another perspective on something that is entirely unfamiliar to you. That unfamiliarity is kinda where the song touches me the most, tbh. It's not just a song, it's almost like an immersive listening experience with a soundtrack in the background.

That's my take. The good and the bad. This band has shown me not to judge their album off of the first song they release. You can say that about pretty much every single album they've ever released thus far, so I don't see why it'd be different for this one.

[Schulzy]

Maybe this has already been asked and answered. What are the symbols in the video that show up repeatedly - especially towards the end around the 5:16 mark?

[abw1987]

My biggest internal debate of the last 24hrs has been whether to listen to this song again before the album drops (not counting the listening party).

Help me.

[scarecrow]

My biggest internal debate of the last 24hrs has been whether to listen to this song again before the album drops (not counting the listening party).

Help me.

yeah, give in and listen

it immediately gets better

can't say what waiting months would do