NEW ALBUM

[loungefly90]

All that said, I absolutely love The Art of Letting Go and Finest Hour on this album.  They stand out most for me right now.  Has there been any indication from anyone in STP world if Finest Hour is a tribute to Scott or Chester or both or someone else?


Was glad to see and got a little steamy-eyed reading the liner notes that the band dedicated the album to Scott & Chester.  And that Jeff thanked both Chester & Scott in his personal notes.  Got REALLY steamy-eyed reading along to Finest Hour the first time.

 

I for sure want to be clear that Finest Hour is my absolute favorite song on this album and with each few songs I am showing new fans, some people like Meadow, others like The Art of Letting Go, and others like Just A Little Lie, which is terrific. However, I am not 100% convinced that Finest Hour is a blatant tribute to Scott, Chester, or both specifically. I would like to think this, and while it is certainly possible, people on these threads have been attempting to make tribute comparisons since Meadow, which I think is a huge stretch. Obviously, this is a tribute of some kind, but my point is that Jeff has lived for 40 years outside of STP. Couldn’t the lyrics have something to do with a friend of his that passed away early?

From the recent AltWire interview:


AW: In listening to the record, I felt ‘Finest Hour’ in many ways lyrically seemed like it could be about Chester or Scott. Am I correct in my interpretation of the lyrics and did the loss of your former bandmates factor lyrically into the album?

Robert DeLeo: Yes, it is. It’s a serious nod and prayer to the people who are partly responsible for us being here. There are a lot of emotions put into this record and I think that Jeff did a great job coming up with things lyrically. We’re really pleased with where he brought the song together as a whole, and there’s definitely a sentiment there for Scott and Chester in ‘Finest Hour’.

Never saw that. I stand corrected! I always hoped we would get more of what we had already gotten tribute-wise, something more concrete. This is really fitting and seems to have hit everyone on this forum the same way. The response for the song has been overwhelmingly positive and with great reason!

[DankoJones]

Is there a dedication line to Chester and Scott in the liner notes? Seen something over weekend online, not sure if its true.

[EyesOfDisarray]

Is there a dedication line to Chester and Scott in the liner notes? Seen something over weekend online, not sure if its true.

Yes, the last sentence in the liner notes is a dedication to Scott and Chester.

[DankoJones]

Is there a dedication line to Chester and Scott in the liner notes? Seen something over weekend online, not sure if its true.

Yes, the last sentence in the liner notes is a dedication to Scott and Chester.

Cool, thanks. Still haven't had the chance to get the physical copy yet. Stuck with streaming but.

On a side note, I'm really digging Good Shoes

[Pingfah]

Yeah I like Good Shoes too. It comes out of the gate like straight up filler, but by the end of the track it is totally rocking, and bursting with ideas.

[JugeSTP]

My least favorite tun is Six Eight I think. I just don't like the main riff. Parts of the song are cool, though. I predicted Good Shoes would be awful based on the title but I kinda like it. Love what Robert did with that song.

Finest Hour is super cool. I like the ballads better than the hard rockers on this album in general.

Really surprised how many of you hate Never Enough. Definitely my favorite rocker on the album. It's so good! And the first bonus track is super cool.

[DankoJones]

I dig Never Enough, but I vision Scott with how Jeff's vocals start off the song

[loungefly611]

After multiple listens in my car over the weekend, I have a few thoughts....

Absolutely LOVE Middle to Nowhere! Definitely a Sucker Train Blues feel to it. LOVE Dean's solo! Dare I say my favorite STP album opener since Down.

Not really feeling Guilty or Just a Little Lie at the moment. But I DO like Six Eight. Jeff really stands on out this one, and I think it would be KILLER live!

It seems like the overwhelming majority feels that Thought She'd Be Mine is one of the stand out tracks, and I agree.

I admit, I only listened to Roll Me Under and Never Enough once or twice on Spotify. They sounded good, but nothing stuck. MUCH DIFFERENT experience in the car! Roll Me Under is a great rocker, and I love the swagger on Never Enough. These two tracks could have easily been tracks one and two on this album, but I'm fine with their placement.

When you get goosebumps from hearing a song, you know that it's something special. The Art of Letting Go gives me chills.

Finest Hour is a nice tribute to the fallen STP brothers. Good Shoes is a solid track, and I LOVE hearing Dean let loose on Red & Blues.

As far as the bonus cuts go, Forget Forever is VERY catchy. It partly reminds me of Silversun Pickups 'Lazy Eye.' Absolutely LOVE this track!


So initial reactions are definitely positive. Dig it more than High Rise. At the moment, I rank it higher then the first s/t.

Does anyone else think that the album could be flip flopped? Swap tracks 1-6 for 7-12? Start the album with Roll Me Under and close with Thought She'd Be Mine? Overall, I think the second half is stronger than the first half of the album.

[seattlesound]

^^^hearing roll me under in the car is what put it over for me too.

[Slither]

Warming up a bit to certain songs a few listens in, most notably Six Eight and Just a Little Lie. Still think they're two of the more mediocre tracks on the album, but they're not terrible. Also starting to come around to Never Enough. It's incredible how much Jeff sounds like Scott here, almost sounds like something he would've put down for the initial S/T sessions.

Does anyone else think that the album could be flip flopped? Swap tracks 1-6 for 7-12?

I mentioned this in my initial review, agreed the track listing could have been done better. I'd swap Guilty with Never Enough and Thought She'd Be Mine with Just A Little Lie. That way the album gets off to a REAL rockin start and you still get a catchy ballad by track 4. Also removes the transition of Thought She'd Be Mine into Roll Me Under, which is a bit awkward.

Production is still a nuisance for me. 3 spots where this is most apparent -

Verses of Middle of Nowhere
The kick into the chorus of Guilty
The kick into the second part of the chorus of  Never Enough "Now you tell me..."

The vocals should pop a LOT more than they do in these moments, instead it kinda gets hammered by the rest of the mix, particularly Eric's cymbals. I think the production is fine on the more stripped down songs, i.e. Thought She'd Be Mine, but again I think this is a spot having Brendan around could have really helped.

Don't wanna be too nitpicky, since we are dealing with extraordinary circumstances and the fact this album even exists and is as good as it is is somewhat of a minor miracle.

[Flyingmerpa]

...instead it kinda gets hammered by the rest of the mix, particularly Eric's cymbals. I think the production is fine on the more stripped down songs, i.e. Thought She'd Be Mine, but again I think this is a spot having Brendan around could have really helped.

I agree here.  Two noticeable trends in the mixing I noticed on this record are
-Eric lays on his crash cymbal for a bunch of songs, where on previous records it was usually his ride (particularly on choruses)
-Even though STP are known for layering guitar, much like Jimmy Page, this album seems to do it in abundance and all the guitars seem to be fighting each other in the mix.  To me it just sounds like a jumbled mess of guitars and I can't pick out the dominant guitar part, and they seem low in the mix when Eric's crashes come in.

[Sklashboombash]

I’ve been absorbing the record for the last few days. It’s bittersweet for me. On one hand, I’m happy to hear this sound again. I’ve always loved this band and am very happy to see them making music again. On the other hand, it kind of reopens that wound that Scott is indeed gone and never coming back. That’s just me though.

That aside, I think it’s a very good rock album. Vocally, I think Jeff has enough Scott-isms to make it sound familiar. Some moments the resemblance is uncanny. While some folks might use that as a criticism, I actually appreciate it. I wouldn’t want STP to sound like a vastly different band vocally. The writing is quality as well, especially for the first go-around with Jeff. I hope this incarnation lasts and brings us more music. I also hope they consider working with an outside producer next time. Ideally, Brendan, but if not, there are other guys out there that could be cool, ie: Dave Cobb or someone like that.

As has been said, I’d shuffle the order a bit, but that’s their call of course. The cool thing about digital media is that we can sort it any way we like.

I was waiting for a song to blow me away, and upon first listen it didn’t really do that, but after repeated listens, this indeed has a very classic STP sound all over the album. I can see some of these finding their place in the STP pantheon.

The “ballads” are always great. “The Art of Letting Go” and “Thought She’d Be Mine” especially being top dog. Dean’s solos on those two are his best in a long while. I love his work on “Six Eight” too. Surprised more folks haven’t jumped all over that.

There are only a couple songs that I can take or leave, like Guilty and Good Shoes…meh. They’re just there. I would take the bonus tracks over those. But anyway, overall, this is more than solid. It’s an encouraging return.

It’s easy to give Jeff grief because of the “contestant” angle, but I’m beyond that. In today’s music biz, he was just trying to do what he could to get noticed. I don’t fault him for it. I hope fans give these songs an unbiased listen. They are more than deserving of it.

[leocal79]

I would say Bob Ezrin could work on the next album he did the Army of Anyone Record

[Stop That Pigeon]

Got my Best Buy edition today. North Hollywood to Central Scotland in under 3 working days, sweet.

I have to say, I'm not hearing any production/mixing issues. It sounds great on the Sony system in the kitchen, it sounds great in the car. Separation is there, no problem with the levels. Maybe a little muddy on "Good Shoes" but that does happen with shoes haha. And STP needs a little dirt in the mix, High Rise was way too clean imo.


I just need to get used to having a record that has a thanks to Simon Cowell in the sleeve notes. Never thought that would have happened.

[RA]

I thought Dean really brought it on the entire record. Most inspired he has sounded in years.