New Album Listening Party

Since I've gotten several emails asking about the 10/10 listening party
(and I doubt I'm the only one), I figured there might as well be a public
thread about it. I'll say a bit about the setup & what went on, & then
brief descriptions of what I remember from the new songs at the end (marked
w/ a big spoiler line beforehand, so- if you don't wanna know, stop there).

12 people, including myself, were invited to Chicago to 'preview the new
album'. Someone else coordinated the effort, so I can't say anything about
the selection process. We were all called beforehand by an agent & told
'no recording devices', etc, and that we'd be listening to the new album.

We all met up on the 9th (friday night) at a hotel, hung out for a while, &
then headed unexpectedly over to a studio (not saying where). We filed
inside & sat in a big room. Windows led into the 'control room', where we
saw several people, including Billy, who then came into the room we were in
& said 'hi' to everyone, and then welcomed us to the studio & said "No
notes... no notes." :)

He pointed out Flood, Alan Moulder, & Bjorn Thorsrud in the other room. He
also pointed at the piano sitting around the corner & said it was the
'Annie-Dog' piano, then went over & played a couple bars, which sounded
identical to the album. We got to listen to 'Rain Drops & Sun Showers',
looked at a track sheet for it, and just hung out & talked for a while.
Apparently, there were 'technical difficulties', which is why he was
hanging out with us then instead of recording vocal tracks, which he'd have
to do the next day. At one point, James popped in the room & said
'HELLLOOO!!!!' & then said that he had to leave..

The next day we all met up at the hotel again & headed back over to the
studio. Flood came in & explained that we'd hear 18 tracks in 2 sets w/ a
break in the middle. He then asked us how loud we wanted it, so we said
'medium'... It ended up being -quite- loud. :) So then after 9 songs he
came back in, asked us what we thought, 'Doze it rohk?', if it sounded like
previous albums, etc. After a small break, we listened to the other set
(which was actually 8 songs- they counted Glass & the Ghost Children as 2,
apparently). After that, we talked about the sound, hung out for a bit
there, & then some of us went somewhere else & geeked out for a while
before everyone from out of town had to leave for airports, etc.


The tracks we got to listen to were (may be slightly out of order- based on
what I wrote down later that night):

1. the Everlasting Gaze
2. Stand Inside Your Love
3. Radio
4. (unknown)
5. Blue Skies Bring Tears
6. Wound
7. the Imploding Voice (aka Virex)
8. (unknown)
9. With Every Light
10/11. Glass & the Ghost Children
12. (unknown) [James]
13. (unknown)
14. Heavy Metal Machine
15. Speed Kills
16. Rain Drops & Sun Showers
17. (unknown)
18. (unknown)



* SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER *

WARNING!! BEGIN SPOILER: if you don't want to know -anything- about the
new album, then stop reading NOW.========================================
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Song comments (based on memory):
1. tEG: this song was very obvious as a kick-ass album opener, starting w/
a mean distorted riff that blew us all away immediately.. includes a
break in the middle w/ 4 lines sung w/ no other music (a la Frail &
Bedazzled).

2. SIYL: similar to Arising! version- sounded GREAT in the studio

3. Radio: this one apparently didn't make the album- semi-poppy song,
"Radio, play my favorite soooong / Radio, raadiioooo"

4. ?: all I remember is that this one had a 'disco-y drum loop'

5. BSBT: this one was so different noone recognized it until the words
started. Much slower than the Arising! version, no syncopation.

6. Wound: pretty similar to the A! version

7. tIV (Virex): same as Arising!, except that the 'chorus' part now has
solid whole-note chords & synths instead of the '1+ +3 4+| +2 3+4+' riff

8. ?: only remember the words "crashing down" being repeated a lot

9. WEL: same as A! version. Very stripped-down, bare-bones performance, as
if it was recorded live. Not sure if that was the finished version.


10/11. G+tGC: mostly similar to the Arising! version, except that the 2nd
part doesn't sound quite as much like Porcelina. ;) Some extra
feedback & studio effects

12. [James]: don't remember much about this except that James sung it :\
but it was good, of course :)

13. ?: don't remember anything about this one, may have been slow

14. HMM: starts out w/ another great riff (the rhythm goes 1 2 3+4+),
chorus includes the title words

15. SK: I -think- this one was a little different than the Arising! one..
perhaps a bit slower, but not as dramatically different as BSBT

16. RD&SS: starts w/ the very-catchy 'raaaaaaaain faaalls on everyone'.
this is an ideal candidate for a single, I think. Ends w/ a couple
minutes of Jimmy's driving drums w/ minimal guitar/bass over it- almost
like the Wound drums... VERY cool. :)

17: ?: don't remember anything :\

18: ?: only remember the words "i sing this song", and a synth lead that
went '9 10 9 8 6-----' (i.e. the 1st 5 notes of the
'chai-ai-ai-ai-a-aaains' part of Tori Amos' "crucify")


Hopefully these notes can be used by someone (ahem, PrometheusMachna) to
fill in the missing song titles.. :)

Overall, it doesn't sound like any previous album. But it does kick some
-serious- ass. :) Looking -very- forward to the final, finished product.


--
Eric Agnew