Check out my band

[captben41]

I figured I would post a link to my bands acoustic EP that we recorded live using my 514ce about a month ago. The quality is not the greatest but I figured I could give you guys something to listen to.

Any thoughts on the songs itself would be greatly appreciated.

Download The Big Heavy Acoustic EP HERE
http://www.purevolume.com/thebigheavy

[captben41]

any feedback?

[utah]

I'm thinking that you must be the Ben part of Ben and Jay.

I'd like to hear your songs with the full band playing. As acoustic songs, with vocal and one guy strumming guitar, I find the songs a bit simplistic. Now, with the full power of the band behind them....maybe the songs would really come alive for me.

I like the last song of the four the best.

Vocally, ( I think maybe it's you singing? ).....I think the singer has a good voice. But, it sounds kind of forced for these stripped down versions of the songs. Also, the vocal delivery itself sounds very typical of Alternative Rock delivery. Much in the way that singers in the 80's seemed to use very similar vocal inflections....I find that alt-rock bands over the last 10-12 years have also fallen into a certain sameness, when delivery vocals.

That's why the singers who don't sound typical stand out in my mind, when I hear alt-rock bands.

I realize, these are stripped down versions of the songs...and it sounds like you recorded direct out of the board. I'd like to hear the songs, with the full band...because maybe I'd find them more interesting to listen to from an arrangement point of view. And, if I was producing the band, I'd work on trying to change up the vocal delivery a bit to make it sound less 'alt-rock cookie-cutter'.

But, clearly you guys have a following that likes your stuff. You can hear that there's a healthy applause at the end of some songs....and perhaps seeing you guys play is different than just hearing a rough demo streamed off the PA.

Anyhoo...you asked for feedback, so I hope you take mine in stride. Ultimately you've got to float your own boat, so I suggest doing whatever makes you feel creatively happy....and keep on rocking!

[captben41]

Anyone else have opinions on the songs?

I was wondering what you guys may have thought of the lyrical content for the songs.

Thanks,
Ben

[tadmania]

There is promise in your music. Keep going.

True, there are already enough mid-range breathy growlers out there, BUT if that sound is real for your voice and expression, don't change it just to be different. Mid-range breathy growling could use a few good practitioners.

You requested opinions about the lyrics of the songs. I have one over-arching suggestion.

Look for "anchors" in your lyrics. When lyrical content and rhythm remain the same (and the song is sung in the same tonal register throughout) I find it hard to follow the meaning of your words. I feel adrift. Of course, I understand what you are saying in your lyrics (you are a young man), but I don't find anything to hold onto in them. (of course, I am not a young girl)

Look for novel ways to "revoice" passages in your songs, whether rhythmically, tonally, tempo-wise, etc. I like many things about your music for what it is, I just find myself looking for guideposts, rest stops, trail markers, something like that.

Keep going.

[captben41]

Do you mean change the melody of the words over the verse so that it doesnt stay stagnant?

Thanks for the opinions, they are very constructive. I just want to make sure I can use your advice to the fullest potential.

[tadmania]

Whoops! I've been busy. Sorry for the delay in reply to your question.

Yes, I mean considering a change of rhythmic or tonal features to the parts of your songs that are more "important" for conveying the work to others in a more engaging way. I, for one, often need big signposts (like musical billboards) within songs on order to "get" them as a whole.

Think of the innumerable popular songs for which people know the chorus but can't recall more than ten words of any verse.

Mozart was master of the musical "hook"; it is largely because his melodies are so memorable in comparison to other composers that we mark him as the genius he was. Christmas carols are another example of what I mean.

I hesitate to be specific about your songs for a good reason... they are your songs, not mine. What is exciting about your music is you.

Listen to people converse sometime. Important phrases are set up, stressed, repeated, embellished, colorized, etc. Nobody says, "Take out the trash", "Your foot is on fire", and "I love you" with the same qualities of rhythm, pitch, and vocal character. Musical expression is a condensation, focus, amplification, and often very subjective form of communication. It can often benefit from paying attention to textures and timings.

[Rick Shepherd]

Alot of the music from the 70's and thereabouts is a favorite of mine because the lyrics and melody would carry me through from the beginning to the end. Acoustic singer/songwriter artists such as James Taylor, John Denver, Jim Croce, Bread(David Gates), and many others really had a special way of putting a message across with music. The lyrics and melodies fit together perfectly. Many of their songs are still very popular among all ages because they are "timeless". Sure, some aspects of the mixes are dated, but if you just took the guitar and vocals alone and listened to them by themselves, I bet you wouldn't be able to tell if the songs, in general, were written yesterday or thirty years ago. Alot of the country and country/pop music, if you take the "country" sound out of it (whatever that may be), like the southern dialect, and some of the intruments in the mix, takes on a more contemporary folkish sound, which I tend to favor. There are so very few mass-marketed musicians available on the airwaves these days that have a "timeless" style because the music industry markets what is currently popular with the teen crowd. The sad thing is, many young adults these days have become kind of numb because of the fast-paced lifestyle which is dominated by media, materialism, and immediate gratification. Oh jeez, here I go again!

That being said, I also agree that your music will have a certain appeal to a croud of listeners who grew up in their formidable years listening to that genre of music, which is, in my opinion very, "cookie-cutter", alternative rock.
Many of these artists sing within a very limited range and tend to sound repetitious. I rarely ever actually HEAR what the lyrics are saying because the words are not really available to the ear. What I do hear is the energy, the rhythm, the acousitc sound, and vocal character. Sometimes these aspects of a sound can grab my interest and hold me, but only for a limited time. You have lots of good strong energy and conviction in your delivery, a good strong acoustic rhythm, and a solid voice for that type of music. I commend you for doing a great job. I think you should have no problem getting the gigs.

Please forgive me if I am coming on too strong, I only mean this with good, heartfelt intention.

I am not a song writer, but I do appreciate many types of music, all which have their good and bad music out there. But, there are some basic ingredients that go toward creating a finished song that makes it timeless. Rather than try to explain what those ingredients are, which I would have a hard time, I will simply direct your attention to the great artists of the past who have staying power. History, in this way, has alot to teach.

Keep at it, you have a good thing going! Try writing a good slow love song, or put some fingerstyle into your music, mix it up.

[dkplayer]

Well, based on some of the comments above, I guess obviously the age and musical taste of someone really matters. The songs I heard may not be Jim Croce or James Taylor ... but who is? Bottom line is ... do you like the acoustic alt-rock sound?

I do, very much. By its own definition, acoustic alt-rock is exaclty what these other folks are saying it shouldn't be. If you change the sound of your songs based on the comments above, then it wouldn't be acoustic alt-rock. Those comments are great, but those comments are asking to change to a different sounding genre. Make sense ...

So, if you were going for acoustic alt-rock, I thought your songs really rocked and I loved listening to them very much. No, they did not sound like Jim Croce, but were you trying to? My guess is that you were not.

Great stuff, in my opinion.

[Rick Shepherd]

Not to miss the real point here, what I am saying is that, even staying within the alternative acoustic rock genre, his music needs more variety instead of all sounding the same from song to song. What I heard was great, but limited. The examples of other artist that I used were only to make the point that the lyrics should match the melody and be more dynamic. It is a hard concept to explain, but there you have it.

[captben41]

Thank you very much for all the opinions. These songs are just stripped down versions of the songs the full band plays. I have always been a firm believer that a song starts acoustically and grows from there. When in concert I do not play my Taylor at all, I stick to the Les Paul to give me a hard edge tone.

[TaylorGirl]

I think everyone has pretty muched covered the comments I would have made. But perhaps from a young female stand point. I could add a bit something.

Vocally, I would like to hear some range changes. It feels very mono-tone, it doesn't my ears perk up like they could. You(I'm guessing it is you?) have a very nice voice, though I feel that the voice you are using seems are bit manufactored. I perfer it when a singer uses their "own" voice. A voice that is unique to them, and only them. It may still "sound", LIKE someone else, and that is fine. But I think you sound a bit too "Creed-ish" to me. Nothing wrong with that, but when I hear a voice with potential, the voice teacher and trained ear in me makes want to make it better. Diction and vowel placement could also use work, in some places I could not understand what you were saying without previously reading the lyrics. ..This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine..

Lyrically, I feel they are good, emotional lyrics. But could use a bit more of a grounding force to tie it all together. I feel a lack of "hook" in them, this would also change with the way you are singing. Add some power, and perhaps range change - it would help things feel more "hooky". Every hit song has a hook that you can't tear out of your brain if you tried. This is important. Your songs have great potential to appeal to a great many people, especially the 18 to 25 audience.


All in all, with a full band I could certainly find myself rocking out. You have great potential, and with a few teaks and changes here and there could make you just plain great.

Breathe Again and Salvation would be the two I liked most.

Sharon

[Bern]

I liked the song 'Tomorrow'. Musically, it has a nice feel to it. However, I don't understand the lyrics, which, I guess, could be contributed to the recording (?).