Hi Guys, well, its been a busy couple of months preparing to go back out on the road for this year and obviously getting the final bits together for the album. It all came together pretty smoothly in the end (apart from a slight delay, but these things happen). Were all really pleased with the end result and hope you guys enjoy it. We previewed a new track live at the Newcastle guitar show a couple of weeks back, we hadnt played it together since being in the studio and it went down great.
I thought Id give you guys a bit of a breakdown of the songs on the album to give you a bit more as to how the whole thing came to be. As you may/may not be aware, the studio tracks were recorded in 2 places, Petrostudio in Moscow (October 05), and Eastwood Studios in Northamptonshire (February 07).
Track 1: CGB
This was actually the last song recorded at Eastwood, Rob and Farid had never heard it before and I started showing them the riffs etc. and after a couple of run throughs we laid it down. The main riff Id written a few years ago and the rest kind of wrote itself. I think its a great opener for the album and has that really cool blues/rock thing going on. We couldnt think of a name for it, so we called it CGB.
Track 2: Revolt
This was recorded in Moscow and wed played around with it a bit before. We also used the song on one of the Marshall DVDs, but the album version is a touch quicker giving the whole thing a bit more drive. Highlights for the song for me are the harmony break towards the end, and of course, Farids awesome fill that brings the song in.
Track 3: Daytona
Originally from my first solo album Devils Dance. We played it for the first time together as a band towards the end of last year when we were getting songs together for the Marshall DVDs (this song appeared on the JVM DVD). I think I was about 16 when I wrote this song, and the main riff that brings the song in came about by me seeing how far I could stretch my little finger up the neck (the stretch goes from the 3rd fret with your first finger, to the 8th and alternating to the 7th with your pinky). The structure is still exactly the same as it was back then but we completely re-recorded it for the album at Eastwood, as the guys really like it and theres plenty of widdle space in the solo section. There are a few subtle changes like the pushes in the verse and the sustain under the riff. And of course its not me playing drums and bass on this version as it was on Devils Dance, theres 2 guys on here who know what theyre doing!
Track 4: Space & Time
Definitely one of my favourites both on the album and to play live, Its a very simple melody with some nice chord changes underneath, running from D to B then C. We recorded it in Moscow, and its really the simplicity of the song that I like, the acoustic guitar passage in the middle building up to the solo and the tambourine shake going from right to left just before the middle section.
Track 5: Kurgens Hoedown
If youve seen us play this one live, you may already know the story behind this song. We were just about to record the song Through The Night in Moscow and I was messing around on the the guitar with the capo on in the lounge area of the studio. It definitely started as a bit of a joke, but sounded cool with it. Originally recorded on acoustic, this was one of 2 songs we never got back from the Russian recordings, so we re-recorded it at Eastwood, electrically, which is the way we play it live, we brought the solo section up in that everything kicks in a bit more, and it sounds totally cool. The name comes from a guy who thought if it when he saw us play at the Newcastle Guitar Show in 06. Kurgen is a Russian character from the film Highlander, and hoedown is, well, a hoedown.
Track 6:
Call Of The Tribe
This is probably the most recent song Ive written that ended up on the album. The idea came just before I shot the 3rd Marshall DVD to do with the Kerry King head. I wanted to write something to go with the amp, not a tribute to Kerry or Slayer but just a bit heavier than usual. I came up with the riff and then came up with the chord structure (E and Bb are always a metal match!). We never needed the whole song for the DVD in the end as the band werent on there, but if you listen carefully to the last riff I play on the head on the DVD, its in there. Its also used on the DVD menu. The sound you hear at the beginning of the song and near the end is a clip of the melody between the 2 verses put through a heavy modulator. The song originally ended just after the second time that comes in, but as I was listening to it through on the final mix, I thought it would be cool if it all came back in and faded out on the rhythm. As it was just me and Steve (the engineer at Eastwood) there, Farid back in France and our gear long gone, we just pasted it from the beginning and copied it there. Its very weird when you hear something happening that you never actually played at that point. ProTools is an amazing thing ..
Track 7:
Through The Night
I originally wrote this song at home on my 12 string, with the same arrangement but just guitar. I had a capo on the seventh fret and came up with that kind of climbing arrangement. The only reason theres no 12 string on the finished song is quite simply that there was no left handed ones at the studio in Moscow. Its a very simple song, very chilled out. The percussion and the simple bass line really bring the song out.
Track 8:
Into The Underworld
Not sure where to start with this one! With a running time of just over 7 minutes, this is probably my favourite song on here, its kind of epic. Its another typical get to the studio and show the guys the song situation from when we were in Moscow, Id written it in early 04 on my Korg Pandora while I was in Florida. The songs really made up of 2 different ideas I had which I thought suited each other, one a very melodic piece which starts the song and the other very chord based which finishes the song joined with an atmospheric section in the middle which bridges the two. It was about 18 months from when we recorded the songs in Moscow to when we heard them so this was a real shock, in fact Rob had forgotten about even playing the song at all. I think thats why we all like it so much. The idea, even from the earliest demos Id made of the song, was for it to reach this big crescendo at the end and fade out to just the acoustic guitar while you could hear it going back to the original melody from the first part of the song, so coming full circle as it were. When we were in the studio in Moscow, Sasha our engineer came up with the idea of putting a bit of lead over the acoustic at the end, then making them both sound really lo-fi. The sound you hear right at the end of the song is me putting down the acoustic and my headphones and walking out of the live room to listen to the take. We thought it sounded cool, so we left it in!
Track 9:
Voodoo Mix (Live)
The other song we never got back from Russia was this one. If youve seen us before, then you know what this song is all about, our tribute to classic rock music, with a riff medley in the middle and based around Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. We ended up using the live mix from Music Live last year, which was probably for the best as the song had changed and evolved a lot over that previous year so its well and truly up to date for a song that we tend to make new parts up for all the time. We had recorded about 5 other covers for the album, but we preferred the original stuff, but we always knew wed put this one on there. Fortunately, theres no blazing errors anywhere, its purely live, no overdubs or punch-ins and comes in at a healthy 16 or so minutes. Recorded by our good friend Les who does the front of house sound at the London Guitar Show and Music Live.
So there you go, if you havent got a copy, go get yourself one, the clips here on the site are just to give you a rough idea, the songs in full are obviously much better!
Were out to Germany tomorrow for the Frankfurt Musik Messe once again, see ya when we get back.
CG
I thought Id give you guys a bit of a breakdown of the songs on the album to give you a bit more as to how the whole thing came to be. As you may/may not be aware, the studio tracks were recorded in 2 places, Petrostudio in Moscow (October 05), and Eastwood Studios in Northamptonshire (February 07).
Track 1: CGB
This was actually the last song recorded at Eastwood, Rob and Farid had never heard it before and I started showing them the riffs etc. and after a couple of run throughs we laid it down. The main riff Id written a few years ago and the rest kind of wrote itself. I think its a great opener for the album and has that really cool blues/rock thing going on. We couldnt think of a name for it, so we called it CGB.
Track 2: Revolt
This was recorded in Moscow and wed played around with it a bit before. We also used the song on one of the Marshall DVDs, but the album version is a touch quicker giving the whole thing a bit more drive. Highlights for the song for me are the harmony break towards the end, and of course, Farids awesome fill that brings the song in.
Track 3: Daytona
Originally from my first solo album Devils Dance. We played it for the first time together as a band towards the end of last year when we were getting songs together for the Marshall DVDs (this song appeared on the JVM DVD). I think I was about 16 when I wrote this song, and the main riff that brings the song in came about by me seeing how far I could stretch my little finger up the neck (the stretch goes from the 3rd fret with your first finger, to the 8th and alternating to the 7th with your pinky). The structure is still exactly the same as it was back then but we completely re-recorded it for the album at Eastwood, as the guys really like it and theres plenty of widdle space in the solo section. There are a few subtle changes like the pushes in the verse and the sustain under the riff. And of course its not me playing drums and bass on this version as it was on Devils Dance, theres 2 guys on here who know what theyre doing!
Track 4: Space & Time
Definitely one of my favourites both on the album and to play live, Its a very simple melody with some nice chord changes underneath, running from D to B then C. We recorded it in Moscow, and its really the simplicity of the song that I like, the acoustic guitar passage in the middle building up to the solo and the tambourine shake going from right to left just before the middle section.
Track 5: Kurgens Hoedown
If youve seen us play this one live, you may already know the story behind this song. We were just about to record the song Through The Night in Moscow and I was messing around on the the guitar with the capo on in the lounge area of the studio. It definitely started as a bit of a joke, but sounded cool with it. Originally recorded on acoustic, this was one of 2 songs we never got back from the Russian recordings, so we re-recorded it at Eastwood, electrically, which is the way we play it live, we brought the solo section up in that everything kicks in a bit more, and it sounds totally cool. The name comes from a guy who thought if it when he saw us play at the Newcastle Guitar Show in 06. Kurgen is a Russian character from the film Highlander, and hoedown is, well, a hoedown.
Track 6:
Call Of The Tribe
This is probably the most recent song Ive written that ended up on the album. The idea came just before I shot the 3rd Marshall DVD to do with the Kerry King head. I wanted to write something to go with the amp, not a tribute to Kerry or Slayer but just a bit heavier than usual. I came up with the riff and then came up with the chord structure (E and Bb are always a metal match!). We never needed the whole song for the DVD in the end as the band werent on there, but if you listen carefully to the last riff I play on the head on the DVD, its in there. Its also used on the DVD menu. The sound you hear at the beginning of the song and near the end is a clip of the melody between the 2 verses put through a heavy modulator. The song originally ended just after the second time that comes in, but as I was listening to it through on the final mix, I thought it would be cool if it all came back in and faded out on the rhythm. As it was just me and Steve (the engineer at Eastwood) there, Farid back in France and our gear long gone, we just pasted it from the beginning and copied it there. Its very weird when you hear something happening that you never actually played at that point. ProTools is an amazing thing ..
Track 7:
Through The Night
I originally wrote this song at home on my 12 string, with the same arrangement but just guitar. I had a capo on the seventh fret and came up with that kind of climbing arrangement. The only reason theres no 12 string on the finished song is quite simply that there was no left handed ones at the studio in Moscow. Its a very simple song, very chilled out. The percussion and the simple bass line really bring the song out.
Track 8:
Into The Underworld
Not sure where to start with this one! With a running time of just over 7 minutes, this is probably my favourite song on here, its kind of epic. Its another typical get to the studio and show the guys the song situation from when we were in Moscow, Id written it in early 04 on my Korg Pandora while I was in Florida. The songs really made up of 2 different ideas I had which I thought suited each other, one a very melodic piece which starts the song and the other very chord based which finishes the song joined with an atmospheric section in the middle which bridges the two. It was about 18 months from when we recorded the songs in Moscow to when we heard them so this was a real shock, in fact Rob had forgotten about even playing the song at all. I think thats why we all like it so much. The idea, even from the earliest demos Id made of the song, was for it to reach this big crescendo at the end and fade out to just the acoustic guitar while you could hear it going back to the original melody from the first part of the song, so coming full circle as it were. When we were in the studio in Moscow, Sasha our engineer came up with the idea of putting a bit of lead over the acoustic at the end, then making them both sound really lo-fi. The sound you hear right at the end of the song is me putting down the acoustic and my headphones and walking out of the live room to listen to the take. We thought it sounded cool, so we left it in!
Track 9:
Voodoo Mix (Live)
The other song we never got back from Russia was this one. If youve seen us before, then you know what this song is all about, our tribute to classic rock music, with a riff medley in the middle and based around Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. We ended up using the live mix from Music Live last year, which was probably for the best as the song had changed and evolved a lot over that previous year so its well and truly up to date for a song that we tend to make new parts up for all the time. We had recorded about 5 other covers for the album, but we preferred the original stuff, but we always knew wed put this one on there. Fortunately, theres no blazing errors anywhere, its purely live, no overdubs or punch-ins and comes in at a healthy 16 or so minutes. Recorded by our good friend Les who does the front of house sound at the London Guitar Show and Music Live.
So there you go, if you havent got a copy, go get yourself one, the clips here on the site are just to give you a rough idea, the songs in full are obviously much better!
Were out to Germany tomorrow for the Frankfurt Musik Messe once again, see ya when we get back.
CG
