SickthingsUK

I think at least part of the reason is that much of the album is recorded while the band are actually out on the road and so not available to Ezrin.
I *THINK* the way it generally works is that Alice and Bob (and Tommy?) get together and listen to the demos of the songs under consideration, including the stuff written by Alice and others before production starts. Ezrin then goes away and starts recording the album, sending things to Alice on the road for his input.
So basically the band aren't really able to go into the studio while the basic tracks are being recorded, as they could be on the other side of the country or even the world.
That's what I always thought anyway. However the fact Tommy is so involved in the last two albums may suggest I'm wrong.

Of course should Alice and Bob decide it WILL be a band album, they just need to get everyone in the studio for a few weeks mid-tour and the problem is solved, but I don`t think that is how they like to work.
Would be interesting to hear from 'the horses mouth' (ie Ezrin) how it does actually all work.

kevinuk81 wrote:When was the last Alice album to have just his band playing? No 'guests', no ex ACG members?

http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/content.p ... a-eyes.php

Still not exclusively the band is it? There are others on there.

kevinuk81 wrote:

kevinuk81 wrote:When was the last Alice album to have just his band playing? No 'guests', no ex ACG members?

http://www.sickthingsuk.co.uk/content.p ... a-eyes.php

Still not exclusively the band is it? There are others on there.

I think you'll find there are other musicians on EVERY album in some form or another, including the band albums.

Si wrote:

pitkin88 wrote:Could someone please post the writing credits.

Now - on the Paranormal page in the discography.
I'm adding the musician credits now so they will be up soon as well. It's hard to read them in the booklet with my aging eyesight!!

Thank you. It's great to see Cooper/Dunaway as those are two great cuts. Odd that Michael didn't have a song that made it. Hopefully the other recorded songs will turm up at some point.

Wow I'm actually really surprised that the original band had a slightly bigger role on this album than originally advertised. Nice to see Steve Hunter on here as well.

This one is odd. Arguably the worst song on the album has a bunch of writing credits. Anyone know who these guys are:
Holy Water (Cooper, Demaree IV, Tucker, Monyhan, Bernauer, Mclaughlin, Richards, Ezrin

Bob Ezrin has never put a premium on using band members, even when they were real bonafide bands.

In fact, you could probably argue he's helped sow the seeds of discontent within some pretty big bands by preferring to use sessions guys on material.

pitkin88 wrote:This one is odd. Arguably the worst song on the album has a bunch of writing credits. Anyone know who these guys are:
Holy Water (Cooper, Demaree IV, Tucker, Monyhan, Bernauer, Mclaughlin, Richards, Ezrin

That eight people are credited with such a dreadful song is laughable. I would imagine the omission of the touring band (bar TH), is down to BE. I get the feeling that if he said "jump", Alice would say "How high?".

Looks like Pretties For You is the only one using just band members.

Personally, I don't get it, use the band members and don't bring in guests just because they may be available or a friend of someone.

This album makes me wish Alice would just stick to Hollywood Vampires for recording or find a new producer that will make an album sound good. Fireball, Rats, Public Private Breakdown, and You And All Your Friends could have been great songs, but Ezrin makes them unbearable for me. The rest of the album is Denander stealing ideas from other artists that he dreams of being like except for Holy Water. That atrocity is in a category of it's own that came from the Villebillies. You can find their version on the album of the same name from 2016. Alice and Ezrin should be ashamed of covering such a stupid rap group.

The original Holy Water https://youtu.be/Wjq19_THqQ4 Why would they want to include a cover of this, instead of another ACG song?

concolz wrote:The original Holy Water https://youtu.be/Wjq19_THqQ4 Why would they want to include a cover of this, instead of another ACG song?

Whoa. Usually Coop reworks songs by artists that are not widely available on their own. He might have rewritten the lyrics, but this still qualifies as a cover.

However, I wouldn't say it ruins the AC version for me.

I am enjoying the album more with each listen.

Anybody notice the "easter eggs"? ....AC song references are throughout the album...."lace", "billion dollar baby", "desperado", "poison", "stud" (this makes me think of "damned if you do")...."love it to death", and "no man's land"

there may be more....

kevinuk81 wrote:Looks like Pretties For You is the only one using just band members.

Personally, I don't get it, use the band members and don't bring in guests just because they may be available or a friend of someone.

Your original post is as follows:

"When was the last Alice album to have just his band playing? No 'guests', no ex ACG members?"

Since you'd included the ACG in your exclusion, I didn't mention Pretties For You. If I wanted to be a real stickler, Levity Ball has some audience members on it as well as an accidental string section.

Is Paranormal better than W2MN? No.

While it shines in most places, it falls flat in others. Paranormal is a fair to midland, paint by numbers record that's heavy on the Christian undertones. Basically it's a mixture of Lace and Whiskey and Zipper Catches Skin. It's an uninspired album that doesn't really go anywhere.

The last time I went into an Alice effort with the words "Let's just get this over with" was 2005 when Dirty Diamonds was released. Thankfully the tour for that record was alot more stellar than the album itself. Sadly, I don't think it'll be the case for Paranormal. I'm predicting one song to be in the setlist and that's it.

Luckily I had no expectations going into Paranormal, so I'm not disappointed. The absolute tragedy of it all is that there will sadly be another Hollywood Vampires album to follow this up.

2/10

Spettro wrote:Paranormal is a fair to midland, paint by numbers record that's heavy on the Christian undertones.

I've noticed that too, but I think it works very well for the record, considering the title, and that many songs deal with characters facing down death or devils. The Nashville flavor makes the religious themes feel even more at home.

Moreover, Alice being a Christian, those lyrics feel more personal and honest, which to my ears is very refreshing. He's pushing 70. If he wants to sing about God, I am not going to stand in his way. I'm just grateful that he gave us this record.

Good point. And the same things can be said of W2MN. I don't begrudge the man for his beliefs.

Spettro wrote:Is Paranormal better than W2MN? No.

While it shines in most places, it falls flat in others. Paranormal is a fair to midland, paint by numbers record that's heavy on the Christian undertones. Basically it's a mixture of Lace and Whiskey and Zipper Catches Skin. It's an uninspired album that doesn't really go anywhere.

The last time I went into an Alice effort with the words "Let's just get this over with" was 2005 when Dirty Diamonds was released. Thankfully the tour for that record was alot more stellar than the album itself. Sadly, I don't think it'll be the case for Paranormal. I'm predicting one song to be in the setlist and that's it.

Luckily I had no expectations going into Paranormal, so I'm not disappointed. The absolute tragedy of it all is that there will sadly be another Hollywood Vampires album to follow this up.

2/10

I think this kicks WTMN squarely in the arse. Best album since TEOAC.

Pitkin88 wrote:
I think this kicks WTMN squarely in the arse. Best album since TEOAC


I second that emoticon.

I think it is slightly better than W2MN and ACAS, but Dirty Diamonds and Eyes both trump this album. This album is laden with polish and terrible effects to smooth any chance of the album actually rocking. Ezrin needs to get out of Nashville and learn what rock n' roll is again instead of making standard Nashville fare out of good musicians and bands.