1. |
Guys My Age
03:45
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I wrote this on a Gibson Melody Maker that someone left in my room. When I played it through Alan's JCM 800 clone, the only way to get any gain out of the P90 was to play open chords the whole time, so the AC/DC style riff was inevitable.
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2. |
Hell is...
04:09
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I wrote the main riff on the way to work, and got hung up on the idea of a really simple instrumental hook that would have the audacity to run round TWICE after the first chorus. That kind of thing kind of died with the 90s. Since then rock songs have gotten more succinct and formulaic.
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3. |
Quite the Mouth
03:52
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Production wise, this song doesn't really kick in until the last chorus, and in the meantime the guitars are playing one note at a time instead of chords. It's a minimalist, understated approach that lets the vocals sit on top so you can actually hear the words.
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4. |
Best Intentions
03:49
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Believe it or not, Crate used to make good class A valve amps, and while I lived in Toronto I had the privilege of owning one. That, my Godin guitar, my Pro Tools Digi 002 and my Hohner Pianet made this song the culmination of all the fun gear I acquired there. I originally played the drums in 5 along with the guitar, but felt that it stilted the pace of the song, so resorted to playing 4 across 5. The result is jarring at times but keeps things interesting.
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5. |
Got No Soul
04:14
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Finding the right speed for this song took me ages. It had to be slow enough to be epic, but fast enough to maintain interest. I borrowed a coworker's Geddy Lee signature Jazz bass (with Bertolini active pick ups) to track with and when it came to mixing, I had to keep scooping out the low mids (150hz-400hz) because it was just too overbearing. I also used a record number of guitars on this song: a Gretsch hollow body for the clean parts, a Tele for the verses and a combination of a Les Paul Junior and a Godin LG for the choruses, with a Strat to beef up the middle 8 and final chorus.
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