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This tune is one of my favorites I guess that`s why I put it at the number one spot. The concept behind this tune is space travel in the context of the 1950`s. That`s why there are the campy spoken word samples and that scifi "ahhhhhhhhh" synth patch during the softer parts of the song. This song has 3 or 4 different time signatures and I think 3 distinct tempo changes. In other words it was a bit of pain in the butt to play. (Especially the reverse 3 Phrygian run, you`ll know it when you hear it because the bass is having a real hard time keeping up with the guitar. You can hear a lot of different influences in this tune such as Rush, Dreamtheater, Symphony X and little bit of Vital Tech Tones.
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My son Luke starts of this song with one of his own made up words. Mahdah is simply the combination of mom and dad combined. Apparently he found this a lot easier to say then to have to seperate out the words.
This tune lends itself to a more funk/fusion styling. I had been working on my bass playing and found that Gary Willis` style of playing is definitley the way to go. Basically instead of approaching the strings from the top with your right hand you approach them from the bridge so you can mute the strings with the edge of your hand if you need to. It`s kind of hard to describe, he does a much better job on his website.(www.garywillis.com). The music deviates from jazzy funk to a dropped tuned metal feel.
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The intro to this was the beginnings of another tune but I found that it worked well here. This song has some 80`s flavor to it mixed with some slap and pop bass. The break down section is kinda flamencoish (I know that`s not a real word). I bring the intro back as the outro and add some ridiculous samples at the end.
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Remember back in the old days when you were a kid and your mom would make Koolaid? Well in our house it was called bugjuice. This song for some reason reminds me of when I was young. The tune is essentially a combination of funk/fusion and metal. This was the first tune I recorded for this disk. Definitley some Tribal Tech influences in this tune.
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This is probably my favorite tune. The beginning has twisted samples of my voice and breaks into the theme. The samples are representing a radio communication of a person who is in some kind of trouble. The message keeps breaking up because the people who want him are homing in on his signal and are trying to intercept his message.
After the initial weirdness the music breaks into the main progression with a contrapuntal melody line which is involved with a question and answer solo. Then it breaks down into a bass run (aeolian/blues) no rhythm guitars.The guitar solo at this point has a phaser on it to give it a spacey feel which kind of goes well with the synth sweep in the background. The rhythm guitars then come back mirroring the bass and the solo comes in (sans phaser) with a diminished run, (kinda wacky but I like it). Finally the tune closes out with the first two themes.
This tune was a real pain in the ass to mix. I couldn`t get the guitars to sound right. I find that the more instruments there are the harder it is to have a clean delineated mix (makes sense).
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This starts out with a 7/8 riff that`s kinda cool. I also slipped in a swelling synth sound in the background to try to glue things together a bit. The tune then goes into 15/16 scale run that was pure hell to play on bass. Then off to the funky part which I tried to make as old school as possible by using the phaser on the rhythm guitar and doing the old slap and pop. I also stuck in the obligatory bass/organ run which quiets things down a bit. Then comes the the diminshed low C# riff with the Pink Floyd clock sound. Back to the funk. Then to C# again with the masturbatory solo (hey I gotta have a little fun). Then it wraps up with the 7/8 theme.
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This starts out with just guitar and drums which kind of sounds of odd but I really wanted the contrast when everything else came in. The song is kind of a tribute to war veterans. The beginning has that choppy march kind of feel and the middle of the tune where it breaks down I put in a spoken word sample which says "all of the heroism is in the service that they represent". This part actually turned out pretty nice with the keyboard helping out a bit to give it an ethereal kind of feel. Then off to the aggressive part with the obligatory fast guitar runs. Finally it finishes up with the choppy initial theme except a lot more aggressive.
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This song is pretty bare bones instrumentally. It just has drums, bass, one rhythm guitar and the lead guitar. I find the less instruments the easier it is to get a good sound. The bass solo is fairly nonsensical which is why I like it. I put in a lot of drum breaks which is a definite no-no when you`re programming drums but I felt the song warranted it.
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This song is probably the weirdest conceptually. Dark matter is basically the same as anti-matter which is everything that matter is not (yeah I know, very trippy). I personified dark matter by giving it a voice. The samples are essentially saying that we, humans, are just trivial thoughts that dark matter thinks of that come and go. The coming and going are parallels to our living and dying. Also a sample says that we are just an anomoly so essentially our existence is a mistake.
The initial riff is just a bunch of descending and ascending diminished shapes. Then it kicks in with the main riff which is in 7/8 on low D. Then strings and guitar come in with a D min9 to D min7 to A min add 9 progression over it. The next part is your basic metal/blues riff and then the mellow part with the samples. A bridge section comes up next that builds into a straight ahead rock groove, then the diminished section, the main theme, and finally back to the metal/blues part to wrap it up.
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CD Information
