Pawns & Kings (Alter Bridge - VII)

[AB23]

Right, I think if I had to point out one thing that deters me most from the song, it's the main riff. I'm not a fan of the verses at all (ESPECIALLY the first one), but it appears like it's the exact opposite for many other people and that they adore it. This is just a personal thing, for me. I'm sure the song's going to be beloved by this fanbase.

Sometimes, especially since like ABIII, you can see the the flaws in the way they create songs. There are a lot of cool and unique songs they create because they miso-mash a lot of different songs together. But the flaw to that is sometimes, certain parts of a song feel entirely out of place.

For me, the riff just feels out of place. It's not necessarily a bad riff in general to me, it's just that you're enjoying a very soothing and beautiful intro to a song featuring one of your most unique assets (Myles bluesier voice tone), and you kinda infringe on that experience by ending it so abruptly and throwing a (to me) pretty random and metal verse in the mix.

To me, it's most similar to Cradle in the Grave. A lot of people love that song, and I think a lot of people are gonna love this song too. It's just personal preference for me.

[AB4Lyfe]

Might sound weird, but I get Chevelle or even Seether vibes from the main riff. Very post-grunge.

[Andy92]

I listened to the new track on my DT 770s this evening and in my opinion the production difference is pretty noticeable. I’m using some Walk The Sky songs as a reference point, and I can hear all of the instruments clearly on Wouldn’t You Rather (including the bass), but there’s just something about the overall mix that sounds like there’s a thick blanket laying over the speaker. Everything is audible but it’s like the whole thing is being suppressed.

Pawns and Kings is much better sounding and I don’t even think it’s that subtle. The drums and bass sit very well in the mix. Saw someone mention Flip’s snare sound earlier and I’d agree I love the punch/snappiness of it in this track. The kick drum is also pretty punchy without having boomy bass which is the kind of kick sound I like in rock.

When I use Addicted to Pain as a reference, it sounds a lot closer to Pawns and Kings. Bass is clear, drums are tight, guitars sound great. I always thought Fortress was their best sounding record for hard rock (ODR has some of my favorite slower songs), and so far I’m pretty optimistic about the direction of the new album. Time will tell when the full thing releases, but I’m pretty excited for this one.

[JGremore]

Right, I think if I had to point out one thing that deters me most from the song, it's the main riff. I'm not a fan of the verses at all (ESPECIALLY the first one), but it appears like it's the exact opposite for many other people and that they adore it. This is just a personal thing, for me. I'm sure the song's going to be beloved by this fanbase.

Sometimes, especially since like ABIII, you can see the the flaws in the way they create songs. There are a lot of cool and unique songs they create because they miso-mash a lot of different songs together. But the flaw to that is sometimes, certain parts of a song feel entirely out of place.

For me, the riff just feels out of place. It's not necessarily a bad riff in general to me, it's just that you're enjoying a very soothing and beautiful intro to a song featuring one of your most unique assets (Myles bluesier voice tone), and you kinda infringe on that experience by ending it so abruptly and throwing a (to me) pretty random and metal verse in the mix.

To me, it's most similar to Cradle in the Grave. A lot of people love that song, and I think a lot of people are gonna love this song too. It's just personal preference for me.

I get that. For me, I Know It Hurts is one of my favorite AB songs, but the bridge just doesn't fit the song to me. It's so different which I felt they did just to do it.

[scarecrow]

Right, I think if I had to point out one thing that deters me most from the song, it's the main riff. I'm not a fan of the verses at all (ESPECIALLY the first one), but it appears like it's the exact opposite for many other people and that they adore it. This is just a personal thing, for me. I'm sure the song's going to be beloved by this fanbase.

Sometimes, especially since like ABIII, you can see the the flaws in the way they create songs. There are a lot of cool and unique songs they create because they miso-mash a lot of different songs together. But the flaw to that is sometimes, certain parts of a song feel entirely out of place.

For me, the riff just feels out of place. It's not necessarily a bad riff in general to me, it's just that you're enjoying a very soothing and beautiful intro to a song featuring one of your most unique assets (Myles bluesier voice tone), and you kinda infringe on that experience by ending it so abruptly and throwing a (to me) pretty random and metal verse in the mix.

To me, it's most similar to Cradle in the Grave. A lot of people love that song, and I think a lot of people are gonna love this song too. It's just personal preference for me.

yeah, chorus and instrumental stuff doing all the heavy lifting for me

but if a songwriter is doing their job, the verse WILL be the weakest part of a song lol

[riemslag1]

What I like:
.the instrumental stuff
.vocal chorus melody
What i dislike:
.lyrics. i don't like political lyrics. and besides the content of the lyrics i don't think they are good anyways outside of a few lines.
.melody outside of chorus. it's not strong.

the band is kinda showing their age to me. myles especially with his lyrics and strained voice. it's just an okay song. i just compare their newer content agains their older music. you could sing along to it, the lyrics weren't ambiguous political nonsense, and the music had more character because it was simpler. It had more focus on melody instead of focusing on complexity. I know every word to watch over you and sing along with it. This? I'll rock my head a bit with the guitars but I feel nothing else towards the song. Almost indifferent. I evoked no emotion from pawns & kings. well, probably maybe distaste.

Well, finally I found somebody expressing literally my concerns of the direction they are heading the last two albums compared to those brilliant first four albums.
That was hard for me to come up with myself, not being a native English speaker myself.
So thank you for that !
I like the new song better than anything on those last two albums, so that is positive for me, but slowly realizing that songwriting-wise they just do not have that old quality anymore for writing melodic catchy easy flowing rockgems. Too bad, as that quality really separated them from most rockbands.
Still supporting this band and I will try to visit any gig nearby and try to buy all versions of the new album available. Supporting them also by buying my name into the linernotes.
They deserve that support as being the writers of tunes that were there in the defining moments of my life over the last 20 years.
But also slowly realizing that Tremonti is becoming my favorite band more and more each album cycle of both bands.

[Timotheus]

Didn't listen to the song yesterday, to not wear it out too much. Still sounds amazing today

I think the only "weak" part of the song is the first minute or so. And not that it sounds bad, but there's not much tying the song together except for the vocal melody. It requires some familiarity to understand that part better.

Also, I caught my girlfriend, who's not really into rock and metal, unconsciously headbanging to the "One"-machine gun riff in the bridge

[DarkKnight12]

I just noticed that the songwriting credits for the new song is just Myles and Mark, at least on Apple Music. Which I found weird because all songwriting credits in all previous albums is the whole band. Why this sudden change ? Did Brian and Scott not contribute AT ALL on this song ? I find this hard to believe

[Marshall]

But also slowly realizing that Tremonti is becoming my favorite band more and more each album cycle of both bands.

[Ubik]

It's great. Chorus doesn't reach for the hook and is all the better for it.

Not sure where it stands on the album closer front yet but definitely among the best first releases.

[Andy92]

I just noticed that the songwriting credits for the new song is just Myles and Mark, at least on Apple Music. Which I found weird because all songwriting credits in all previous albums is the whole band. Why this sudden change ? Did Brian and Scott not contribute AT ALL on this song ? I find this hard to believe

I don’t know, I checked the song credits on Spotify and I’m seeing what you’re seeing. It doesn’t list a name under the producer credits so not sure if everything is being pulled correctly. But you’re definitely right that the previous albums seem to show all four of their names on the writing credits.

[atombaum]

Im not sure what to expect. I really love the early albums and don't expect much anymore. Last couple albums have sucked. I'd rather Mark write and Myles add to. But that won't happen. I hope to be surprised and enjoy the album like I did the first few when I put my headphones on and listened all the way through and felt so much emotion and felt moved. I hope.

[cheesedip1]

Yeah I think PAK is at least a 6, but I’m not sure if I’m amazed or anything.

Time will tell, but sometimes I think the song is draggy. It keeps the same tempo the whole song and doesn’t change it up with things like slower or faster drumming a whole lot.

[Dolo]

Time will tell, but sometimes I think the song is draggy. It keeps the same tempo the whole song and doesn’t change it up with things like slower or faster drumming a whole lot.

Is there an AB song that ever changes tempo?

And with slower/faster drumming you probably mean playing more dense or with more space, like double-time/half-time feel.

[Timotheus]

Yeah I think PAK is at least a 6, but I’m not sure if I’m amazed or anything.

Time will tell, but sometimes I think the song is draggy. It keeps the same tempo the whole song and doesn’t change it up with things like slower or faster drumming a whole lot.

In terms of BPM? I think there's only one AB song that completely changed it's pace, and that's Fortress. Maybe Show Me A Leader and Calm The Fire with its intros. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But here you have two completely different rhythms in the verses (snare part and normal part), the bridge has the blast parts with the stops, half-time during the solos, etc...I'd say rhythmically this is one of the more varied AB songs.

[Andy92]

Not an AB song but off hand I believe Dust alternates between 6/4 and 4/4.

But I guess the question was about BPM rather than time signatures now that I read it again lol

[Crumbso]

I guess if it is 6/4 and 4/4 switching in complementary tempo it would be technically a BPM change

[Dolo]

Those are two completely different things. If there's a change from 6/4 to 4/4, it's a time signature change, not a tempo change, not even technically. It's just about how many quarter notes are in one measure, not how many beats per minute.

[Crumbso]

Those are two completely different things. If there's a change from 6/4 to 4/4, it's a time signature change, not a tempo change, not even technically. It's just about how many quarter notes are in one measure, not how many beats per minute.

Not so. If you're playing 4/4 and then switch to 6/8 (6/4 is a typo) but keeping the same complimentary feel then the BPM will change to 1.5x of its original value. I haven't checked the dust example though so might not apply.

[Dolo]

Those are two completely different things. If there's a change from 6/4 to 4/4, it's a time signature change, not a tempo change, not even technically. It's just about how many quarter notes are in one measure, not how many beats per minute.

Not so. If you're playing 4/4 and then switch to 6/8 (6/4 is a typo) but keeping the same complimentary feel then the BPM will change to 0.75 of its original value. I haven't checked the dust example though so might not apply.

You're confusing tempo with rhythm. Obviously, a measure of 6/8 is shorter than a measure of 4/4, and yeah, technically 6/8 is 75% of 4/4 but it's still played at the same tempo.