@TMH: You've got a killer voice. God knows I've had Move on the Sun stuck in my head all month and your voice is part of why that song is so great. I think we've struggled with all the male vocal submissions so far, my own included.
Sorry, I couldn't sing in the same octave as Pam the entire time. Wrong key for my voice. I went for some low, The National sound thing. Use all 4 tracks maybe.
@Malicore - chin up guy - you have been given a very difficult job with this song and in some ways I think the directors have done you and the song a great disservice by wanting to make it more "rock". (I personally think "rock" may be the most difficult genre to do in an online collaboration.) I somehow think they wanted a "White Wedding" while this song's true nature is closer to "Girls Just want to have Fun". todd68976's comments are spot on (except for his thoughts on the bridge ;) )
Let the song's power pop shine thru. I would ditch the distorted guitar for a couple of mixes until you get the vocals down the way you want them. Build the mix up from just drums, bass and vocals. Then start adding some of the other guitar tracks that were submitted, I think they have the urgency (yes I am using this word again) and the push that todd68976 is mentioning.
This mix is not a disaster. You are seeing lots of strong opinions here because we think the song has so much potential. Good luck. We know you are putting an amazing amount of effort into this.
First of all - this ain't rock. The steady drums make this a dance song. It's a driving pop song. The ending kind of makes that point. And as a pop song, it's good.
Distorted guitar does not a rock song make. The distorted guitar is too loud for this pop song. Also it is out of sync. It's late for the most part throughout the song.
The bridge is the only part of this song that sounds even remotely "rock" - but that is alt. rock. You could develop an entirely new song based on that bridge. The bridge sounds great, by the way (especially the drums): you need to keep it.
The problem wth the rest of the song is mainly in the drums. There is not enough freedom. There are not enough variety of symbols - there's not enough variety in the beat. The drums fill up too much of the sound space. It's basically a disco beat. I keep seeing a basketball bouncing up and down when I listen to these drums. Where is the kick? I can't even hear it. And when I can hear it, it sounds just like the snare.
That's one of the problems, you know - the kick and snare sound EXACTLY the same. The snare isn't bright enough - until you hit the bridge that is, then the drum set sounds like a whole different drum set.
You need to use the same drum set throughout- use the one from the bridge if you have a choice. It's not that the main part drums are played "badly"- that's not what I'm saying. It's just that the drum set isn't eq-ed properly and the wrong beat is being played for a rock song.
That being said - the vocals sound great for this pop song. The mix of the vocals sounds great. I'd rather hear more harmony than unison, but if that isn't going to be done, then unison is fine.
Consider moving half of the end to the beginning and fading in the main song as you fade it out. Let the two bleed into each other for awhile as an intro before the drums kick in - maybe.
Oh yeah - because I didn't say it at the beginning since it's pretty obvious (since I'm the one who typed this) - all the preceding is just my opinion. An opinion based on years of thinking "ROCK" to mean songs such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Crazy Train, Highway to Hell, Sweet Home Alabama, One, Stairway to Heaven, Baba O'Riley... well you hopefully get what I'm saying.
@lyrictician - you make some excellent points and I also want this song to be successful. For the bridge - I could see just a hand clap, bass and foot breakdown with an edited version of Pam's vocal. With this type of song you want to get back to the vocals ASAP, its all about creating an urgency.
@Malicore - I was wondering what songs are you listening to for a point of reference?
The bridge provides some balance to the song and a transition between the chorus and the verse. I think it would sound rushed if the chorus went straight to the verse. I think it also provides some great break beats, a change in the drum pattern, a brief slow down, and a fantastic vocal track from Pam, all of which really give the song greater depth. I don't think the bridge is the problem here, I think instead that we are having troubles identifying the route to take for the vocals. I think we needs something strong that can stand up to the power of the guitars and drums; this was the original direction that was given after all. I still think we should give it to Pam and perhaps use some stronger male vocals for backup at times during the verses. Or we could have male vocals throughout the whole song and have Pam sing backup. Whatever Malicore chooses, it needs to be able to stand up to the power of the guitars. If we have to remove instruments and redirect the song to accomodate a mediocre vocal performance, then perhaps it means that that vocal track is not right for the song. I still think that the prior versions of TGSY had much more power and presence, all because they were big, loud, and strong as a result of the vocals and instruments. This is just my opinion of course, but I really want this song to be an all around success.
