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Releasing my band's first single.


New Horizon

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After a few months in the studio, we are releasing the first single from our upcoming CD tonight. If anyone is interested, they can listen to the radio station online at www.krock1055.com. It will be played sometime between 9pm and 10pm GMT -4 tonight. My band is called Intoxicado, and the song is called Rock and Roll Ain't Pretty. Play it loud! :)

 

You can not hear the song on...

 

Myspace

http://www.myspace.com/intoxicadomusic

 

or...

 

Facebook Fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Intoxicado/6242163310

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I finally listened to it, me likes. It's good to listen to, and it's really good in the background - I hope that doesn't sound bad or anything! I mean that it's just such a good 'soundtrack' to some great action sequence or dramatic segment or something. Good good stuff, quality singing, pretty cool guitar bits, strong overall sound

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Compared to the crap that they produce these days this is wonderful... but I still like Pink Floyd better. I do see myself trying out more of your songs out of curiosity. Do you have the lyrics written out anywhere? I totally can't distinguish what the guy is singing (I usually can't, anyway), and I'd like to know, can't really judge the song to the fullest without it.

 

On a more critical note:

 

I don't really catch the theme, and "Rock and Roll is not pretty" is not a theme for me. Perhaps (probably?) the lyrics would help. I think theme is important, others may disagree, "music is just music".

 

The guitar (music) seems relatively unoriginal to me, it's different from others, definitely, but not different enough to satisfy a geek such as myself; it doesn't stand out.

 

Please note that I am a fan of PF, Alan Parsons, and Mike Oldfield (art/progressive rock) so this just may not be my genre.

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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Compared to the crap that they produce these days this is wonderful... but I still like Pink Floyd better. I do see myself trying out more of your songs out of curiosity. Do you have the lyrics written out anywhere? I totally can't distinguish what the guy is singing (I usually can't, anyway), and I'd like to know, can't really judge the song to the fullest without it.

 

On a more critical note:

 

I don't really catch the theme, and "Rock and Roll is not pretty" is not a theme for me. Perhaps (probably?) the lyrics would help. I think theme is important, others may disagree, "music is just music".

 

The guitar (music) seems relatively unoriginal to me, it's different from others, definitely, but not different enough to satisfy a geek such as myself; it doesn't stand out.

 

Please note that I am a fan of PF, Alan Parsons, and Mike Oldfield (art/progressive rock) so this just may not be my genre.

 

I think you analyze music a little too much. :laugh:

 

The name Rock and Roll ain't pretty came from the mouth of our lead guitarist, Brett. He had been in a fairly successful band several years before ours, and had really lived the wild life of a rock guitarist. He spent weeks on the road, strung out on every kind of drug and booze you could imagine. He made it through all of that thankfully and cleaned up. I, on the other hand, have never lived that life style...so I sat down with Brett and had him tell me all about his experiences, then I wrote the lyrics. The lyrics I wrote represent him looking back on the mistakes he made, and not being able to be that person any more.

 

Anyway...I think a lot of musicians fall in love with the lifestyle at first, they're infatuated with it, but when they really get to know it...they find out how ugly it can be. That's my explanation in the simplest of terms. Rock and Roll ain't pretty.

 

The lyrics are on the myspace.com/intoxicadomusic page. The window that plays the song has a link to 'lyrics'.

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I think you analyze music a little too much. :laugh:
I analyze everything too much. Don't worry about me, lol.

 

I see about the lyrics, but then I can't really relate to the song very much, never got involved in the music industry.

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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I see about the lyrics, but then I can't really relate to the song very much, never got involved in the music industry.

 

That's understandable. In the broader sense, a lot of what the lyrics say don't even need to relate to the music industry but rather just falling into a lifestyle that is slowly killing you. Of course, having never lived that lifestyle myself...I had to really think it through and imagine myself in his situation. It took quite a few attempts before I was really able to transport myself there.

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People put themselves in that situation, and they must cope with the circumstances, not pretend they are something special... Yes, I am looking for something else here. Something that promotes good life.

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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People put themselves in that situation, and they must cope with the circumstances,

That's partly true, but it's also a tiny bit naive. He was a kid and got swept up into a crazy industry. He just wanted to make music. When you're on the other side of the country, missing your family, away from your home for months at a time, it's pretty easy for some people to be led astray of who they are. In the end, he coped with the circumstances and beat them. He never asked for help, he did it on his own. You seem to have misunderstood what I was saying, and in turn drew some false conclusions about him and the message.

 

 

not pretend they are something special... Yes, I am looking for something else here. Something that promotes good life.

 

I never said he thought it made him special? He hates what he did. He hated himself for hurting his family. He wrote the music as a way of saying goodbye to that life, and asked me to write lyrics about how he didn't want to be that person anymore. He cleaned himself up and is a better person today. That IS promoting good life. Every lesson can't be learned without a little pain, nor can every song talk about it sweetly, we have to be honest about who we are and what we do. That's far from promoting it as a positive lifestyle though.

 

In any case, I never went through the life he did...my life has been pretty free of that kind of self destruction, although I did have to endure an alcoholic father...and saw him beating my Mom a lot. If I try though, I can certainly imagine myself in his shoes and appreciate the effort it took to pull himself out of it through his own willpower.

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My outmost respect to anyone who can change or rebuild his life.

 

But I stand by what I said. Every individual has a choice, that is my belief. Some situations are harder than others, but the choice still remains.

 

The reason I am not happy about the lyrics is because they reminds me of rap songs that tell how people live horrible lives. You use slang. "aint" but not "is not". It may say he's getting out of it but it still mentions that fact. I understand that some people just have lives like that, but for the vast majority, it's their own fault, they wanted it easy, or didn't think, and I don't want to hear about it.

 

I want something closer to me. We also have problems, just because we don't do drugs doesn't mean we don't, and we want to hear songs about ourselves, about our troubles. Not the degenerate society. And all I get is foul language and description of some warriors who dug themselves out of the horrible surrounding of drugs, rape, violence. Respect to the warriors, but they are not me.

 

I can imagine this song, and this theme, in a very different light which wouldn't be as... depressing.

 

"No. Rock and Roll Ain’t Pretty.

And neither is your mom."

That mom subject again? Sheesh... I don't understand the significance of that line...?

 

My dad used to beat my mom, but he kinda stopped at some point, fortunately... in fact, he dropped smoking and drinking recently. o.O

 

Please remember I am just voicing my opinion, it should not trouble you too much.

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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Please remember I am just voicing my opinion, it should not trouble you too much.

 

Doesn't trouble me at all. :) I appreciate your honesty. Likewise, I am simply voicing my own opinion. My view on life is that it's important to understand both the good and bad points of existence. It allows me to relate to so many more people on a personal level if I can understand the life they have come from.

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the use of slang shouldn't been seen as a bad thing. (IMHO) it's just a device to reach an audience at a more accessible level to relay a message. (which of course can be a good or bad message) not all rap has bad messages, however. I've played trumpet on some rap/hip hop tracks with an artist who really has good messages. His rap doesn't come across as family-friendly little kid wuss rap, but at the same time, his lyrics tend to be things more along the lines of:

 

"it's time for me to stand up and fight, but the best way to do it is to sit down and write, I look inside myself, and know I'm filled with might, and no one ever again is gonna call me a kike"

 

"I got to cry out, before my people die out, so all my brothers and my sisters stand up and shout, all over the world people are in pain, and we got nothing but hatred and ignorance to blame"

 

"you got to preach, using the power of speach, that is surely the best way to teach"

 

(all of those are about the conflicts in the middle east, but it's not hard to apply the same themes to almost anything in today's world)

 

my point is, there is nothing inherently wrong with rapping as a musical style for spreading a message, even if it uses bad grammar. Any form of music can be used as a tool for disseminating any idea, no one type is better or worse than any other.

Milestones approaching:

Recital: 3-24-12

ToughMudder: 4-15-12

Release first FM: ?-?-20??

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I agree, slang, as well as rap, or anything else, are merely devices. But sometimes their presence bothers me. ;) Sometimes, I love it. It all comes down to preference.

 

@New Horizon

Good luck with your band, that's all I'll say.

Edited by Forsaken

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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well, of course it comes down to preference! hence the umpteenzillion different sections of CDs at borders. but there's a difference between simply having prferences (which everyone does) and actually being bothers by a style of music. it seems hard to be bothered by the presence of an entire genre, without simply being willfully ignorant of at least a few facets of the genre. I mean, personally, i prefer Mahler or Strauss olr Duke Ellington to just about anything else out there, but no other styles of music 'bother' me. certain songs bother me, and sometimes, even an artist will bother me, but i feel that if slang and rap bother you, it's because you haven't seen the whole picture.

 

Like, for me, my personal preferences put country music pretty much at the bottom of the musical heirarchy, but the existance of the music doesn't bother me. it annoys me, that's for sure, but I don't feel offended in anyway by the presence of the genre. However, certain songs in the genre might.

 

I don't mean to pick on you, I just think it's a little bizzare to be offended (and maybe you aren't, and i apologize if i'm being presumptuous here) by slang and hip hop culture.

Milestones approaching:

Recital: 3-24-12

ToughMudder: 4-15-12

Release first FM: ?-?-20??

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I'm not really preset against anything, I just observe certain relations, it's just something I have an interest in doing. For instance, the only metal band I was able to listen to was Nightwish. I hated everything else, and I was inclined to believe that metal is just not my thing. But then I listened to Nightwish and liked it. In the case of rap, it did not happen yet, perhaps it will, someday. In other words, I follow my relations and stereotypes, and I believe them to be truthful (e.g., metal is not my thing), but when I meet an exception, I don't mind it.

 

The presence of a genre itself doesn't bother me. In the end, I am not bothered by music. I am bothered by hearing music I don't like everywhere I go. I hear this song "The best of both worlds" or whatever in my school on announcements, on radio if I accidentally turn it on, on TV, or, if I don't watch TV and listen to radio, I can hear it on the little TV in Publix (local supermarket). I can't avoid it, and therefore I am annoyed at this music, while I don't really mind the presence of this music, rather, I mind hearing music I don't like.

Too late to save us but try to understand

The seas were empty -- there was hunger in the land

We let the madmen write the golden rules

We were just Children of the Moon

We're lost in the middle of a hopeless world

Children, Children of the Moon watch the world go by

Children, Children of the Moon are hiding from the Sun and the Sky

 

© The Alan Parsons Project - Children of the Moon

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First, I'll say the song jams ... I like it and was getting into it.

 

Since this thread has become a rumination on music criticism generally, though, and I'm a sucker for rumination, I may as well throw my hat into the ring. Looking back over it, sorry for the length. If all you care about is my opinion on Intoxicado's song, just read the last two paragraphs and you miss nothing.

 

So when talking about music, I think it's important to distinguish between what's a personal preference and what's, for lack of a better term, basic cultural literacy. And then realize how they get entangled ... a person may say they personally don't like rap or country, but do some digging and it often looks more like they've just never been exposed to, appreciate, or caught the spirit of the culture/way of life those genres embody, which can be very different from the world where you grew up. A person might say it's "just personal", but it looks cultural and they're just not wanting to admit they don't like exposing themselves to an alien spirit because it's uncomfortable. (I'm not really saying that about anybody here, not Foresaken or anybody in particular; just a thought I'm throwing out there.)

 

People are usually pretty good at thinking this way for visual arts like painting, but for music ... the industry has done its damndest to convince us that the soul of music really is our individual purchase decisions, so people have lost touch with the idea that it's also a cultural medium. Of course, it's just fine to think about music as just a vast collection of personal preferences, that's what good old capitalism is all about. There are some great things about it. I mean, I'll admit it, fuck me but I like some Yanni songs; and no matter how many VH1 documentaries of Janis Joplin I see and the fact she's from my city and I adore the whole acid blues/rock scene, I have never been able to like a single song of her's. And I'm happy that I don't have to care who thinks what. I can buy whatever the I want and listen to it and be happy. And the system lets me.

 

But, the other side of the coin, it can wear thin sometimes to be too insular. You feel it when a song really hits home and you realize its connecting you to much bigger things than your little world. Hendrix and NIN did this for me, as did some genres far removed from my world ... early blues, classical organ, tejanos-polka, east coast rap, fusion jazz ... pulling me into these deeper, strange worlds that actually was uncomfortable for me at first, but they could really pull me in. It makes thinking about music a lot richer when you dig under the surface of mere "personal" preference.

 

That's why, when someone says they just can't connect to a genre/song because it uses slang, or for whatever reason ... To each their own, but that sort of cultural puritanism... it really makes me want to pull that person out of their shell and show them that, e.g., there are some black people in very rich countries that are still very poor, and don't have jobs because their communities are disfunctional; there are some agricultural towns that see an entire, centuries old way of life disappearing; there was a time when the Church ruled the world and music was a form of worship directly to God; there are people that yearn for the optimism of being independent, making money, etc ... And they sing their hopes and frustrations ... stupid as all hopes and frustrations are on cynical reflection. And you absolutely can't catch the spirit of or tap into that way of life without the vocabulary, without the sound, without the right beat. The sound/lyrics and the spirit are so connected. To say one doesn't like the syntax is a roundabout way to say one doesn't care about that spirit, doesn't care how poor black people see the world, or doesn't care to care. It happens to everybody. I can't stand Nazi anthems or Britinay Spears pop because the spirit behind them is repugnant to me, and to listen to them, I immediately rebel.

 

But for other ways of life ... poor Southern or urban blacks, neveau-rich sons of ranchers, Japanese drop-outs, the first German protestants fresh from the Reformation, British prep school bred kids ... if I get out of my comfort zone and take the leap to really try to understand how they see the world, I find they have things to say to me. Yes, maybe at the end it is a personal thing. It's something I find them saying to me. But anyway, I would say it to anyone, it's worth it to take that leap, even if the first impression really repels me (actually especially if it repels me at first and its significant music; I feel I'm missing something and I want to find it. The alien-ness just makes me want to make the leap all the more to find what kind of spirit is creating that?) ... Don't dismiss too quickly the idea that someone different from you, even alien or repelling to you, might actually have something meaningful to say to you. (By the way, again Foresaken, I'm not really talking to you personally, definitely not after your last few posts ... I'm just using the discussion as an occassion to give my own opinion. So don't think I'm criticising anything you said, although like I said I would offer this advice to everybody. But it's all good.)

 

Anyway ... Sorry, longwinded!

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

As for this song, not trying to "over-analyze" ... the sound, to me, is definitely tapping into the whole tail-end of the 80's rock anthem scene ... the kind of sound it had just before alternative rock overtook it, the heights from which it fell, which I love by the way. The guitar work in particular taps right into a GnR sort of sound, driving beat, clean fast chops over heavy chords, and moving. And the subject matter only emphasizes this story. The binge side of rock is really connected to that 80s anthem rock scene in a way different from other scenes, although it was so "let's party" optimistic it was rare for laments about it to leak into the music itself. That's actually a trait of the alt-rock that killed it, where whining took over. Here, you get a sound still tapping into that late 80s driving sound -- it doesn't sound nostolgic itself at all, but I can imagine people in concerts wanting to pump their fists in the air with some nostolgia for that sound -- But after 20 years of songs reflecting on how people fuck up, it's worked into the culture now that you can write a song about fucking up and have it with that rock anthem sound, and it doesn't sound like a paradox like it would have 10 years ago. This song doesn't sound whining at all, not "my parents beat me and I cut myself" emo, not grunge ... It stays true to the spirit of the sound that aren't a bunch of shrinking violets that wouldn't show their face to an anthem crowd. But they aren't afraid to show the dark side, either, and aren't blindly "let's party" optimistic to the end, either, when anthem rock partied itself right into irrelevance in the 90s.

 

Anyway, that's my take on it. Even though at the time, I was one of those so happy when alt-rock took over in the 90s, I have to say I still really liked this sound, too, and need it sometimes to just jam. And I really like that GnR sound on the guitar solos, and the catch-riff is great.

Constructive criticism, I think the chord changes could have used something a little more distictive, not crazy unusual chords per se, but something to set it apart structurally. That's another side of GnR (the brilliant song structure) that would also be great to take inspiration from.

Anyway, good song. Sorry for the post length again.

Edited by demagogue

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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As for this song, not trying to "over-analyze" ... the sound, to me, is definitely tapping into the whole tail-end of the 80's rock anthem scene ... the kind of sound it had just before alternative rock overtook it, the heights from which it fell, which I love by the way. The guitar work in particular taps right into a GnR sort of sound, driving beat, clean fast chops over heavy chords, and moving. And the subject matter only emphasizes this story. The binge side of rock is really connected to that 80s anthem rock scene in a way different from other scenes, although it was so "let's party" optimistic it was rare for laments about it to leak into the music itself. That's actually a trait of the alt-rock that killed it, where whining took over. Here, you get a sound still tapping into that late 80s driving sound -- it doesn't sound nostolgic itself at all, but I can imagine people in concerts wanting to pump their fists in the air with some nostolgia for that sound -- But after 20 years of songs reflecting on how people fuck up, it's worked into the culture now that you can write a song about fucking up and have it with that rock anthem sound, and it doesn't sound like a paradox like it would have 10 years ago. This song doesn't sound whining at all, not "my parents beat me and I cut myself" emo, not grunge ... It stays true to the spirit of the sound that aren't a bunch of shrinking violets that wouldn't show their face to an anthem crowd. But they aren't afraid to show the dark side, either, and aren't blindly "let's party" optimistic to the end, either, when anthem rock partied itself right into irrelevance in the 90s.

 

Wow. You completely nailed what we were going for with the music, and what I tried to do with the lyrics. :)

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I guess I'll add my two sense here too. Don't take anything I say personally, but I want to be brutally honest. I don't think just adding to the chorus of consent is exactly going to help you guys grow as musicians.

 

The riff sounds kind of contrived--I mean really typical. Also the song feels like it has a really aggressive tone, but your singing style sounds kind of withdrawn, hurt--which doesn't really fit the whole over the top cock-rock confidence that the guitar drives.

 

Also it feels like the bass is too boomy on the mix. Plus I feel like the guitar should have a little more mid to it to give it a more forward character.

 

Honestly, I can't imagine hearing it on the radio. Usually with this sort of music you want to get pumped up to "mac on some hot bitches and get DRUNK," not feel vulnerable (as the vocals convey). Even on the chorus, the vocals sound isolated.

 

The song itself is okay, but it doesn't strike me as breaking any new ground or having any sort of individual charm. It sounds like a copy-cat song, which tends to make me want to ignore it from the start as not having a lot of soul.

Edited by Ombrenuit
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