Purple Reign Poll - My Love is Forever

[GlennCase]

Vote for your favorite "My Love is Forever" Purple Reign submission.

Feel free to talk about the songs in this thread until we're smart enough to create our own message board.

Votes will be tallied until roughly 11:59 PM (PST) on December 15th, 2007. The songs with the highest vote count from each title will be featured on purpletapes.com as the "voter's picks" on (or around) December 16th, 2007.

The compositions with the four highest vote counts will be featured on the purpletapes.com myspace account unless an artist that created one of the top four doesn't want it on Myspace.

ROCK!

Glenn Case

[j$]

Roymond - I love your song but it's so ... odd ... at places, mainly when you do that anti-falsetto! It's almost like a melody from a musical at times, only played by XTC, then it all goes proggy. Creepy - if that's what you were after - congrats! 'A future of hallmark cards and romances' is a great phrase. Also great 'loudhailer' effect on the vocal during the breakdown. Ah, it's a good song.

Lights Of A Fire - I can't decide whether the mix is fantastic or rubbish. It's certainly different! Like the lead synth work as the chorus- Apart from a couple of words here and there - 'adjectives' for instance - I find most of the lyric hard to decipher. Still although the vocals are alittle loose from each other they work really well together. - I like the build up to the powerful ending and great percussion by the end as well - but quite frankly you could cut a minute and a half out of thebeginning and still achieve the same effect. From the extended instrumental section c.3.10ish this is fabulous and I kind of wish you had got there sooner.

Timmy The Tapeworm - My LEF is forever? (sorry old time sf injoke). Sorry I listened for a minute and a half for something else to happen, and then gave up, so if it all builds up to a clever hilarious pay-off, you lost me long before then.

Wages - nice melody for the most part (thought the chorus is a little flat maybe? 'My hate is December'? I think I know what you mean, but it's a bit pat, seeing as it doesn't really rhyme with 'forever' anyway) I like the backing vocals, keep it sounding fresh, but this feels to me like a demo for a good song, rather than a completed one, if I am being brtually honest (and when haven't I been?)

CLMG - great 80s electro feel - the backing track is too quiet in the mix though, so that things like the electronic percussion and particularly the wayward lead vocal sound very exposed, and that's not a good thing. Great lead guitar, and though I don't personally like the glib spoken response I can see how it works for the song (although the call and response appraoch draws attention to the vocal even further). i am sorry but I must admit I didn't get to the end of the song, the combination of the above just kept drawing my attention to the vocal, and while I like the nasty rough tone, it is just find it a little wince-worthy to listen to. I usually don't mind off-key singing and yours isn't that off key but on this song ti just makes me want to turn the song off after about a minute. And I did try four times to listen the whole thing. Sorry!

EDIT: Oh yeah, meant to say, Pinky & The Truscaderos is me. Nothing much to say except I'm very happy with how it came out, after all the travails I had during its construction.

[Niveous]

"My Love is Forever" Reviews

Pinky and the Tuscaderos: The intro is classic. Great bassline to this song but I can do without all the la-la's. The song is lyrically empty. It's a fun tune but it doesn't hold my interest.

Roymond: I like how the percussion comes in after the first verse. The guitar have a great tone to them. I'm not fond of the bridge at all. It's a weak spot in a strong song. Does it ruin the whole? No. But I do begin to lose interest there.

Lights of a Fire: There's a vocal harmony there but it keeps popping in and falling back out. It needs to either stay or go. The unrelenting cymbal is unnerving. The vocals need to be stronger and there needs to be more to the drums. The "well maybe not" has got to go. It detached me from the whole song. Good keyboard solo. The song runs a little long.

Wages: This is a nice song. The hate is December line is ugly as sin but there are other parts of the song that make up for it. Some of the "for...ever"s need some work. But all in all, this is enjoyable. A good example of g^2.

Timmy the Tapeworm: These songs are fun to look at on Windows Media Player. But this one is way too repetitive for a 3 minute song.

Chopped Liver Meat God: The song starts much like Michael Jackson's Beat It. The spoken word parts are not fun. I would like the song a lot more without them. Without those parts, I adore the song.

Tough choice. My vote goes to Roymond, edging out CLMG.

[roymond]

Pinky and the Tuscaderos - I dig the 80s synth bass and lots of shaky percussion. The lyric doesn't go anywhere so it leaves me unmoved, and the parts are sort of tossed together. I like the vocal stylings and if not cohesive in the end it's listenable in a radio-playing-in-the-garage sort of way. or at least it would have been in 1987.

Lights of a Fire - nice sonic intro! Yummy. Vocals are so off but I really want them to be on, even if pitch correction was used, because the tone and delivery is cool. Lyric are enticing in the oblique way I enjoy lyric to be. Certainly a more effective break than mine. This trance disco would be great on the ski slopes. If we ever get any snow. Nicely done.

Wages - Empty lyric and circularly so. No wonder the song doesn't do anything to support it. I always want to know you've sat and pondered lyrics before you pick up the guitar. Really think about saying something and write some prose. Then worry about strumming along to it, block out the chords and pacing. Then work on strumming in a complimentary way. I don't at all get the sense that you do this, and I also don't think songs come to you in any form with any meaning attached. This isn't how I generally do it either, but I think it might be an appropriate approach to grow your music.

Chopped Liver Meat God - Who knew Time Life Entertainment would be selling yet another 80s alternative disco compilation? Cute lyric and tongue in cheek delivery go together well. Would this survive Wages' audio reviews? Maybe I missed those. Comparing love with a long-lasting gum is fun. I kind of wish I had dated more girls that would have been compared in that way. Sort of. Nice chorus and I like the open sound to the arrangement/production.

roymond - I tried to write about being dumped by a girl who bugged me all summer to say I Love You, but once I said it she left. Well, I meant it (kinda) so at that point it was too large an investment to just go away. Not autobiographical, just another tragic tale of youth's seriousness amongst being totally lost to everything. I completely forgot about cymbals and had some hand percussion to layer in but the deadline came crashing down before that got done. Had fun arranging the string quartet though. Perhaps a remix is waiting...

[Wages]

Wages - Empty lyric and circularly so. No wonder the song doesn't do anything to support it. I always want to know you've sat and pondered lyrics before you pick up the guitar. Really think about saying something and write some prose. Then worry about strumming along to it, block out the chords and pacing. Then work on strumming in a complimentary way. I don't at all get the sense that you do this, and I also don't think songs come to you in any form with any meaning attached. This isn't how I generally do it either, but I think it might be an appropriate approach to grow your music.

I know what you mean, and permit me to expound. Now to this next statement I realize most will say "then don't write the song", but whaddayagunnado? In order to write as many songs as I do, I must approach songwriting from various perspectives. Besides the subject matter and using storytelling rather than personal experience and mixing storytelling with experience, I also mean my actual approach to creating the song. Sometimes I write lyrics that are meaningful to me and that I truly hone, but other times, like in this song, I kind of improv lyrics, pick what I like, rework or totally replace what I don't. Or I might improv a single line (or sets of lines) then write the entire song around whatever that seems to mean to me, and then finish the music/melody.

Now if you are talking about when I seem to have way too many (or few) words for the melody, that is really the influence that Bob Dylan has had on me. I've been playing Positively 4th Street and Jokerman a lot in particular and they both have that folksy unevenness. I see it as dynamics and the lyrics allowing for my full meaning. Though, I will be the first to admit that sometimes its just clunky, and maybe it comes down to I'm no Dylan.

Admittedly, I did not feel very inspired by the song, though I did come up with part of the chorus immediately when I saw the title however weak it may be lyrically. I should think a little deeper when writing my lyrics. I'll try to focus more on that. Thanks!

[roymond]

Yeah, some can say a lot with a little. You're no Dylan. Dylan labored over words a lot. Not that he crafted things over and over again, but he wrote a lot outside of his lyric and wrote about lots of things. Then when the songs happened...they happened because of all this other stuff. And he was special.

I go on with you because you obviously like to write A LOT (as covered elsewhere) but I think you COULD write great stuff if you worked on it. Then the music would get better because somehow when music has to carry meaning it becomes much more important itself.

[j$]

Pinky and the Tuscaderos - I dig the 80s synth bass and lots of shaky percussion. The lyric doesn't go anywhere so it leaves me unmoved, and the parts are sort of tossed together. I like the vocal stylings and if not cohesive in the end it's listenable in a radio-playing-in-the-garage sort of way.
..

I expected a lot 'empty lyric' comments about this song, (mainly beczause there there are only four lines). After recording a wordy version, and being unhappy with it, I decided to experiment with using the vocal as another instrument, rather than having anything to say particularly, to see if I could break out of the SF stereotype (perceived by me anyway) that I write better lyrics than music. Also I totally wrote this to shake my ass to in some fictional club that would play it.

It's also weird how despite the Moog synth line, and going for Stevie Wonder c. superstition, the bass end came out sounding like Gary Numan. I really have no natural rhythm, obviously!

However the more I hear this song, the more I think this is a classic and you are all idiots

Anyone who wants to hear the punkier, vaguely Joy Division-y original, with a reasonable lyric, can do so by clicking this link: http://www.johnnycashpoint.com/songs/mlif_pinky.mp3

j$

PS "listenable in a radio-playing-in-the-garage sort of way or at least it would have been in 1987." way to damn with faint praise! At least that's ten years later than I usually get - i must be advancing

[Wages]

I go on with you because you obviously like to write A LOT (as covered elsewhere) but I think you COULD write great stuff if you worked on it. Then the music would get better because somehow when music has to carry meaning it becomes much more important itself.

You are completely right. Most of my lyrics are just first drafts, but if I just reflected on them and re-worked some portions, that alone would make a big difference. I will try to take this to heart. I've just got to win over my mind's patience to do it. You really said it best, "when music has to carry meaning it becomes much more important itself".

[roymond]

Anyone who wants to hear the punkier, vaguely Joy Division-y original, with a reasonable lyric, can do so by clicking this link: http://www.johnnycashpoint.com/songs/mlif_pinky.mp3

<b>Punky and the Passoveros</b> - Always into your vocal treatments, and the plunky piano here does well countering the swishy phase shifted trans-Atlanticisms. The baby... verses are what killed the early 80s for me, but at least I won't accuse you of drifting towards the next century

[sausage boy]

Chopped Liver Meat God: I like this, perhaps not enough to slot it into regular rotation on the mp3 player, but it has qualities I enjoy. The thin drums, the kind of too and fro lyrics.

Lights of a Fire: I like the keyboard/synth solo and the drums that come in. The rest is a little same same the whole way through, almost bordering on monotonous droning.

Pinky and the Tuscaderos: Its repetitive. Its got faux string arrangements. Its got big drums. Its overtly poppy. Of course I like it. If I send you the 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah's from my So Blue, would you do a version where they replace the La la la la's in this song? I can't see it making an improvement, but it would be hilarious.

Roymond: I think this is one of my favourite songs I have heard from you. The whole thing seems really well thought out and put together. Pinky just edges it out by being more poppy, but take solace in that I totally sympathise with this.

Timmy the Tapeworm: What can I say that hasn't been said before? Genius! No, that would be a lie, though it hasn't been said before. I am interested to see if you attempt to win some support in the next round of songs now that you know the direction everyone else is taking.

Wages: Seriously dude, I know about the whole idea/concept/demo song idea behind these but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I am bias, though. I can only take so much g^2 songs.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I voted for Sr. Roymondo.

[Wages]

Incredible job Roymond! This might be the best song of the entered songs. Definitely got my vote.

[Lord of Oats]

Pinky and the Tuscaderos - This is Cashpoint, I understand? Before it was even mentioned in this thread, I recognized those skanky guitars from Pumpkin Face. Second best song of the entire competition. Unfortunately, it's also in the title with the best song. Damnit, man. If I could use my nine votes any way I wanted, I'd give five to Roymond and four to this. But apparently, I have one to split between the two. So, as much as it pains me to do so, I can't give it to this. This has a wonderful, bouncy, fun quality to it. But the other is an epic song of greatness that will go down in history as such.

roymond - Well, see above, I guess. Hands down, the best song of all fifty. Nice work. I love when the drums and bass come in. Snare reminds me of Satriani's "Not of this Earth," title track from his first album. I really like that this is so unique, but not at the expense of being good. I could see Adrian Belew doing something like this, but not exactly this. It blends elements of his style in a way he doesn't even do.

Lights of a fire - Instrumentals are good, if a bit static. The vocals don't really seem to measure up. This is somewhere between alright and pretty good, overall, a decent listen, but it hardly competes against the two above.

Wages - Your vocals seem off in the chorus. I remember you being more in tune in the demo you sent me than in the recording you submitted. It's a secret that your love is forever? Your hate is December? What are you talking about? And you're the one telling people to put the pipe down. I like the reverb. Yeah, this is alright, man. But like I said, those other two can't be beat.

Chopped Liver Meat God - Yeah, this came out alright, actually. The synth could be louder. Lead guitar is better at the end than the beginning. You should have waited for it, Cashy. Vocals somehow sound mouthy and roughy guttural simultaneously. Weird. Whatev. This is pretty middle of the road, as far as CLMG songs go.

Vote goes to roymond, duh.