Fan Feedback for The Art of Making Noise
The following items are general comments sent to the band from fans around the world.
Dig the fuzzed out vocals on eyes see all. Always liked that sound. Very indie and a good raw sound. Always dug that. catchy riff too. Good groove on king and queen. My 2 faves. Breathing sounds like it's ready for the mission impossible 3 soundtrack. That's your corporate tune dude! All in all totally cool. Fun to hear someone I know making music I actually like, unlike other friends I knew in bands who you’d go to see but would be like "dude, these guys suck!" . Keep pumpin 'em out bro!!!!!!!!!!
listening to eyes see all again...that tune reminds me of a cross between 2 old Sub Pop bands, godheadsilo with a little mudhoney in there. right outta the pacific northwest.
(Jon, 30's M, Maryland)
Disclaimer: Here are my OPINIONS in no particular order. Nothing more than that. I enjoy the record very much. And I am far from an authority on production, etc.
Overall Comments:
• Creative Lyrics
• Very Good Production
• Acoustic Guitar recorded magnificently
• Great overall dynamic song structure
• Few songs a bit lengthy (strictly a personal preference)
• Female Vox overpowers Male Vox in a few spots, especially in "Get High on Me" & "Passion"
• Great intro FX track "The Art of Making Noise"
• Great Acoustic/FX closing track on "Headstrong/ Are you Woman Enough..." (love the vocals on that one)
• The kick-drum in "Friends" needs more 'punch' and I would love to hear that song wrap up around the 4 minute mark (a bit after the acoustic piece—which is great)
• During "Get High on Me" the drums during the first part of the chorus sound sluggish - which is ironic since every other part of the song has some great beats and fills.
• The intro guitar progression of "Eyes See All" is great- very Pixie-esque (which is a huge compliment from me)
• "Breathing" has great riffs and dynamics
• Good Segues
(Chris, early 30's M, DC)
I hope you guys do well, you have a good sound sonically, I like the layers. Listen too each song five times today, good stuff indeed. I wouldn't mind having the vocals pushed a bit up in the mix as the music is very dense in some places, though I do like the distortion effects in a lot of places as well. I see a lot of influences in here running the spectrum from Floyd, the Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Soungarden and even some Ryan Adams thrown in for good measure. Are you woman enough to be my woman probably my fave at this stage as the vocals be cleanest, but the ending there is a little dodgy.
(mid-30's M, Chicago)
It don't suck man. Actually, my wife likes it fer sure...
(mid 30's M, DC area)
Good Stuff
Nicely done. I am only part of the way through. I am enjoying it so far. I'll give you my full Royal seal after the last track. Steve isn't the best singer in the world, but neither was Darius Rucker. When you get some real producers (joking) they'll fix Steve (not joking). You are smokin' as always. THe best drummer in B-more in the hise. Some of the guitar work is very nice. Get the guy who plays guitar to lay back a little more. But his chops and decisions are mostly on the money.
"Entirely.......cool....reminds me of Bowie in its high points, Zeppelin in its low points. Good playing. Excellent writing. As usual, you are holding it all down.
(M, mid-30's, North Hollywood, CA)
It's weird how modern/techno and 70's rock inspired these sounds at the same time! And not in that low-fi, Beck kind of way, either. I like Beck just fine, but his bottom line always has a pure pop sound to it, and there's no pop to be found here. It's more like what Led Zeppelin would probably sound like if they were all born 30 years later. (I hope you don't hate Led Zepp and take offense to that...) In fact, the Led Zep vibe was very strong. The whole time I was listening, I kept thinking about that one album of theirs that you can open up and hold beside a mirror to see the "secret devil face." Do you know the one I'm talking about? The one with the shadowy figure standing on the cliff holding a lamp? I don't know why that image was so strong while I was listening, because I haven't listened to any Led Zep in ages.
Whatever the case, when you get around to designing cover art, you should DEFINITELY incorporate some secret-devil stuff. Maybe some backwards messages or something?
(Kathy, F, Baltimore)
*note from ETM: we love satan!
First song - Friends, for 1:30 there I was thinking I might have put an old Pink Floyd cd on. Then it changes. Good shit, I like this one. Good lyrics too.
3rd song - King & Queen vaguely reminds me of some song I can't quite place. Which is annoying me at the moment. Like the music for this one.
(40ish M. NC.)
1st song is very very sweet. Reminds me of Led Zep and Jeff Buckley. shit drumming tho! congrats on your album... very sweet stuff indeed and everybody here loved it. i'm sure you feel good about all the positive comments and encouragement, man.
(40-ish asian M, living in Australia)
It's good shit, man. Only one listen so far and with my wife yapping throughout. I'll play it on my ride home tonight and drive in.....
(33 y.o M, Detroit)
too weird for my taste...sorry. i've only listened to 2 songs...friends and passion...i think it's the whole sound of it, i cant find a melody in there, you know..? i reckon you like prog-rock i.e zappa and stuff...?
(Norwegian Male….)
[etm:] yea man, those songs are some good stuff!
Fuck man, Cirlce 6 is very, very sweet! Lovin My Design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(M, Amsterdam/England, early 30's)
I enjoyed your band's music a lot. I really like the first track.
(40's F, England)
I like it! Gud stuff. I like the tightness of the drums and bass - nice driving stuff. Also the guitar work, sudden changes of mood, very sweet. So yea, thumbs up from me. Only one small complaint would be that I found the words a bit hard to make out at times - I'm sure you have good lyrics but they seemed to be mixed quite low? Anyway, overall I thought it was great!
(M, England, 26.)
absolutely love it, love it, love it - with all my heart. you really managed to hit me totally bullseye with these songs, the only thing i'm struggling with is to find the words to describe exactly how amazed i am. i'm absolutely beside myself with excitement, though!
listening to 'friends' now, i love it! seriously! catchy as hell! rocking so much harder than i'd expected it to. fucking mind-blowing! weee!
i can tell you guys would be rocking like hell in a live setting.
oh please oh please oh please i must get the chance to see/hear you some time. oh why oh why oh why am i in fucking norway.
i'm listening to 'Passion' now, and i'm completely floored. this is just..... amazing. honestly. i love everything about it!
i'm at "Breathing" now, and i can't even sit still! it really rocks. fucking good job.
i'm just like a kid in a candy store - there are all these amazing songs to choose from and i love one more than the other (watching the Circle 6 video now, it fucking rocks!).
right now i can't stop listening to "King & Queen". seriously, man, this is the song that Sonic Youth would have killed each other to get the credits for. it's totally mind-blowing.
if a friend had played these songs for me and i didn't know anything about what it was, i'd have run straight to the store to get the record.
the site looks really good. professional! i'm impressed.
make sure you get that euro tour rolling soon, will ya?
[a week later:]
fuckin amazing songs, these - still can't get through the day without listenin' to King and Queen at least ten times.
(Mid 20's F, Oslo Norway.)
Only listened to Friends so far. I like the music and lyrics, yup! Who's doing the singing? I heard a little Doors inflection in that song. Some peeps have mentioned Pink Floydish, I hear that too on Friends. I'll download it all and make copies for friends and not say anything to them and get their feedback.
(40's F, Wisconsin)
This is definitely different, but i like it. It's not the style I usually listen to so it is a compliment to you.
(31, M, denmark.)
I like that all the songs have "layers" to them—a variety of tones and pieces of 'styles" that you and your friend have made into whole pieces of music. You should be very proud of yourself, very proud!!
(40ish F, allmans fan, Arizona.)
Just wanted to tell you that I have been listening to your songs - at first I was not too sure about them - but they are growing on me in a big way. I listen to it most days on my walk between the office and the train.
the female singer is VERY sweet on Passion! My favorite part, and my favorite track at the moment.
(33, M, stock broker, Boston.)
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