Hello everyone,
It's thank you time to all who took the time and trouble to listen and comment/make suggestions.
So much going on here - love the way you cut the instrumentation to pure percussion and bass, the slide is great too. As well Greg Lake I hear Dave Gilmour in your voice, this song would sit easy in Rattle That Lock. Beautifully played and produced.
Thank you Bill - some very flattering comparisons. The playing and production is the result of many hours of repeated failure finally standing in for ability.
Oops, I thought I'd already commented on this but apparently not.
Wow! This is my kind of music and it has it all. Beautiful and poetic lyrics, arrangement, instrumentation, playing and everything. Your vocals are perfect for it and the slide in the latter part just knocked me out. Damn, I need to get back to practise my slide playing.
Very impressive songwriting and performance.
Really great stuff!
Cheers,
S
S - you are a gentleman sir. I appreciate your warm words.
Great concept and loved the organ and guitar (slide?). The bird theme is nicely worked in too.
Sometimes I thought the BVs were a little too constant and you might have let them come and go a bit more. One thing that struck me in the lyrics were all the rhymes which I thought weren't always needed - for an edgy and dramatic song perhaps some more off balance rhymes or no rhymes could add to the tension?
But the atmosphere and build seem really effective and really tell the story. Great sounding track.
Hi Adam,
The slide guitar is actually a resophonic slide guitar or dobro which wood bodied and played lapstyle with fingerpicks and a metal bar. I'm not sure about it rhyming too well - is that possible? Anyhow, glad you liked the track.
Hey Monty.
Good work on this one - a super set of lyrics. If I had to be super critical I thought that there was going to be a "bird" symbolism all the way through - we had dove, ravens, and blue-jays right at the beginning, then no more birds (chorus aside). Nothing wrong with that, it just felt like something was going to happen lyrically and then it didn't.
I can't criticise the music, the playing, or the song - all very good. But it just feels a little too nice to me. I'm a sucker for lyrics about floods and sanctifying preachers and floods but I like to hear the grit and hell-fire and feel the shiver of the ghosts. I think the beautiful harmonies and lush guitar add to this niceness - for example, the percussion only section is spot on vocally, but I want to be scared and moved at that moment, rather than reassured. But it's a very personal opinion and the whole thing is very professionally written, recorded, and produced.
Cheers
Derek
Hi Derek,
Thanks for listening. TBH this is the most threatening and aggressive piece of music I can come up with and I thought the menace of the slide at the beginning along with the pounding bass and heavy drums was quite effective - ho hum!
Hi Alan - what? Drums in a montydog song? No way! 
Sounds good to me - like the big feel to this and of course the guitar work and vocals.
Lyrically good too - except for one tiny spot - adding "bird" after the word "raven" seemed like it was overstating the obvious 
but prob just me
That nit aside I enjoyed the listen - your CD must be damn good if this is the standard on it.
Paul
Hi Paul and thanks for the comments - I've had drums on most of my tracks for the last couple of years - you really must pay more attention :-)
Hi Alan, I feel you are being more adventurous in your writing and arrangements which I like. The chord structures go into territory that is new for you and the only slight nit for me is that your vocals sound a little uncertain in areas!?That's a surprise for me as your vocals are normally spot on.....But I really like the direction you're moving in.
Nice one!
Cheers
Jamie
Thanks Jamie. You are perceptive about the vocals - the first line took me around 40 takes to get to that standard. It was a bloody nightmare! It's not perfect but it's as good aas I could do. I'm pleased you liked the track and that you have noticed that I am trying to ring the changes.
Yo Alan.
Your songs are like fine wine,man,you just get better and better. 
Epic in a King Crimson way,when Greg Lake was the singer...just BIG.
This is the second song recently that has the dark vibe of Lindisfarne's Lady Eleanor,the other was TheButcher's last song.
Lovely,tasteful slide sets the theme perfectly. It blew me away and it's on my playlist.
Masterful job by Boydie in bringing out the best,everything is crystal clear and defined.
Ta for the share Alan.
Skub - I'm knocked out that you added the song to your playlist - I really appreciate your comments as I know we share similar taste in music. King Crimson is a comparison I've not heard before - I'll add it to the list. Many thanks.
I love the way youre getting adventurous & developing your sound Allan & your lyrical themes have realy moved on ...i dont think Noah was a american hobo
if this is already on your cd then I better be careful suggesting improvements ,I dont want you burning 200 cds because of me!
I liked the organ ...wasnt so keen on the backing vocals & absolutely adored the dobro with the reverb ..that was fabulous & I can see dave gilmour getting one after hearing this
I was going to say at 5.04 it was too long but im worried about the burning plastics effect on the atmosphere so I wont mention it ok
Hi Tina,
Don't worry about the CDs getting burned - even though I can't make changes at this stage, all the comments are taken on board and come into play on the next recordings.
You're the second person who has compared the slide playing to David Gilmour which is frankly crazy - the guy is a God and I'm just scratching at the surface. I'm pleased that you like the move away from the lonely hobo theme. Very few of my songs are about that but once the pigeon hole has been constructed......
Great intro Alan...! Something really different from you here...I really like the atmosphere and rhythm guitars...it all comes together really well. The organ is also tasteful and adds another great layer...and then the bass and omg...the slide solo!!!! In other words, it all sounds fantastically original and well...cool.
Good subject matter as well...wonderful stuff.
Thank you Martyn - I appreciate your comments on the atmosphere and the playing. I put more time into this track than anything I've ever recorded so it's encouraging to hear that it's paid off.
Hi Alan,
All of your songs seem to be very well thought out and crafted. I love the intro which just draws you in gently to the story. There is some lovely guitar and love the organ in the background. Another very good song. As usual, great vocals
Thanks, pompeyjazz. Your comments on my songwriting are appreciated very much. I'm glad you liked the intro - I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out.
Alan,
One of my favourite tracks, I like the power and imagery. There's the repeating motif, your trademark stops, and although it's mainly acoustic it has a rockier feel to it, and it's all topped off by your lap steel.
Nice one
Neil
Thanks Neil - always great to hear your thoughts. I think the rockier feel is probably down to the galloping bass and drums which sets the tone.
Wow....I get the honor to post first!!
Hi Alan......first off, I get the cool Bowie vibe from the music, almost immediately
And you vocal rings of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer music........neat stuff!
The harmonizing vocal is really good, and spot on.....Love it. The whole song is something to listen to again and again.
Good stuff, man!
-Tom
Tom - many thanks. Your positive comments mean a lot as I think you're one of the best musicians on this forum. You're the second person to mention ELP which is just so weird it's not true!
Once again, thank you everybody.
M
