I think what started this whole thing was when I went to the Sony site and downloaded some loops. I’d never use a loop for a main hook but I do like them for background percussion, just to fill in space.  I grabbed maybe 15 and then went through them.  Also, what came in handy was I found a good drum kit sound so I could eq my drum machine to try and match it.  And, now I can say Joe Vitale played on my “album”.  Cool.  So loops aren't just for fags doing dance music anymore.

OK, maybe that was a bit harsh.

Again, the majority of the tunes were done in one day in August.  Then again, they weren’t really that thought out tunes.  For example, On Ice and Security were made around just the main lick.  Pictures is just a 12 bar and Come and Go is an oldie (10 years old now).  So there wasn’t anything surprising arrangement wise, except Worth The Wait which has a whole 3 key changes (more on that one below).

I don’t know if I had writer’s block because usually real writers get that but after coming up dry for weeks, most of the words came out in one day with a few re-writes later (usually when I do the vocals).

The vocals were done during Gregg Koval Week (after the parade) except On Ice and Security which were done about a week later.  I did manage to get my new Les Paul Studio (Alpine White) during this but it didn’t get recorded.  And then the weekend of the 6th, recording, guitar solos, mixing and even the cover were finished.  Not bad.

And I'll say it now - I don't know how I ever did any recording with less than 12 tracks.

Song By Song:

Two Looks
Well, this started out being called “Smartest Girl In The Place”.  It’s about boobs.  I guess I have a boob fetish.  That’s where the “two” comes from.  But I had the hardest time doing the chorus part.  You know how many words rhyme with “takes”?  Anyways, it’s basically a “she must be smart because she has big boobs” song.

This song is mainly the Les Paul Studio. I have to think of a name for her since I have two now.  Anyways, it’s panned in the left ear; there’s one in the right ear that’s a little quieter and it gets the first half of the solo.  Then the Junior makes its first appearance in over a year for the slide solo.

Worth The Wait
Honestly, this song was basically a rewrite of Glenn Hughes’ Steppin' On.  When I got Music For The Divine and heard that song, I thought, “I have to do something like that.”  His is much better, but it gave me the idea for the key changes.  The Studio gets both panned guitars (the one in the left ear is going through the Rotovibe pedal).  Even the delayed guitar is the Studio.  And the Junior again for the slide solo.

Pictures
What happens when you don’t have enough pictures?  Right – you wished you’d taken more.  That’s all this is about.  It’s just a 12-bar in B.

Well, all the guitars are the Les Paul Studio – the two clean ones being heavily compressed.  I think that’s it for guitars.

On Ice
I like the title but had a hard time putting words to this.  The words that are on this final version were the first set I came up with, then I did another set because I thought I didn’t use enough “cold” words and then I went back and used the first set of words.

The song is basically made up around that Joe Walsh lick.  That’s the Studio again – all 4 of them.  The wind was added later in a Wav Editor program.

Rub It Right
I always wanted to have a massage song, so I guess this is it.  You can read into it anything you want, but it’s about getting a real one and not from a Rub-N-Tug.  You don’t have to have coverage to listen to this though.

For guitars, the Studio gets the panned guitars and the Gold Top gets the lead.  You know, the Gold Top is always dependable – I wish I could take it out in public.  The Junior gets the middle section.

Come and Go
This is an oldie and originally done in C# and when I transposed it to E it ended up sounding like Pink Floyd’s Breathe.  That’s OK though.  This ended up being my favourite this time around.

The Studio through the Rotovibe is in the left ear.  The Gold Top gets the lead and there’s a quieter one in the right ear that you can only really hear during the harmony parts (or headphones) and the Junior shows up at the end, kinda like Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross.

Security
This was the hardest one to make up words for…and they still ended up being throw-aways.  Oh well, they can’t all be gems.  It’s about going through security check.

Guitars, guitars, guitars.  All guitars but the solos is the Studio.  The Gold Top through the Vibro Champ is magic.  Oh, and that’s Joe Vitale’s ride cymbal.

So there we go.  On final listen, I ended up liking this – it turned out better than I thought it would have.  Also, at this time of writing, I plan on taking the best ones from this and Hits The Spot and making a Hits The Spot CD for selling.  But you never know – maybe I’ll put both up at The Store.

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All Songs (c) 2007 Greggkoval.com.