Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

[Blzer]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

I of course have the opportunity to hear it before (seeing that they're all on YouTube, except Outright that is), but I will refrain until I buy the CD itself.

I'll let you know what I think! I'm sure it will need many listens before I have a good idea of it, though. I can't remember the last album that impressed me the first playthrough, including any AB album. Not that they didn't impress me, but you go in expecting to hear something and never exactly get it, so the 2nd - 15th playthroughs you really start to love it.

[Blzer]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

Thankfully I saved this review on Word, so I don't feel like I typed it for nothing. Just going to re-post it (since it was hacked).

First of all, here's how I'd rank the tracks:

- All Ends Well
- Cry of Achilles
- Addicted to Pain
- Outright
- The Uninvited
- Fortress
- Cry a River
- Bleed it Dry
- Calm the Fire
- Peace is Broken
- Farther than the Sun
- Waters Rising
- Lover

The album is pretty strong and consistent, but is melodically their worst yet lyrically perhaps their strongest (next to Blackbird). While I don't think their intent was to go for melodies like they have phased from less and less per new album, it felt a little bit like they thought of the coolest guitar riffs and sections first and then said: "Okay, let's put some vocals in with these." Not that the vocals beside them are bad, but I wish that they would then go back and say, "Okay, now the instrumentals could match with these sections a little bit more." I think that last part was missing.

The obvious included influence this time is by Mark Tremonti. His name could be as big or bigger than Myles Kennedy (except overseas since he's toured with Slash), and as much spotlight as he deserves, I think the album went its direction because he maybe deserves to have a little more "fun" with the band. He tears, shreds, and even soars on vocals at times (takes the lead in Waters Rising, in fact). This decision is a "make or break" kind, because if somebody is solely a fan of the first album, they absolutely won't be a fan of this album; yet at the same time, people who dismissed Alter Bridge previously as "Creed with a new singer" absolutely must give this album a listen! It's just not the same kind of AB as they started out, which is fine. In fact, they're one of the more recent bands to do the exact opposite of selling out. I applaud them for that.

Some of the songs seem "messy," but in a good way and I'll explain. First of all, every one of these songs would be great in concert. They just have that feel to them, since they're loud, hardcore, wild, and all over the place. Many of their longer songs on this album don't follow the general structure of songwriting though. Instead, they feel more like movies: separated into three acts. Listen to Cry of Achilles, Fortress, Calm the Fire, Bleed it Dry, Lover, and Waters Rising. There's some flow here and there, but there are times where you literally could start a song, listen to it for a bit, walk out of the room and take a whiz, then return and wonder if it's the same song or not. They vary so much and separate in almost random places or random tones that you couldn't really convince yourself one way or the other.

Continuing on this thought, as awesome as the solos and riffs are, they aren't quite as "epic" as they could be. My favorite solos remain to be from Blackbird, Open Your Eyes, Rise Today, Down to My Last, and Buried Alive... where they just mold with the song so perfectly. It's not about being the fastest solo, the craziest solo, or the longest solo. It's about being the most memorable. I can hear every note in my head, match it wonderfully and progressively almost as to expect what's to come, and it enhances the rest of the song rather than just making the song better because that part is included.

One thing I noticed about Alter Bridge, when I truly sat back and looked at every song and heard it in my head, was that they do have one flaw: they don't have very good bridges in their songs. Yeah, some are okay, but like the "messy" thing I was talking about before, they deviate so much from the rest of the song or totally fail to match up, that whether or not they sound good it throws off the consistency factor. The same goes for this album too. I would argue that Fortress, Watch Over You, Broken Wings, and Blackbird feature their best bridges, and songs that don't feature any bridges tend to do fine with their solos, but I just finally realized this.

By the way, I would probably totally ditch the intro of Calm the Fire and the outro of Fortress if I asked them to do it all over again, and either make Lover the "bonus track" or rework the vocal/editing decisions on it. These inserts aren't bad, but they don't enhance the album.

Great album in general, and this one is easy to listen to in the car when you put it on shuffle. No song really disappoints, and the other cool thing is that it can start up and you'll kind of be lost in remembering which song it is... the intros are all so unique I know, but they're uniquely unique in that they're hard to pick out, which is kind of cool. I'm always thrown in for a loop like: "Hmm, as many times as I've heard this song, some parts still feel so new to me." This is kind of why I like that messy style that I was referring to. Anyway, what might have sounded like negatives in this small review was more of Fortress finally opening up what I'm able to dissect about the band, four albums into what I hope to be an everlasting discography.

I heart Alter Bridge!

[Cutter15]

Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

Just picked this up today and I'll echo Blzer's comments. The sound is amazing. Everything I love about AB is featured all over this one. I'm a fan of heavy riffs and this album has no shortage of those. It's as if Tremonti just walked in the studio and started playing whatever was in his head and it all sounds phenomenal.
After only one play through I can't really rank the tracks but the standout for me was The Uninvited. Heavy, heavy song with hints of Tool's unique riffs. All in all, I was very pleased and while none of the tracks are "epic" per se, I think I like this album as a whole more than ABIII. Excellent work again from these guys.

And yes, I also heart Alter Bridge.

[Blzer]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

By the way, I re-ranked my tracks some time ago (not too much). Here you go haha:

- All Ends Well
- The Uninvited
- Cry of Achilles
- Fortress
- Calm the Fire
- Bleed it Dry
- Addicted to Pain
- Outright
- Cry a River
- Waters Rising
- Farther than the Sun
- Lover
- Peace is Broken

Calm the Fire grew on me so much, especially after I read the lyrics while listening to it and realizing what it was about. And you're right... The Uninvited is spectacular. So is the middle of Bleed it Dry. Just wow.

[Cutter15]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

By the way, I re-ranked my tracks some time ago (not too much). Here you go haha:

- All Ends Well
- The Uninvited
- Cry of Achilles
- Fortress
- Calm the Fire
- Bleed it Dry
- Addicted to Pain
- Outright
- Cry a River
- Waters Rising
- Farther than the Sun
- Lover
- Peace is Broken

Calm the Fire grew on me so much, especially after I read the lyrics while listening to it and realizing what it was about. And you're right... The Uninvited is spectacular. So is the middle of Bleed it Dry. Just wow.

I just want to point out you have Peace is Broken at the bottom of your list. Listening to it right now, I don't disagree, but that song is still awesome in it's own way. The last time they go into the chorus with the 8000 layers of Myles harmonizing just blows me away!

[Blzer]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

I just want to point out you have Peace is Broken at the bottom of your list. Listening to it right now, I don't disagree, but that song is still awesome in it's own way. The last time they go into the chorus with the 8000 layers of Myles harmonizing just blows me away!

It's a great song. Just didn't do anything new like every other song on it did. I also wish Tremonti harmonized in the verses every other line and they didn't make it sound like Myles was singing in a tin can during them, if you know what I mean. Not much for the riff either. It's cool, but doesn't really match the song to me.

I think Addicted to Pain and The Uninvited are the most consistently complete songs that would reach out to masses the most easily. Versus, choruses, bridges, etc. are well done (actually, the bridge in The Uninvited isn't my favorite).

[Blzer]

Re: Alter Bridge - Fortress (October 8th)

Well, some of my dreams are coming true. Alter Bridge is coming to San Francisco in January, and I just bought tickets.

I never thought they'd come this way with their European tour. Awesome!