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arrangement, and emotions the different parts transmit. But is
it memorable, does it have a clear mass appeal?
The Easteighteen sound is a mature mix of well expressed musical
ideas and feelings. The use of instruments supports the style and
creates a powerful environment. It is impressive how well defined
the different parts sound. It is Rock, it is real, and you can breathe
and live it. That happens because lyrics and music have the same
strength and emotions. So cohesive that they are one thing - "Victor"!
And the above is valid for each of the song parts.
Although the sound is impressive I cannot say the same about the
mass appeal. I cannot feel it. The numerous listens would confirm
the excellent musicianship and sound (that I feel after the first
listen), but don't make me "hooked". Every single part
of the track has a bit of mass appeal by itself. But as a whole
it is not perceivable.
Why does that happen? Is something missing or something is too
much? There might be different answers:
1. There isn't a well defined and emphasized guitar (or other instrument)
riff to guide the listener;
2. Too many Verses and not enough Choruses;
3. The Chorus shows up too late in the track.
Definitely fixing any of the above will greatly contribute to the
song's mass appeal. And working on all of the above will make the
song a hit.
From my experience with "Fallen" (available
here) I know that Easteighteen is able to create powerful riffs.
Use them! Here's a simple formula: Riffs = good, no Riff = not good.
Use them on the Verse, and use them on Chorus. With a song you have
no more than 1 minute to capture the listener's attention. You have
a few tools to use and the Riff is one that any Rock track should
have!
You might want to combine points 2 and 3 in one only solution:
Eliminate the too many Verses before the Chorus. So a good place
for the Chorus could be no later after the second Verse.
You can choose to get rid of the 2nd or 3rd Verse (Lyrics are strong
enough and will not lose significance). And since it is never to
early to start the Chorus (if looking for radiofriendly sound) you
can give the listener a taste of it before the 1st Verse. Just take
with guitar only the Chorus' last line melody "No it might
not be so bad" and let it fade out at "bad". If you
need color, a light cymbal roll will do the work. Then when the
Chorus comes after the second Verse the listener will be happy to
recognize the melody - "Hey, I know this already".
Now you have to re-consider how many Verses you'll need after the
first Chorus (I don't think you need to add the one you subtracted
before the Chorus). But you definitely must use the Chorus at least
twice before the end.
Another thing that would improve the Chorus' life - assuming that
you perform it twice before the end, sing the last line "…might
not be so bad" with ba-ad going up instead of down. That is
mi-fa (E-F) instead of mi-re (E-D) - on the second Chorus, not on
the third.
With that said - remember that you have a strong Chorus, you just
need to repeat it properly, and add those memorable Riffs. Make
"Victor" a success, not only musically but commercially.
Anton Tontchev
for MSSVision.com - 08/23/2005
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