My EP is complete

[loretian]

The mastering process on my album was finally completed a couple of days ago.

The creation of this album, from start to finish, with me not knowing anything about music really besides a few guitar chords, has been a huge ordeal for me.? I won't go into the details, but it's taken a couple of years, and there's been a lot of issues along the way.

The album is called Love and Fear, and I think it accurately represents my state of mind while I was writing the music, though only certain extremes.? It's not the same person I am now, but the music still represents who I was.? ?Some of the lyrics from some of the songs are things I wrote in my childhood which I had saved.

Some of the songs I've posted here before, but not these exact mixes.?
Hope you enjoy it... it's a little strange.? ?

• 1. Intro
• 2. Ignescent
• 3. My Favorite Fantasy
• 4. Friday
• 5. Interlude
• 6. Mirrors
• 7. Alone
• 8. What Is Real

[/tt]

Huge thanks to D and everyone on this board that supported me while I was working on this.? The album artwork is complete, and the printing and manufacturing process should be done in a month or two.? I'll send anyone a copy who wants one (I'll talk to people who seemed to enjoy the music when that time comes).

Creditwise, I'll try not to forget anyone:

Intro - Clip from Return to Oz.
Ignescent - guitar work from Greg Cardinal.
My Favorite Fantasy - Saxaphone from Smallz.? Guitar work from Don't Try Me..? Vocals from Smallz and Erik Espe.? Bass from Spank Naughties.
Friday - Bass was a combination of myself and Smallz.? Guitar work from Greg Cardinal
Interlude - Clip from Donnie Darko
Alone - Guitar work from Don't Try Me.? Saxaphone from Smallz.? Bass from Spank Naughties.
What Is Real - Guitar work from Greg Cardinal.? Piano was a combination of myself, Amanda Allen, and Smallz.? Vocals from Andrea Allen.

Everything else was programmed, recorded, performed and written by me.

I primarily used Pro Tools 6.4 to mix the album.? In conjunction with Reason 2.0, I used the drum machine and the loop player, the synthesizers, and the sampler.? I also used SampleTank 2.0 for some samples.

The mastering was done by Brandon Ivers, I don't know what software he used, but I suspect it was some version of Waves with Pro Tools.

All the audio was recorded using a first generation M-Box, excluding Don't Try Me's guitar work, which he recorded separately on his own.? I used an AT3035 Cardioid Condenser Microphone (which I highly recomend, given it's price tag of US $200) for most of the vocals, and most of the guitar was recorded clean with Amplitude 1.0 used afterwards to add the distortion.? To achieve the trippy saxaphone effect, I recorded using a performance microphone, then added loads of reverb and removed the dry source.

I have almost enough material for a full length follow up album, which I think is a lot better and melodic than this album.? Hopefully I'll have it done soon, but maybe not.? I won't take two years this time, though.

[Evolution]

First off Loretian thanks for posting all your EP for free

You should be proud. It sounds extremely professional! Excellent mix. Brilliant work.


My fave track is Mirrors. I love the rap style you got going on And the Intro and Interlude were a nice touch. Your synth is top notch

[*Izzy*]

Fuckin' cool. I love Alone, My Favourite Fantasy, What is Real, Mirrors and Friday. The interlude is cool too

[Dont Try Me]

hey Joe, very very great man! Love the stuff that's on your EP. Like Evolution said you should be very proud!

I'm very happy I could help out a little on some of the tracks!

Keep on rocking dude! 

 

[D]

DUDE I cant wait to listen and burn a copy of this motherfucker!!!!!!!!!!!


Tonight Ill tell u what I think.


Congratulations to U loretian and everyone involved.

Dont Try Me's guitar is Amazing on My Favorite Fantasy and Alone

Greg Cardinal is a magnificent player.

Loretian your production skills,lyrics and vocals are original and great.

Thanks for making great,original, interesting,and enjoyable music.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

The track I liked best was Friday.  Because you sang on that one, and it blended wonderfully with the music.   I also enjoyed the spooky Intro and the Interlude where you talk about the meaning of the album's title. 

I wasnt too thrilled with the other songs mainly because I felt the vocals sounded too harsh against the music.  Unlike Friday, I couldnt just sit back and let it sink in.

Anyway, it's a million times better than anything I could ever do, and I'm impressed by your creativity.  Thanks for sharing your music.

[Oddy]

Dude thanks for putting it all up.

i'm listening to it now.

fucking trippy shit i love it.

production is really really good.

your style of music is so quirky and unique its awesome.

[loretian]

Thanks for the all the comments, guys!  I'm glad most of you dug it!

D, please let me know what your final feedback is whenever you get a chance to listen.

[D]

Im burning a copy and im gonna ride around and listen to it in the car real loud and several times before I write u a review.


I dont think u can necessarily give a fair opinion on a song or CD just by one listen.


So Im gonna give it the proper treatment, that way I can give u a good insightful review.

[Eazy E]

No 'Laundry Girl'?

I'm downloading this now/

[journey]

No 'Laundry Girl'?

I'm downloading this now/

Laundry Girl is hilarious!!

Congrats on finishing your EP loretian!

[loretian]

D - I really appreciate you taking the time to give it a full, proper listen.   

E - let me know what you think.

And the Laundry Girl is a classic, it stands on it's own, I couldn't dilute this album with my masterpiece.   

[*Izzy*]

I found myself singing Alone last night, I think that's a good sign

[loretian]

I found myself singing Alone last night, I think that's a good sign

Very cool, I'm glad to hear it! 

[D]

This isnt my big review but just a couple notes.


Alone is awesome, very very fuckin catchy, I love Friday also and Ignescent.

Ive been listening mostly to these three right now.

I like taking albums in sections.

With any album Ill give a good one time listen through and then ill take a few songs and wear them out, then move on to a few more and wear them out, then listen to the album as a whole.

One thing Ive noticed so far is the melodies are fucking incredible, the vocal melodies and musical melodies are very very well done. u have some very nice hooks in these songs.

Im learning the lyrics and then Im gonna get where I know them well enough to sing with in the car and then Im gonna break the songs down and give u a true review.

but Ive added those 3 to my MP3 player to stay for a permanent basis and They said very good next to my NIN's,STP's,GNR's,Bon Jovi's etc etc

I am very very impressed though.

[conny]

Sorry for taking so long to reply to this. I'm on dial up at the moment, so it took me some time to download this, but now that I've listened to everything all I can say is WOW! I'd like to give it all some more time though as I think it's pretty intense and complex stuff, but my first impression is good,  I really dig the production. However, I think I have to listen to this a couple of times before I can afford to write an actual review or useful feedback of any kind. So at the moment let me just say thanks and respect to you Joe. I think it's very cool you are giving us a full EP/album here for free, I really appreciate that.

 

[D]

This review isnt a fluff Great job cause u are my friend review, this is 100 percent sincere and truthful.





I have been listening to this Non STop and I am still listening and I cant get enough of it.


Im not gonna grade the intro or the interlude both are very well done production wise and musically, the Donnie Darko quote in the interlude is a very very nice touch.


Ignescent? 8.5/10 Great song, gets me fired up, love the atmosphere and the lyrics. The melodies are tight and its a very very cool song.

My Favorite Fantasy 8/10 very nice guitar work from Dont Try Me, out of the songs I would rank it last, not because its not good only because it is up against some very stiff competition from the rest of the album.

Friday 10/10 I cant hear this on MTV only because MTV dont Play Great songs like this anymore *that is a compliment by the way* this song is so amazing and I find myself listening to it over and over, it is definitely my favorite song on the EP and is actually one of the best songs Ive heard this year including signed bands. This song would get tons of airplay, it is amazing. the piano at the beginning sets such an amazing tone and feel and that guitar melody, HOLY SHIT I want to steal that, That is so incredible, The lyrics are very relatable, vocally It is impressive and the melodies are outstanding.


Mirrors? 9/10 This song had to grow on me and now I find it stuck in my head a lot, i was sittin in the Sauna today at the gym and I started singing the chorus, very very catchy and the music before the chorus is unbelievable! what the hell is that? amazing amazing amazing music there, great rap also, Who knew u could rap? very nice rhyming skills on this and What is Real


Alone 9.9/10 this was my favorite when I first downloaded it but it has fallen behind Friday down to number 2. Love the quotes, love the music and production, what I really dig about this song is how u use two voices at the same time, that is outstanding work and very tricky to pull off but it sounds amazing and is a very very interesting song, its a song that u dont get tired of at all. I love the emotion in the vocal and I love how u stretch out "Crawling" and "Still" during the chorus.? I wish I had wrote this song.

What Is Real 9/10? the rhyming is In Fuckin Sane, I am a fan of Rap/singing type vocals and U have some very impressive rhymes, the music once again is top notch, the vocals are great, lyrics are top notch, once again as with Mirrors took me a couple times to really understand and hear properly but now its climbing fast in ranking.



overall this EP gets 9/10 or 4 out of 5 stars easily, No Bullshit this is right up there with NIN's With Teeth as my fav album of the year.

I am very amazed with how far u have grown as a musician and a songwriter, I just hope u can catch a break and have someone important hear this.

Great Great EP I cant wait to the full length!

[Skeba]

I've listened the ep through 2 times now...

It's most definately not my style of music, especially the your style of singing is not to my taste.

There are musicwise some really nice things on your album. Especially on Friday... 2 things that  sort of stuck out.. Couldn't help noticing, but the guitar melody sounds a lot like a melody on a Buckethead song. Can't remember the title exactly, but  could've been Hills Of Eternity. Also the parts in Alone after "still I'm gonna roam" sound very close to the quotes part in Madagascar. Not saying copied, but inspired by??

Like I said there are some cool things, but just not enough for me to keep listening to it on a regular basis. But as you can read from this page, a lot of people really seem to dig your music, so you must be doing something right.

[Deez Nuts]

Pretty awesome Joe, thanks!

Thanks also for putting it up for everyone to listen to.  I just downloaded it today and listened to it once.  My favorite one time through is Mirrors and least is #2.  All the lyrics are really cool, especially Mirrors.  I was driving and I was like, holy shit, that is exactly what I feel like sometimes.  I'm usually not a fan of rapping at all but it fit good in this song. 

I felt alot of Reznor during it, and it feels like you're listening to With Teeth as the first song is sort of slow with the beat, the middle songs rock out more, and then the last song has piano in it, much like WT.

This is definitely something I've gotta listen to many times more to have it sink in cause there's so much stuff going on in it.  At one point it felt like there were 10 instruments going on in my speakers.  Lots of cool melodies.  The guitar work is really awesome too for the two dudes that did it.  One thing that I really appreciated was the buildup in the songs.  I'm always a fan of the buildup and you put it in really well in this cd.

As for a couple things that I didn't like:  didn't care much for the first intro, maybe if it could have been altered with some big drum beat and then an erie guitar, sort of like Buckethead's solo in Maddy.  Also, it was hard to distinguish vocals in some songs, like some vocals for one song would have fit right in with another.  Maybe that's why Mirrors stood out for me the first listen through cause the vocals sounded different. 

All in all really cool, very creative/original, and can't wait to listen to more. 

P.S.  You still living around the MPLS area?  If so someday when I'm down there we'll have to get together and have a beer or seven.

[loretian]

Conny - thanks a lot, man.  I really appreciate you taking the time to download and listen to the songs, and give me the feedback.    It's cool to hear that from a pretty damn good musician like yourself.

D - Once again, HUGE thanks to you - that's my first, full proper review, and will probably be my favorite.     Everything you've done to support me and help me over the past few years has made all the difference.

Skeba - That's cool and I definitely appreciate you also taking the time to download and listen.   I really, really want to improve my singing, and I think that's my biggest problem so far, but I think I continue to improve.   I have listened to several Buckethead albums, and that lick may be found in one of his albums, but I'm not conciously aware of it.  Actually, that lick came from a Tom Petty song original (Breakdown), where I just played it over and over, and eventually it morphed into what's in the song.  As far as Alone, I'm really surprised you picked up on that.  I woke up one night, wrote that whole song (with somewhat different lyrics) on my accoustic guitar, and then when I decided to record it, the overall feel I thought would be the best for it was something like Madagascar.  As I did more work on the song, and especially after Don't Try Me added his guitar work, it changed a lot and I thought the "Madagascar feel" was probably lost, but I guess not.   

Deez Nuts - I'm real happy you enjoyed the stuff.  I did listen to With Teeth a lot, though only during some of the production of these songs, but I dig that album a lot, and I'm humbled that you'd compare me to NiN at all.   I know what you're saying about the vocals too - I'm working really hard on improving them, hopefully I'll be able to incorporate more styles and change things up a bit.    I still live in Minneapolis, actually, in the NE area, but we definitely gotta grab seven beers or more sometime.  I'm gonna be at the Supersuckers show tomorrow night (Monday night) at 1st Ave, let me know if you're going!  We actually still have one extra (comp) ticket available, so let me know if you're looking.  I am still not exactly sure how I got home after that Velvet Revolver concert... you didn't give me a ride, did you?  None of my friends gave me a ride home, and I have no memory after "Fall to Pieces."

Everyone:  I decided to increase this album to a full length album, so I've been putting together six more songs for it.  One I posted here before in a slightly different mix.  The rest should be new.  I just sent them off to get mastered, as soon as they're done, I'll post them here.

Thanks again, everyone who's listened and left me feedback, it brings such a satisfaction to me, it's hard to state just how much I appreciate it.