Pawns & Kings (Alter Bridge - VII)

[iAmDavis]

I absolutely loved the album already beforehand, but the listen of the whole album from start to finish on Primordial Radio really made it even better. I didn't like Stay that much at first, but it has very quickly grown on me, and I don't even really dislike Season of Promise either. There isn't a song on the album that I think is skippable for me. Absolute home run of an album by these guys. They just don't miss.

[WaywardOne]

I AM SO GLAD I DIDN'T LISTEN TO THIS IS WAR BEFORE FULL ALBUM RELEASE. WHAT A TREAT!

Just finished my first listen of the whole album and damn, so much to unpack here, will have to spread out my thoughts over the coming weeks. A few overall points:

Plenty of unnecessary Myles layering like always... but we all know that's never going away by now. HOWEVER, there are so many moments where they FINALLY use Mark and Myles together in the way I always hoped they would. Like, Stay didn't click for me overall aside from appreciating the good vibes, but their singing together is everything on that song.

Really nice to hear Brian more than usual on this album. And how about Flip stepping his game up???

One of the most impressive things to me: The songs are effortlessly long. Like, normally I expect a song over 6 minutes to feel disjointed at some point, or to have some self-indulgent instrumental parts (i.e. Dream Theater), but Sin After Sin, Fable and P & K all just flow. Seriously, i had to check the time when it sounded like Fable was ending and was STUNNED to see that almost 8 minutes had passed. I think that is one of the most artistically impressive things I've ever experienced.

[GassMoney92]

With each listen, I’m noticing more and more little details that are just blowing my mind. When I first heard the intro to Dead Among The Living I thought “Holy hell this is gonna be killer!” then I felt a little let down by the chorus and had mixed feelings after the song ended. Now after a few proper listens, it’s becoming one of my favorites. Flip’s little drum rolls in-between the main riff are so slick. This album has shattered all of my expectations after my disappointment with WTS. I think they’ve proved to all of us that they aren’t slowing down any time soon.

[AB4Lyfe]

Yeah, this my favorite album since Fortress after 5-6 listens. Let’s see if it stands the test of time.

Might actually do my first track by track analysis - it’s been over 10 years of being a member and 12 lurking (5 albums) so screw it, why not.

[Devil Inside You]

Playing what I can. Hopefully gonna buy the album next Friday. Love everything I've heard so far. I think making it 10 tracks eliminated the filler issues I have with Alter Bridge albums. I'll give it time to set but from what I've heard it might be my 2nd fav Alter Bridge album behind Blackbird.

That gorgeous album cover helps too

[gbruin]

I'm pretty similar to you AB4Lyfe. P&K is already is more interesting and catchy to me than the last two albums. My faves have always been ODR, BB, then ABIII and Fortress together. However, there isn't one song on this album that is as good as Achilles/Fortress/Lover, so I can't put it above Fortress. And there are a couple songs on P&K that are pretty meh with me (Stay, the opening lyric buries digs such a big hole that the great bridge can't save it, and I don't need any more Slash/MK&C in my life so Holiday doesn't fit) while nothing on ABIII drops to those levels for me. The rest of the album is really consistently good with some great moments throughout. It was really cool to be surprised by almost every song last night listening to them all for the first time (save the first single which I listened to maybe twice).

It's goooood to have Alter Bridge back!

It would be even better to have either of my preorders from the AB store or Napalm actually arrive today, and I'm far from the only one in that group. What's up with that?

[Whitebird]

I think the majority of people didn't liked Holiday too much but I totally love it

[Dolo]

I think the majority of people didn't liked Holiday too much but I totally love it

The problem with this one is the whole corky/butt rock vibe of it. It's a nice one to dance to and I find myself humming the chorus because it's catchy but it seems out of place on the record, it's almost like Five Finger Death Punch or Black Stone Cherry had a guest spot on this album, it doesn't sound like AB at all.

[fix]

Except for the bridge. Almost like they added that purely to make it an Alter Bridge song. The song is not really growing on me on multiple listens.

[Mr.Vlado]

I think the majority of people didn't liked Holiday too much but I totally love it

The problem with this one is the whole corky/butt rock vibe of it. It's a nice one to dance to and I find myself humming the chorus because it's catchy but it seems out of place on the record, it's almost like Five Finger Death Punch or Black Stone Cherry had a guest spot on this album, it doesn't sound like AB at all.

I find it funny how little most reviewers know about the band they are reviewing. In 80% of the reviews I've read sth. like "nothing new, same old AB".
I like Holiday a lot but it is definitely very different from everything else AB has done. The same goes for Stay and Fable. And I would also say that the amount of kind of positive sounding songs on this album is kind of unusual (Stay, Holiday, Season). So in my book it is definitely not like any other AB album.

[Dolo]

Except for the bridge. Almost like they added that purely to make it an Alter Bridge song. The song is not really growing on me on multiple listens.

Yeah, completely forgot about the bridge. They slightly alterbridgeized a regular radio-friendly banger.

[Trenthetfield]

Just to add my twopenny worth having looked forward to this for so long. Had heard the first 3 singles and liked them, but had managed to avoid This is War. As someone else said, it was great to hear that fresh to kick that album off. From there, barely a mis-step for me, so pretty impossible to pick favourites at the moment, though probably the biggest smile was after Fable. Only song I've not connected to yet is Stay, and I'm not sure I ever will. It's just not got much about it in my opinion. Very happy it's as good as it is, particularly after not digging the Queensryche album last week as much as I'd hoped.

[DarkKnight12]

Fable is so freaking good my goodness. After around 10 listens I absolutely love this song. If they don’t play it live during the UK/EU run starting next month they are criminal!!

[Dan Dando]

Anyone else feel a hint of melancholy mixed up in all of the excitement when AB release an album? Might sound a bit hokey, but there’s something about the consistent three year period between albums that makes each one feel like a stop alongside a long road. I’m 33 currently but playing the shit out of Isolation as a 21 year old doesn’t feel that long ago.

[Schulzy]

Anyone else feel a hint of melancholy mixed up in all of the excitement when AB release an album? Might sound a bit hokey, but there’s something about the consistent three year period between albums that makes each one feel like a stop alongside a long road. I’m 33 currently but playing the shit out of Isolation as a 21 year old doesn’t feel that long ago.

Totally, Dan. I'm turning 40 this year and it doesn't seem so long ago that I was listening to Open Your Eyes for the first time in my tiny, cricket infested, college apartment/shack in Phoenix, AZ, with no air conditioning in 100 degree weather. Oh wait, that was 18 years ago.

[WaywardOne]

Anyone else feel a hint of melancholy mixed up in all of the excitement when AB release an album? Might sound a bit hokey, but there’s something about the consistent three year period between albums that makes each one feel like a stop alongside a long road. I’m 33 currently but playing the shit out of Isolation as a 21 year old doesn’t feel that long ago.

100%. I'm 32, so very similar. I can still remember where I was first listening to every new album for the first time. New album releases by this band are so much more than just new music - it's a part of our lives.

[Schulzy]

Anyone else feel a hint of melancholy mixed up in all of the excitement when AB release an album? Might sound a bit hokey, but there’s something about the consistent three year period between albums that makes each one feel like a stop alongside a long road. I’m 33 currently but playing the shit out of Isolation as a 21 year old doesn’t feel that long ago.

100%. I'm 32, so very similar. I can still remember where I was first listening to every new album for the first time. New album releases by this band are so much more than just new music - it's a part of our lives.

So true. Every AB album release has almost directly coincided with major life events for me. College graduation, new job, moving across country, breaking up with my fiance, pandemic years, and now another job change and dealing with family crisis.

[Crumbso]

Anyone else feel a hint of melancholy mixed up in all of the excitement when AB release an album? Might sound a bit hokey, but there’s something about the consistent three year period between albums that makes each one feel like a stop alongside a long road. I’m 33 currently but playing the shit out of Isolation as a 21 year old doesn’t feel that long ago.

100%. I'm 32, so very similar. I can still remember where I was first listening to every new album for the first time. New album releases by this band are so much more than just new music - it's a part of our lives.

So true. Every AB album release has almost directly coincided with major life events for me. College graduation, new job, moving across country, breaking up with my fiance, pandemic years, and now another job change and dealing with family crisis.

Dude. I'm just starting to feel old in general. I'm 35 now and goodness me, my first AB concert was almost exactly half my life ago.

[anguyen92]

^^ Yep, feeling that. Realized that I've been following this band for exactly half my life at this point.

[maximzub]

^^ Yep, feeling that. Realized that I've been following this band for exactly half my life at this point.

I'll join your boat when I'm 33 years and 4 months old.