by smatthews22 » Sat May 28, 2011 1:54 pm
I'm still surprised at the high rating you'd have for Chasing Cars. I say this, I suppose, because I come from the standpoint of having actually recorded the album. I remember wanting to put so much more into that arrangement and that specific recording of it. I do love Dave's solo voice on it, but I think we could have pulled off a much more interesting arrangement that brought the listener on the roller coaster of emotions, and left the person wanting to listen again and again.
THAT to me is what merits a 5 on any review. Original twist/take, creative and supportive arrangement, great soloist, and the general feeling of "wow, I want to hear that again... and again... and hey wait this is my 8th time listening and I still heard something new!"
Maybe it's high standards, but I think it's what Nick is getting at. And truthfully, I think it's something that any group should be reaching for and judged against.
I'd be curious to know what Nick thought (or any of the reviewers), of any specific arrangements, the strengths and weaknesses. Because I arranged Draggin and Happier, I'm curious for my own improvement of my own stuff (knowing what works and what doesn't), and I was involved in all of the others when it came to overdubs, so any specific feedback would be awesome.
And going back to the original point about Chasing Cars... I can't say that I was thrilled we chose to do that song. It has been done a dozen times a cappella, if not more, and we added perhaps 20 seconds of freshness to it at the last chorus. Also the beginning 16 bars. Any song that a collegiate group decides to do that has been done before, in my opinion, NEEDS to give the listener something new, or else it's not worth recording. If it doesn't stand at the top of the heap, then why bother? (this is actually an open question for discussion... I'm open to reasons as to why one should bother recording if it doesn't blow all other recordings of the song out of the water)
Word. Let's keep talking.
~Sean