Danny, I wish we could have all gotten together and done that, but Jonbouy (drums) and James (lead guitar) live in the UK, and Larry (bass) and I (vox,rhythm guitar) are here in the States. I got the idea after we had tracked everything so I asked them each to send me a clip of them ordering a drink they liked, and some vague idea of banter among bandmates. None of them heard what the others did, then I edited it together over a random bar noise bed, and got my wife to do the waitress thing. One of those things that turned out even better than I'd imagined. Glad you liked it. It'll always be one of my favorites.

Randy

Hey Danny,
WOW . . . now that is one hell of a production. I really like the flow of this piece especially when you take it to another level at 3:12.  It's like getting two great songs for the price of one. Your guitar skills are killer and the tones are not over distorted.  I'm equally impressed with your vocal harmonies and delivery. You sang that like you play guitar and man did you hit some difficult notes.
Your mix . . .  its like ear candy. On my end everything sits and sounds incredible. But, I know you are a guru when it comes recording, I do have a nit with the mix.  On my end I would like to hear the lead vocals come forward and lose just a pinch of the verb/delay. I do mean just a PINCH on both.  I know , I know your like slapping your forehead saying what the *uck.  I find it hard to hear/understand the vocals at times.
 All in all I LOVED everything about this piece from the tight performance to the incredible PRO sounding mix.  KUDOS my friend!

LATER
Kev

You know, back in the day when I used to spend more time in the Sonar Producer forum, I used to think - I wish that Danny Danzi guy would hang out in the songs forum - he could really help us wannabes a lot with his experience, patience and wisdom. Now I find myself thinking - damn that Danny Danzi coming in here and showing us all up, grrrrrr ! ;)

This is spot on for me - 80's influences for sure (sorry)  but nothing wrong with that for me. Guitars and vox in particular sound just great. Now kindly go away and do something ordinary to make us mere mortals feel better about ourselves, lol  ;)

Very nice work Danny!  Loved the song.  Very pro mix.  Great musicianship as well; wish I could play half as well as you brother.

Just to be clear Danny, I wasn't inferring that it sounded "80s". (It just sounds good is all I know).
I really don't know what "80s" sounds like. I was just questioning/responding to the "sounds 80s" label.
Reading your reply above (to Karyn) I see that you sort of come from the same place that I do about the whole 80s labeling thing. Actually, some of what you said re-enforces what I've been thinking; part of why some folks peg things as '80s' has to do with the "studio-ness" of it, if that makes sense. And, the lack of Raw-ness and I-can't-play-ness. I try to keep current listening to lots of different new things and a lot of what I hear is just a lot rougher than it needs to be. sometimes, Almost an effort has been made to sound like a beginner. (at least in the rock genres).


I'm not explaining this very well. Sorry, But, anyway, I get the '80s' thing a lot. I honestly don't know what that means. I could just shrug it off but I can't because it bothers me. I want my stuff to sound current. 

And so, I carry on:)

Tim: I'm totally with you...you explained it perfectly in my opinion and I didn't take what you said as inferring the 80's thing at all. I think I know what 80's sounds like...but for some reason, when I hear something like that (or even something 60's or 70's sounding) I just don't label it. The only time I bring a label into something is when someone has the production of something 60's or 70's. You know...the flatter, warmer sounding instrumentation. That's not a bad thing and works if that's the vibe someone is trying to get...but that's really the only time I'll bring up something like that. I just really try to listen to something and enjoy it for what it is. I don't expect anyone else to do that though.
 
Opinions will always differ as you know. Some we'll agree with, some we won't, some make us think etc. Like for example, Karyn made me think about things in a different way. I get what she's saying although some of it sort of confuses me. Then you'll see other replies where people feel the same as her, and a few that don't. So it's really a good thing in THIS situation. I know the people on this forum know music...especially the ones that I have been lucky enough to have visit this tune. Everyone that has posted something here are all people that I would listen to if they told me something from their hearts. I'm not just saying that because they took the time to check me out...but look at the names...all credible people we know and love. That's quite a gift to me really...so whatever they say, I know it's not meant to hurt me....it's more "their take on what I've presented" which is kinda cool when it's delivered properly. We can tell when someone is voicing for the sake of a voice. I don't think that happened at all here and I really do appreciate the conversation as well as some of the advice.
 
I think you definitely hit on something with the production...raw vs. polished etc. I totally and whole-heartedly agree with you on the "made to sound like a beginner" thing. This is why I don't go for a full modern sound. There are things in "modern" that I just do not find appealing. It's not easy to polish something up....it's easy to just lay something down and leave it raw. To me, that's like the hair styles of today. Most of them are "roll out of bed, this is what I look like". I like to style my hair when it's not back in a pony-tail. I like the full rocker look...even if it's a bit 80's looking. I take pride in my appearance like I take pride in the sound and cleanliness of my songs or my playing. If raw is "modern" and polished is "80's" I'd much rather be considered 80's than raw and modern.
 
But see, there's a limit on the raw in my opinion. When something is so raw it sounds like a garage band or what's out today...what good is that if it's not appealing to we the creators? This is where I think we have to draw the line on some of it and this is where "elements of" sort of come into play. You shoot for a blue-print....you try to make things modern to an extent without adding in the things that make "modern" unappealing to you. That's how I look at things as well as what I try to do. So where I'm NOT including the things that would make it sound more raw and modern....my 80's roots are showing. I'm cool with that now actually...thanks to this conversation with Karyn and yourself. :) I know she never meant it as a bash...she said she liked the tune...that's what I'm hanging on to. If she would have said "I don't like this because it sounds too 80's" I still wouldn't have been upset as I can understand someone just not being down with a style. But she liked it and gave her take like a pro....so it's all good to me really.
 
I do share the same feelings as you do on this stuff though. As Randy said...."we are what we are. Rockers from a certain generation". I think all of us fall into that catagory depending on when you started playing, you know? That said...I just hope some day we can listen to music and just say "hey I like this" or "nah, not for me" without labeling any of it or making someone feel because they did a certain thing...that they are "dated". I say that not due to anything mentioned in this thread....but because it's something I've had to deal with hearing since the 80's died. Here's what I've been told over the years man. To me, some of this is really upsetting. See if you've heard any of it yourself.
 
You can't sing massive harmonies anymore....you're 80's...you can't sing like a singer and have to learn to growl or sing lower with that grunge type sound that just about all singers of today sort of have or....you're 80's....you can't play any solo's that aren't bendy blues scales, you can't sweep pick, you can't legato and you can't tap or you're 80's and ripping off Eddie Van Halen. Your drum sounds have to be totally raw and you can't put a gated verb on a snare or verb on your toms...you can't use effects on your voice other than in select spots and you have to distort the mic a bit. Too catchy/infectious hook...pop rock 80's.
 
Your bass guitar needs a little distortion because if it's too clean and piano-like, it's too clean and polished for the song...so it's 80's. If you play anything technical or progressive in a song with high gain guitars...it's 80's prog...if you compress your guitars at 4:1 to get the rawness/harshness out of them to make them tighter...you're 80's...you need to compress at 2:1 to allow some raw to come through and leave them a bit looser. And lastly...if you showcase any kind of talent on any particular instrument....you're 80's.
 
Most bands today are all at the same level with each of them being about the same without having anyone stick out other than a vocalist...or if you're a bass player like Flea. This is the stuff I've been told through the years and to be honest...I find it a bit upsetting and also demoralizing at times. When we decided to play an instrument and get serious about it...part of playing that instrument in a sense is like learning to drive a car at fast speeds and throw it around a little. I can't think of any musician that hasn't tried to flex their muscles a bit. Some get obsessed with it...others test the waters and say "nah, I'd rather use the instrument as a writing tool...no need for me to really master it or get fancy". That's cool too...but for those that chose to take it to a different place...I just feel when they do, they shouldn't be frowned upon or labled for it unless it's tasteless and there for the sake of "look what I can do" and doesn't fit the song. Anyway...good conversation man...thanks for being a part of it.
 
Wookie: thank you for checking it out...glad you liked it. :)
 
-Danny

danni - dude, chill out! just read ur post above...hey let's not over-analyse! good music is good music, we all have influences and ****, but we all add our own je ne sais quoi...and you do it far better than most of us!

I only have two things to say. Great job and I wish I could play guitar like that. I've listened to a few of your tunes or where you collaborated and I very much would like to get to that level. I've been playing a long time but just oculd never get the speed and tasty thing going. Youv've got both. Congrats.

mgh


danni - dude, chill out! just read ur post above...hey let's not over-analyse! good music is good music, we all have influences and ****, but we all add our own je ne sais quoi...and you do it far better than most of us!

I don't mean any thing offensive towards you or anyone else MGH. (just sayin, just in case:).
On one hand you are right. On the other hand, which is where I come from I can't agree.


We are who we are and we do what we do. Yes. However, to me, popular music these days is popular partly because it sounds current. If it has the dreaded 80s vibe to it, it's not current and will simply be dismissed as not current by anyone in the biz. 
My main objective has always been to write hits. Not has been hits.


Nice break down Danny. I'm glad you broke down what you've heard from others. When you point them out, I can see it.
I'll bookmark it and refer back till it's engrained:) I don't think I've ever gotten anything that detailed except for maybe the verb part. The rough voice thing made me laugh cause I've been doing a few things that way:)

Rolling Stones Top 10 albums selected from the decade known as the 1980s:

http://www.rollingstone.c...-the-eighties-20110418



1. The Clash, "London Calling"
This album could not have come at a more perfect time or from a more appropriate band than the Clash. Released stateside in January 1980, with the decade but a pup and the new year in gear, "London Calling" was an emergency broadcast from rock's Last Angry Band, serving notice that Armageddon was nigh, Western society was rotten at the core, and rock & roll needed a good boot in the rear.
2. Prince and the Revolution, "Purple Rain"
Released in tandem with the film of the same name, "Purple Rain" was more than simply a soundtrack, and it stands as Prince's most cohesive and accessible album. "He envisioned the film as he made the album," says Alan Leeds, vice-president of Paisley Park Records, Prince's label. "He had a vision in his mind of the film a year before he got in front of the cameras, and he wrote the music to that vision."
3. U2, "The Joshua Tree"
"The Joshua Tree" is the rather esoterically titled album he's referring to -- a title that even the typically solemn Bono could joke about.
500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 'London Calling' by the Clash
4. Talking Heads, "Remain in Light"
"Remain in Light" may have been a commercial disappointment, but musically, the band's 1980 album -- which combines funk, disco and African rhythms -- was years ahead of its time. "It got great critical acclaim, and we felt that it kind of took popular music to the next phase," says Frantz, "which is what we always wanted to do."
5. Paul Simon, "Graceland"
The journey to "Graceland" began with an unlabeled cassette tape that guitarist Heidi Berg gave to Simon, who listened to it incessantly, without knowing what it was, throughout the summer of 1984.
6. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."
"Born in the U.S.A." -- the album, the song and the sixteen-month tour -- turned out to be the breakthrough that Springsteen fans had been expecting for a decade. The influential Jersey musician became the world's biggest rock star -- and a bona fide American icon, to boot.
7. Michael Jackson, "Thriller"
"Thriller," reportedly recorded for $750,000, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide -- and it still sells. It earned Jackson over 150 gold and platinum awards worldwide and a record seven Grammys.
8. R.E.M., "Murmur"
The members of R.E.M. incorporated elements of folk and country music into pop that was, by turns, bright and murky. Theirs was a quasi-traditional yet boundary-breaking sound that served as a blueprint for alternative bands throughout America for the rest of the decade.
9. Richard and Linda Thompson, "Shoot Out the Lights"
"Even in the best days of our marriage, Richard and I didn't communicate with each other fabulously well," says Linda Thompson. "I think that the reason the music was good was that we tended to save it for work." Perhaps that explains why "Shoot Out the Lights" is both the best and last album Richard and Linda Thompson made together.
10. Tracy Chapman, "Tracy Chapman"
Tracy Chapman was discovered in 1987 by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. "I was helping organize a boycott protest against apartheid at school, and someone told me there was this great protest singer I should get to play at the rally," says Koppelman, who now works in A&R at Elektra. He went to see Chapman perform at a coffeehouse called Cappuccino. "Tracy walked onstage, and it was like an epiphany," he says. "Her presence, her voice, her songs, her sincerity -- it all came across."

Just because it sounds like metal from the 80's doesn't mean it was popular. Metal wasn't really that popular in the 80's compared to your list Mike, but it had it's own distinct recognizable sound.

80's metal has always had kind of a 'cult' status so to speak.

But who am I to talk on this subject, I turned my radio off in 1978 when country music officially died IMO.

A truly monstrous project.

... Things really pick up around the middle (for me), IMHO: almost like Alice Cooper meets Ozzy ... then the ear candy picks me up again (with 'sweet' synth instruments) ... but, perhaps too quickly; sadly, the middle-8 magic disappears forever into the orginal majestic stream of rock-mania.

... This is Danzi going beyond the beyond; just when you think you've pegged him, he grinds gears into fresh artistic dimensions while portraying a 'better-than-Ozzy' vibe(IMHO) before this cult-genre.  (I say "cult" because this is not pop-rock and appeals to a specific target audience, an audience that loves loves hard rock symphonies)

While this mix is 10/10 on so many levels; I might feel the vocals deserve a tiny bit more tape, low end, and/or meaty thickness ... to dominate some sections.  The Haas fx's are great, OTOH ... so I may be splitting hairs here.

Anyway, this is 'beyond-pro' and perfectly awesome!

Danny Danzi

"my vision"
   
 

Out of all that discourse, these two word struck me. That is what the arts are all about.
I think it's great that you had the band's blessing to run with yours.
This is a phenomenal piece.

Hi Danny,

Wow, this is absolutely top-notch in every way!

Great singing, playing, production...I could go on and on but you get the idea.

Oh yea, outstanding arrangement, too!

Danny Danzi


RobertB: Thanks so much....glad you liked it. Yeah, you're so right....with "the arts" and it will always be subjective. I've honestly got thick skin though...there are just some things I do not understand and wish to understand. Like one of these days, I'm going to partner up with a plugin company and make the "what they hear" plugin with custom presets that allow you to hear things the way other people hear them! Hahahahaha! I too feel the same with having the bands blessing. At the end of the day this tune was their baby too and it's not easy sometimes to allow someone to release an alternate version. Thanks again.
 
LpMike: Thanks bro, glad you liked it. I'm guilty of the pinch harm thing a little too much sometimes I must confess. I've actually been doing those way before I heard Zakk. I thought it was the coolest technique. Billy Gibbons and Rory Gallagher were my heros at pinch harms. But I could never get them right. I must have worked on nailing that technique for about a year before I could do it consistently. Then Eddie Van Halen came out and started doing what I call "scream pinches" and I so wanted to nail those too. The next thing you know...from trying so hard to learn this....it ends up being in the way I play and I over-do it sometimes. I've been really conscious of it for the past few years though because I know for some folks....it can be taken as an extremely annoying technique. Here's an example of the "scream pinches" from a tune on my last album. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/Wild%26DangerousLead.mp3 
 
Yeah, probably a little over done...but man, I just can't get enough of that annoying sound! LOL!! Thanks for the listen and the kind words Mike.
 
geeare1: Thanks a lot....so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the kind words and the listen....much appreciated. :)
 
-Danny

 
Regarding "Dangerous Lead"
Sweet solo, not only did I like the pinch harmonics but the use of the whammy bar and fast sweeping arppegios were also cool.  The whammy dives and flutters arent in use as much anymore (well, unless you listen to Steve Via..which I do). 
 
Very impressive playing, keep on rockin'.