I’m posting this song to find out how others perceive it. What are your impressions of it? As always, I’m interested in hearing opinions about all aspects of the song itself, the recording, the mix, the performance (vocals, guitars, bass, drums), etc., and anything else related to what you hear. All points of view, whether good, bad or neutral, are welcome.
Oh I almost forgot to ask this question…What genre would you classify this song style?
Really interesting track. Very melodic and catchy - I like it! I particularly like the understated juxtaposition of the sunny sounding lyric, with the painful subtext. That is an area of songwriting that fascinates me.
It all sounds very good to me. The performances sound great, and well-crafted. Mix-wise, the bass is a little too dominant and a bit overblown in the low mids, but everything else is really nice.
The song is a little long, and the hook line (while great) is overly repetitive after a while. I think it needs some editing to not sound redundant.
The line that really punched me in the guts was “You wish me hell”. I think you need to drive that home better. A suggestion is to maybe have a strategic stop on the down beat of “wish”, so that “me hell” pops out as an “a cappella moment”… just an idea.
Nice work, man!
I’d say “vintage-style rock” ?
Hi Cool intro. I wish you well…Really? You sure are a good sport. ha ha The song has me rockin back and forth. Kinda REO Speedwagon to me. That’s a good thing. The track sounds live. A little long for me, but I think it is good stuff. Cut er down a bit mate:)
Thanks!
The pre-chorus and the chorus came to me immediately while playing my acoustic guitar. I’ll almost always record my ideas that I like, just to make sure I don’t forget them. I’ll just doing a quick, low quality vocal and guitar recording in audacity (or whichever instrument the song is birthed from (often guitar) but I didn’t even bother doing a sketch/ scratch recording for this one because I thought it was too mainstream sounding. But whenever I would pick up my acoustic guitar, these lyrics, these chords and the vocal melody would always come back to me…Every time I would play it, it would grow on me more and more, until I realized it was pretty decent, just not my idealized style. Not sure if “idealized” is the correct word…Maybe “idyllic”. Maybe “preferred style” is what I mean. After awhile I believed I had a strong chorus and pre-chorus but I still had to create a verse. I did a demo with a different verse before I did the version that you hear, here. The other verse had a slightly countrified flavour…It was decent but I wanted something that “felt better”, so I struggled to create the verses that you hear in my song. I also added the bridge near the end of the song to change things up and shift the song into a somewhat higher gear. So, the initial inspiration was quick and easy while the additional pieces of the song were kind of toiled, worked and fretted over. That’s often how it is for me, it seems. The verse and the ending/ bridge part were written about 3 or 3/1/2 years after the pre-chorus and chorus and then the arrangements of the bass, drums and guitar, and harmonies were added not too long before this recording. The part where I sing the lower vocal notes of “you wish me hell” was also added at the later stages of the development of the song.
I think there was some wrestling between “sweet” and “bitter” when I was writing the song. I tend to write dark and negative lyrics but I also have many songs with gentle, kind, respectful and caring lyrics. I sometimes feel very vulnerable when showing a softer side in my lyrics even though that’s kind of a ridiculous way to feel…But I believe that songwriters need to show all sides of themselves and it’s important not to fear being vulnerable and “soft”…I’m wondering if others here have any discomfort or fear of expressing themselves in a song lyric, whether it be some form sadness, personal loss, anger, violence, depression or anything that can be viewed as “weak”.
I thought someone might mention that. Haha
I tend to push the bass in some of my songs, especially in my songs that don’t have big overdriven guitars.
Yeah, I kind of feel that too. I was thinking of cutting the first chorus in half. I’ll try to figure out how to cutting out some of the fat.
This is really good to know. I like to know which parts and pieces impact the listener, and why they do. I’m going to consider what you said there or something similar. Something to emphasize that line.
Thank god! I’m worried that someone is going to say pop or easy listening. 
Vintage-Style Rock sounds a lot better to me!
Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment, Andrew! @ColdRoomStudio
Glad you like it, Paul !
Oh no! Are you sure that’s a good thing ?? 
I’m just kidding…, kind of. Well, I guess they did have some pretty good pop songs, even though they’re not something I’m particularly fond of. I do understand what you’re saying though.
Yeah, I think it could use some brevity. That’s something I’m considering.
Thanks for the listen and your comments, Paul! @feaker
Hey. Typing as I listen, haven’t read any other discussion.
Love the start. Really like how it jumps straight in. I wasn’t sure about the first addition of instruments/mix at about 33 seconds as I didn’t think it was big enough, but then when it really kicks in, it sounds great, so it works well building the momentum. The song has a good push and pull about it.
Being picky, I didn’t like the tom sound. I didn’t hear it much, but when I did, it just sounded flat to me.
LOVE those little timing changes in the start of some of the verse lines. Personally, I would just do the one and have it as a special thing, but that’s just personal taste.
Loving the vocal mix. Great eveness and blending of effects and harmonies. You’ve mixed it so that you can’t actually “hear” the individual harmonies super clearly (maybe a chorus layer or two there?) but it makes this nice veil of vocals that suits the style perfectly.
I wish you well, you wish me hell. Great line especially as it returns back to “… but I wish you well”. Shows the character of the protagonist.
Outside of the toms, I think this is a fine mix and would happily listen to the song again. There are some mix areas that some may do differently (to me the OHs seem very quiet) yet I don’t feel it’s an issues because your great vocals and the bass really drive the song and nothing is over powered or underpowered to pull me out of the mix.
nice job!
Ha! There ya go. Same here. +1
Agreed with Andrew again!
Hi @Wicked, what a cool and catchy song man. I would classify this as ‘rock’, although who cares really, good song is good song. Here are some points I note down:
On first listen, the verse threw me off a bit because of the unusual time signature (if I count correctly it’s 6/4 then 4/4). What a nice surprise, not expecting that at all.
I thought the “Ooo look in my eyes can you tell” part is the chorus. Then comes the actual chorus lol. I feel like the pre chorus is more high-energy and should have been the chorus.
I was expecting more audible vocal harmonies, especially during chorus to bring up the energy.
3:58, you build up tension, I expect some release in the form of a guitar solo. But then no solo? You missed a great opportunity, and you gave the audience musical blue balls 
All things considered, it is still a really catchy song and I don’t hear a glaring problem in the mix. You should be proud 
Yeah, I agree. The toms do sound a bit dead. I played the drums using my brothers acoustic drum kit, in the house that I lived in back in 2012. I close mic’d all the drums with a Samson mic pack and used the 2 Samson large diaphragm condenser mic’s that are included in the mic kit for the overheads (mostly for crash and ride cymbals). The ceiling in that basement was quite low…Roughly about 6 ft. 10 inches (approx. 2.08 metres). Recording acoustic drums presents a lot of challenges. It’s difficult to get the sound that you’re striving for without the proper kit and room. Fortunately, this song doesn’t call for a big , modern drum sound. I don’t recall if the toms had new skins or older skins on them when I did this recording. That may have had an effect on the sound…Also, I seem to remember that my brother dampened all the toms because they tend to really ring a lot and it they’re a nuisance when that happens.
I might post a stereo mix of the acoustic drum tracks here, so time in the future, to see if the members of this forum can advise me on mixing them better (eq adjustment, compression, etc…anything to give them more life). But yeah, it’s primarily the toms that need to be livened up.
Thanks. I like that bass and drum arrangement too. It deviates from the radio friendly, mainstream sound of the song and gives it a bit of a twist.
When you say ‘I would just do the one”, do you mean just do it in half the verse, on just one particular phrase? Maybe the second phrase?
I wanted the harmonies to just lightly compliment the lead vocal in this song. I often bring down my harmonies if I think they change the lead melody too much. I’m sure people would be more impressed with loud harmonies but sometimes even if they’re really ear catching and impressive, they can change the feel of the lead vocal and the song a lot. I had considered having the harmonies louder but I kind of like their subtlety when I was mixing this. Another reason they may be a bit quiet is because I usually prefer to under-do background/ harmony vocals rather than overdo them. I’m the same way with effects, usually.
Glad you like that!
Thanks for taking the time and sharing your thoughts on this, Dan! @danmanisa
Thanks, Jonni! @JonniKELANA
I agree, it shouldn’t matter what it’s classified as. I was interested in knowing how people might classify it because I’m very unsure if this style of song would fit into an album of my harder rock/ metal material. I would expect that many hard rock purists would consider this music
I’m happy that you and Dan liked that part and made a note of it!
I know what you mean. I guess it’s all how you look at it. Sometimes I view it as 2 choruses and sometimes as a pre-chorus and chorus…Or as you sort of implied, you could say the chorus is the first part and the second part is the …sub-chorus…? Terminology and classification drives me crazy, haha!
I probably should do a remix with loud harmonies/background vocals to see if people like it better that way. At some point I’ll probably do that.
Haha! Yeah, I think it could use a solo too, but my reason for not including one was that the song was fairly long as it is…but now that you mention it, I’m reconsidering my choice to not include one!
Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts. Appreciate it!
Very well done @Wicked, reminds me of ELP’s mellower stuff vocally and arrangement wise, I expected some vintage synth lines like they did and the little guitar lick at 4:17 sounds like that a bit. So yeah vintage rock but bordering on pop rock especially with the ma ma line at 4:18 too. 
Thanks for listening and sharing your perspective, @ingolee!
I can see how some synths could compliment this song! I don’t think I had even thought of that before, but I can definitely imagine it here and I think it would be easy enough to implement!
Listening now on my HD600s.
This is a catchy, cool song. Love the vocals. They have a kind of classic, vintage song to it. Solid arrangement. A lot of interesting things, creative changes.
Only thing I got for you in the mix is maybe bring down the subs a smidge. Feels boomy to me in the 64-ish range. Separate but related, bring the bass down a touch and add more high end in the kick. Could use more click or mids.
Arrangement wise, only thing I’d say is prolly fewer repeats. Great hook. My philosophy is that when you have something catchy, don’t overplay it. Better that people can’t get enough of it than that they get too much.
But yeah, guitars are nice. Drums are good. Great vibe. Comfortable to listen to. Just nice song that’s nicely arranged. Nicely recorded.
Thanks for sharing!
Good to know that you and some others can appreciate this song. ‘Vintage” seems like an appropriate term. I like the idea that this has a bit of a 70’s feel.
I’ll give that a listen and maybe make some changes. I can see how the bass may seem a bit loud to others. I tend to ramp up the bass volume on softer songs, especially.
Yes, that’s a great point. I’m thinking of cutting the first chorus in half so that there will be less repetition. Your last sentence, “Better that people can’t get enough of it than they get too much”, is so true!
Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts @Tesgin !