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Tale of the Shadow

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refusedrevival

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« on: December 15, 2016, 07:58:06 PM »
Hi,

It's a long time since I last posted. "Tale of the Shadow" is something what we have been recording some time. The story is a fairy tale by Danish writer H.C Andersen 1847.
Yes, I know ... this is a long long song.



All and any feedback is as always very much appreciated.

Tale of the Shadow

Part 1
Verse 1:
once upon a time there was a writer
who wrote about beautiful things
he was young as well as clever
and this is how the tale begins

He used to sit and watch his shadow
to stretch itself against the wall
sometimes it was almost invisible
sometimes it grew strong and tall

Verse 2:
There was a strange house
on the opposite side of the street
flowers stood in the balcony,
blooming beautifully in the heat

nobody was to be seen there
since the writer arrived
but every night delightful music
could be heard coming from inside

Verse 3:
The writer said to his shadow:
"Step in the house and look around
tomorrow come back and
tell me what you have found"

When the morning brought the sunrise
The truth came with the light
The mirror told him the magic
he had lost his shadow overnight

Verse 4:
years passed by, until one night
a gentle tap was heard at the door
A well dressed stranger said
"Don't you recognize me anymore?"

The shadow had a body of flesh,
and good looking clothes to wear
Life had been good to him,
he had gold everywhere

Part 2
Verse 5:
The shadow offered money and said
"I want to purchase my freedom"
The writer replied as he turned away
"just go, you don't need a reason"

The shadow grew richer and fatter
the years went by, time just fell away
while the writer grew poorer and paler
and he got sicker and sicker every day

Verse 6:
The shadow proposed a trip to the sea
with a smile on his face and he said
"Just follow me as my shadow and
all your expenses will be met"

following weeks they spent time together
side by side, like they had always done
one in the front and the other behind,
depending on the position of the sun

Verse 7:
The shadow met a beautiful princess
and they danced and talked each night
one day they got engaged to each other
beneath the moon's sweet light

Part 3
Verse 8:
The writer was the only one
who knew the truth of the past
the shadow made up an evil lie
and everything was over too fast

Soon the guards of the princess
came and captured the writer
He lost his desperate battle
like a lonely freedom fighter

Verse 9:
In the evening of the wedding
the whole town was having a feast
The writer was praying alone
and waiting for the priest

All was good for the shadow
he had the crown on his head
the writer didn't know anything
he was already dead


refusedrevival

TimCurtis

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« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2016, 08:14:14 PM »
Wow 12 1/2 minutes!  Prog rock heavan!! :)

Nice drum rolls (did you record them live?) but the drums sound rather flat - I think a bit of compression and reverb might not go amiss.  Also, the overall sound is a little thin - does it need some compression on the mix as a whole?  I hate myself for saying that as I think compression is so overused nowadays, especially on radio fodder.  But the mix just seems to lacking that final punch and sparkle.  Also, the vocals could do with being up a bit and the drums down a bit.

Overall, the recording and song are not at all bad.  Not my usual cup of tea but I can't really find much fault with how it's written.  I like the mix of sounds - guitar and is that a flute?  Like the way it perks up around 9 mins.

Sounds like you had a lot of fun making it - especially the solos. :D

And a cool video to go with it.

Skub

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« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2016, 08:45:01 PM »
Hey refusedrevival.

When I first listened to this,the wheels just fell of off my Genesis/Gnidrolog/Jethro Tull Ford,70s concept passion wagon!  :o

It's a marathon fo sho bro. 12 minutes is 4 or 5 songs,but it's only half the time of a Floyd song.  :D

Ideas are falling out your stern tube,that's for sure,but you narrow the listening market with such a lengthy piece. Folk these days have a way short attention span. Maybe that's not an issue.

I'd have loved more openness and bass in the overall sound,it came across as rather flat. If it's got to be a 12 minute tune,you need to flatter the ears with a beautiful sound.

tina m

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« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2016, 11:01:11 PM »
12 MINUTES!! :o  I can see you are running on Prog rock time! where it takes the Earth
5 years to go round the Sun ,in a sparkly tank top! ;D
what a sad story I had to know what happened at the end & its Hans christian Andersen is it realy?
I loved the artwork in the video tho the guitarist in front of the amp sort of spoilt the historical period a little bit..
I must admit I didnt expect to get to the end or even enjoy it as im not a prog rock fan at all but I was very very  impressed by the whole thing & you & your band did it all superbly
that is a mammoth piece of work ….well done! :)
Tell me Im wonderful & I ll be nice to you :)

The S

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« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2016, 09:06:49 PM »
Kudos for recording a 12 minute song. I can only imagine the stress 9.5 min in and someone messes up!?!?! Hehe!

I look at this more like a piece of art than a song, if that's ok. I mean, I'm a Dylan fan but even I thought this was a bit lengthy to say the least!!!  ;) Throughout the piece I kept wanting a little more dynamics, and/or different instrumentation, you know to spice it up or take it down, make every section stand on its own. I didn't feel you 100% succeeded doing that but you're not that far behind either. Maybe re-write the lyrics a couple of times too, just so you for sure will get that 12 minute epic rock anthem 100%!!!

All in all, 12 minutes?!! Impressive!

Cheers,

S

refusedrevival

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« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2016, 11:11:29 AM »
Hi,

Tim, Thanks for the comments.
12 1/2 recorded live? ... no way, we needed several retakes.

Skub, Thanks for listening.
I'll remix the song later and I'll check if this is compressed too much.

Tinam, Thanks for listening and comments.
The Shadow is a sad story like most of Andersen's stories.

S, Thanks for the comments.
We had two different arrangements before recording, but this arrangement sounded better.


refusedrevival

diademgrove

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« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2016, 10:44:55 PM »
Hi,

sorry I didn't watch the video as I was following the words. I though Part 1 was excellent as was Part 3. On my system the drums in part 1 were a little too loud and would benefit from being mixed down a touch as Tim has already said.

Part 2 caused me the most trouble. The music didn't seem to go with the words. It seems the shadow is trying to entrance the writer to leave with him and go to the sea whilst the music is far more threatening. For me that combination didn't really work. The music without the words works as does the words without the music but together they don't, at least for me.

I have no problem with the length and parts of it reminds me of Fairport Convention at their best.

Feel free to ignore me if you disagree.

Keith

adamfarr

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« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2016, 06:22:00 PM »
I accept your revival! Was this a song or did you just want us to listen to side A of your album (just kidding) ;)

When you go down this path I think you have to make sure that each section really holds its own and is distinctive enough. For me section 2 was a bit similar to section 3 (e.g. that upwards chord sequence?). I think it worked better in section 3 when there was more going on, the "final movement", when perhaps section 2 could have been a jazzier lighter "movement". Also your vocal seems very similar all through - it could have done with some harmonies at times or being brought forward to keep the interest. I felt I lost track of the bass too at times (Rush would never have allowed this to happen LOL!)

All that said, I listened a few times and really enjoyed it. There's enough virtiosism (?) there but not for its own sake, it serves the storytelling well. This is a huge project and really well realised. If I'm being picky it's because you're attracting comparisons with some of the greats.

Who else can pull this off? A great contribution to the variety of this forum.

CaliaMoko

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« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2017, 02:34:08 AM »
What a challenging piece! For me, though, this doesn't work without the video. The problem there may lie with me, but I found myself wondering what was going on between the vocal sections, unless I watched the video while I listened.

I don't really have anything to add to the reviews you've already gotten. I'll repeat the one that mentioned the possibility of adding some variation to the piece, using dynamics and maybe some variation/development in the accompaniment.

Altogether an impressive accomplishment, far beyond my capabilities at this point.

refusedrevival

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« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2017, 06:00:39 PM »
Hi Keith, Adam, Calia,
Thanks for listening and the comments.

refusedrevival

Steng

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« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2017, 09:07:33 PM »
Oh yes! I was transported back to my young prog rock self circa 1975 (just before I became a punk and trashed all of that stuff for something more 'real') - I loved it! Agree with comments on the liveliness of the sound - it does sound like it was recorded in '75. I have trouble keeping 4 minutes interesting, so well done on keeping me glued to this epic.  I forgot all about a critique after about a minute, just listened and enjoyed.

Nice one!

montydog

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« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2017, 03:25:04 PM »
Hi,

I'm not sure whether you'll get anything useful from my review as this is not my sort of thing and the usual parameters for reviewing don't really apply here. Technically, it's beautifully done although the drumming drove me mad quite quickly - (the ratty tat tat bit and the general over-fusiness of the playing). It's lacking a memorable melody and I'm not keen on the vocal effect you have used but it does have a dreamy quality which I like. Others more qualified than me will no doubt not judge it so harshly.

M

Mono Stone

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« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2017, 06:06:29 PM »
I like this a lot! Very moody... a bit dark... It's cool! Very cool!

I think the intro might be a bit long... I suppose if I wasn't listening to give feedback, and not knowing what was coming, I might not have waited...

Other than that the only thing I'd suggest improving is the mastering, if you mastered it at all... the overall volume level is quite low, and most elements (including the vocal) are sounding distant... running the whole song through a bit of compression and/or a limiter would boost things.

I think your voice is very cool, just a bit hard to hear the words as your voice is sat back almost behind all the instruments...again some mastering type stuff will likely bring it out...but I think it would be worth adjusting the mix first to be sure you have the vocals more upfront.

Those are my thoughts anyway :)

Jamie

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« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2017, 09:56:56 AM »
Hi , I'm impressed with your ambition in a world where the 3 minute over produced plastic throwaway song lives and breathes. Music like this was written when musicianship was more important than now where almost anyone can cobble a song together with computer wizardry. The lyric is typical of the genre but of course makes it sound very 70's.some nice individual touches with the flute, organ and guitar solos. Also the change up in tempo was in line with the genre.
The bands that you might call prog rock today tend to work much more in challenging time signatures with increasingly complex technical pieces with modern lyrical themes. This was very faithful to the old style genre.
As I say I admire your ambition, but my son would say, dad that sounds like the s**t you listen to! ;) ;D

Cheers
Jamie

digger72

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« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2017, 01:13:28 PM »
Hi

Sometimes I like to be taken on a journey with expansive songs; this does just that.
Some really well crafted musical pieces drift in and out. The musicianship was excellent throughout.
The drums, at times, I found a bit mechanical sounding, which for me was a bit out of place in this type of song.
The vocal sounded like a narrator - which works well if that was the idea. Could perhaps be a bit more upfront?

Great effort.

Digger