Finally got back from Austin a few days ago, and have completed the last of the newest batch of songs. Thanks to the ever gracious REDLINE THey are up for your listening pleasure or pain, depending on what ya think of em. :)

http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/farawaynow

THey are in the same folder as all the others, under Tommy. New songs are,

1.1000000 Miles
2.Back where we belong
3.Better to forget her
4.Not Guilty
5.Supposed to be
6. Back and forth

Take a listen, critic, compliment, offer suggestions good or bad whatever, just take 30 minutes outta your life and take a listen for me and let me know your thoughts on em. Most of them I like, one had some pitch troubles on, but decent songs over all I guess. I appreciate any help or suggestions or whatever. I cant improve without insight into others thoughts. Yall are my sample audience, so I know which to include in the shows we do. Thanks all

* Bump* I get that most of yall dont care and all, but just bumping this so a few folks might view it some. :)

OK, I'm gonna rate these. I'm rating these based purely on instruments, singer, catchiness,etc. I am not factoring in recording quality, since these are recorded very professionally.


1.1000000 Miles

Instruments sound great, hooked me from the start, however, the beginning vocals I do not like. "da da da da" just seems "uninspired" to me.. Did it sound good? Yes, as in the singer was in key and such. However, just the singing of "da da da" didn't catch me. At 3:12 the singer is going "doo do do do do." I simply find that unappealing in a song. Sounds like he's going for a bluesy sorta feel, but the rest of the song doesn't sound like it fits or vice versa. Now if instead of his voice there was a saxaphone, hitting approximately the same notes, I do think that would work. Also found the song a bit long/repetitive, not much change over the whole course of it, verses sounded very similar, although I assume this was intended.

Overall 7/10, because instruments sounded great, but the "da da doo doo's" were a bit annoying.


2.Back where we belong

Instruments are OK on this one, singer sounded fine, although at times I had trouble understanding him. More careful enunciation would've helped. Overall this song didn't do anything for me. Nothing really catchy, never any change in tempo, nothing kept me "wanting to keep listening."

Overall 4/10


3.Better to forget her

This one is hard for me to judge. It sounds very country-ish, which is my least favorite genre of music next to rap...

This verse that sounded good at first, (1:00) "sitting alone at the corner cafe, sipping my cup of black coffee, she's still at the office shes working late, and I'm fighting the fears that pour o'er me, fate is a mischiovus devil in disguise, dangles her charms in front of your eyes, rubbin numb to the wise, better to forget her" but it doesn't go anywhere. I figured he was singing about sitting at the cafe while she's working, then he starts singing about fate, and then says "better to forget her" as if talking about fate.. but I thought he was singing about this girl. To me it just sounds mixed up, like there's no discernable flow, just stream of conciousness built into song. It works for creative writing, but for a song, to me it just doesn't work. The ending (2:50) also seems overdrawn to me, 40 seconds of a single instrument. As the artist, it's up to you to put something like that in there, however as a listener, whenever I have a song I like with a long and not very interesting ending (or beginning for that matter) I always drop it into an audio editor and trim those parts out. It's just extra fluff that does nothing to enhance the song. Now if it was a crazy guitar solo, sure, but this, well, I think it's better to leave it out.

Overall 3/10


4.Not Guilty

"Turn this guilt trip into a honeymoon holiday" -- I like that line! It flows really well. Good harmonics, tempo sounds good for this one. "Innocent until you prove me guilty" another good line, though it's used too often too soon (1:08 and 1:21). The profanity "bullsh!t" at 2:11 sounds extremely out of place in this song. Rest sounds good, like the guitar.

Overall 7/10


5.Supposed to be

No quarrels with this one! Reminded me of Jimmy Buffet for some reason.

Overall 9/10


6. Back and forth


At (0:41) the singer sounds offkey. At (2:30) "just show me you care, you're being unfair" sounds a bit like he's trying to rhyme just for rhyming's sake, then goes into "I'm selling my soul to you." First thing I thought was "wtf?" Usually you sell your soul to the devil. Again, the ending, "da dada da da da" big no-no in my book.

Overall 5/10


Granted, this isn't my type of music, but it sounds pretty good for what you're going for. Sorry if I sound a bit strict.

Appreciate the comments CPT. Don't stress on the sounding strict thing. i appreciate the time ya took to listen. Most of what i do is a strange cross between blues and folk stuff. 99 % of the music is a love song or a heartbreak song, so basically all in the same catagory..LOL

I have a crush on harmonies, so there is sometimes a ton of them added in, actually most of the time the harmonies are happening alot..LOL Glad ya like the guitar, even if the songs werent your thing. I am fairly happy with them, they arent my best work, as a total package though. A few of the songs I love the lyrics for, some the music to, and some the vocal parts..LOL Supposed to be and Not Guilty are my 2 favs from this set, and a few of the others will most likely either reworked some, or just dropped from the set lists from now on... A lot of this stuff is too hard to do live anyways. The harmonies are usually me singing all parts at different cuts, and finding someone in the guys I play with to help out in the harmonies all the time isnt gonna be easy. Ya prolly wouldnt recognize several of the songs if ya heard em live.

The stuff I do of my own is basically just so I can say I have done it, and as a way for me to share my brain with a special woman in my life. They are basically all written either to or about her. My normal gig is either playing guitar or bass with friends of mine doing classic rock, blues, and singing harmonies. Maybe once a week do i do any shows with more of my music than cover of others. I dont like my voice much so I prefer to just sing harmonies where ya can hide out in the background..LOL

I figured if you went through the trouble to record and host all those files, someone should be nice enough to review them for you.

1.1000000 Miles - I like this. Like the use of the bass to create some slightly unusual melodic changes for this type of song. I like the 'Dah dahs' but I'm not convinced with the 'Doo doos'. Like the lead vocals. 7/10

2.Back where we belong - Not entirely convinced with this one. Drums are a bit uninspired which leaves the song lacking momentum. Also the main riff is used to often which makes it a bit repetitive. 4/10

3.Better to forget her - I like this. My only criticism is with the ending. I think a gradual ending in which instruments are phased out one by one (or similar) would work better. 7/10

4.Not Guilty - this is GOOD. Love the mix of soft jazzy/folk chords and bluesy licks. Like the vocal harmonies. and the lead vocals suit the song really well. Could do with some very soft brush work drums from the second verse onwards. 9/10

5.Supposed to be - This is very well recorded and put together but its just not a song i can get excited about. It feels predictable in both musical and lyrical terms and lacks a central 'drive'. Mostly just down to personal taste though as I can't fault it technically. 4/10

6. Back and forth - This song is wrong for the vocalist. most of the problems with it result from that - the song sounds like it lacks dynamics, presumably to keep it soft because of the vocals. Weakest of the bunch. 3/10

Overall 6/10. This is very well recorded and the vocalist is talented (is that you?). My main criticism is that it sometimes lacks momentum and drifts aimlessly. Good effort. :nice:

Mark

I liked the 1.10000000000 miles song the best.
just like the other songs you posted a while ago, all have wonderfull studio quality.
but to be honest, shelter, your music isnt really my thing. therefore, my advice might not help a lot.
but I would say that you need to rock a bit more, not all the time, because the harmonies and melodies are really quite beautifull. but it somehow lacks a bit of energy, I think. but maybe its just too much easyness for my taste...
it does sound pretty professional. some of the songs are exellent, a few others are not so strong.
in the end youre a far better mucisian and songwriter then me, so well done!

I'll give them a spin tomorrow morning after work babe :) I'm pulling an overnight & have to head out shortly...

The recording quality keeps getting better depending how stuff gets resorded for me. Sometimes we get a couple songs done on free studio time for helping out sitting in on a song or two, sometimes it at one of 2 different home studios available fairly frequently.

I hear ya on the rocking thing Oki, but normally, these songs are interspersed with other far more driving songs in a set. We normally do mostly blues or classic rock stuff, this is a more my speed and mellow thing for me. My way of calming down, I guess. Thanks ta all of ya for listening. For the next while my plaing will be cut down drastically if not completely due to some health issues, but I will definatly be working on a lot more writing. Will try and remember to post some lyrics occasionally.

Dont necessarily think I am a better musician and writer than you, just a different one. 99 percent of my music would be horrid without alot of different influences though. i try to look at stuff i write after its done, and shift it a little to make it a bit different. Don Henley is my role model, i like how he says things without saying them, and how the symbolisms spell out the story. ill never be that good at it, but I try to ask myself wat would he do with this, and then i usually end up with something I can at least be proud of a little..LOL

Oki, if ya get bored and wanna hear my more rocking stuff, check out the same link in the folder shelter. Thats me on guitar and bass with the guys who help me out on these recordings. Not the best quality by any means, but definatly a lot more energy.

i like them :nice: kinda "poppish" for my tastes, but i think i like "Supposed to Be" best. Considering the files are 96kps they sound pretty good to these shell shocked ears! :D

Thank ya sir. Supposed to be is by far my fav as well, followed closely by not guilty. The others have a couple of ok lines in em, but over all werent worth the time i spent recording them..LOL