No kidding, the vocals are sung so well here, at times they remind me of Panic at the Disco..which just means, there's definitely hints of mainstream greatness in here. I like the way the vocals are eq'ed and fx'ed in here. Overall, very orchestral, opera-like with the vocals and linear (non-verse/chorus) structure. The canned strings and horns and drums do pretty well for the most part, but at times I do feel like I'm listening to a soundtrack from a Super Nintendo game (specifically, Final Fantasy). I'm definitely saving this song somewhere, very unique and cool! -Jeff

 I really dig your drums...

You are a very talented drummer.. A very talented drummer? 

And pretty good w/the mixing stuff too. 


Robby.

Thanks everyone for the kind words...

twisted6s


Masterful as always Jame!!!!!! Excellent vocal performance Cian!!! IK Miroslav Philharmonic $39.00? Where brother?!!!

It was one of those Musicians Friend Stupid Deal of the Day a month or so back. With the IK Group buy, I can probably give it to you sinc I got the full version for free.

(@Twisted, James, and everyone ... please beware that IKM's Miroslav is still 32-bit ... if/when you are running Sonar-64.  It 'runs fair' in in Sonar-64, IMHO.)

This Song:

This mighty song feels aimed at elite listeners while many would enjoy this on stage (i.e., Broadway).  I say elite because this is poetry, which loses a lot of the phlegmatics.

Complexly rich symphonics, haunting, mysterious, and wonderful.  Perfect primarily for Broadway & Manhattan ... where the mysteries of life become god-spelled day to day, IMHO.

My fav performance by Cian, perhaps because he sounds a lot like you.

Orchestrals and drums evoke such a spring-like, magical, grand, theatrical and wondrous symphony ... ... which I might perhaps have liked incremented a bit ... as in many of your other incremental pieces.  (You know, where the instruments and their hooks get mightier and mightier as the song battles forth)

OTOH, Cian's vox increments wonderfully in melancholy pomp and preachiness ("this is a dark age for us all") ... thanks for sharing the complex lyrics.  (I ponder if Cian was able to fully memorize them?)

For N.Y. Broadway folk: 10/10

First off - I wouldn't have a clue as to where to even start with something like this - so hats off for the composition and production. All the good things have been pretty much covered and I would agree with them all, but to me there's just a couple of bits where the vocal delivery sounds a little clumsy - I've listened quite a few times now to make sure it wasn't something I'd just get used to if I heard it enough, but it's still bugging me when everything else is so good. The worst example is the line .....


"A Calling to Arms" was the hackneyed titled dime store novel Steve was attempting to write

too many syllables in there to me and makes it sound a bit rushed/clumsy at the end. Maybe no-one else agrees, but try in your head  replacing "attempting" with "trying"  which would  allow "steve" to be longer and not sound so rushed as it does now . 

Too picky ? Maybe, but you generally don't leave us much to be picky about, so the nits are gonna be small.
 

Philip:

I know what you are saying: this track doesn't have my usual big, bigger, biggest approach to the verses and choruses. Not sure that is ever the way on Broadway, to be honest. But this was an exuse to take me out of my current mode of writing and remember when I wrote a more non-structured way, and when my songwriting was not the somewaht cynical exercise it has become today (not that its a bad thing, it just is, ya know?). And I haven't really experienced any probs with Miroslav while arranging this, other than the surprising amount of compression I had to use.

Paulo:

Thanks. The issue you hear is a true one: however, if you listen to the Elvis Costello/Brodky Quartet stuff that inspired this, you will hear EC jamming the hell out of the words to cram them all in! Thus, so did I.

Ed:

It is allright, isn't it? There is a ton of Am in the end part that I knew would get your interest! ;)

paulo


Just yanking your chain - if you say it's right the way it is, then it is. Just my personal opinion, which according to Mrs Paulo is usually wrong anyway ;)

Wait: are our wives related?  ;)

Excellent job James and Cian.  I can only echo what many other above me have posted.  You really made the $39 dollar software sound great.  The orchestration was very nice and the theatrical performance from Cian was fantastic.

Great job, thanks for posting this

Certainly sounds Broadway to me.  The singing style and orchestration sounds like any song from the "Phathom."   Lots of drama and tragedy too.  Masterfully done!