I've been a fan of Poets of the Fall since hearing "Late Goodbye" playing as the credits for Max Payne 2 ran (the PC game). The thing I've liked about them was their unique melodies and song structures.

The new album for me, improves one thing, but sadly leaves me unsatisfied with another. The thing that has improved is how the songs are mixed - they sound much better. The tracks on both Signs of Life and Carnival of Rust were in my opinion poorly mixed. They just sounded a bit rough (hard on the ears), and usually lacked a wide frequency spectrum (many songs lacked in the lows and highs, often focusing too heavily on the mid range).

The problem with the new album I find are the unique and often inspiring melodies have been thrown out the window to some extent. And any melody in them (that I like) isn't pushed near as hard as they use to be in the other albums. The band sounds too generic now and they've lost what I liked about them.

Late Goodbye is still probably my most favourite POTF song, sadly nothing comes close to it in the new album. Obviously, these are my opinions so arguing with me is pointless. Just wondering what others thought. Do you like the new direction the band is taking (the more main stream / sound like other bands approach)?

WHAT?

What are you asking? What I'm saying is Poets of the Fall should focus more on producing songs which made them popular in the first place. I could listen to almost every song on both of POTF's previous albums, there's only a couple I'd want to crank up on the new album, although like I said, I much prefer how the new album was mixed. The vocals aren't as dominant or as piercing, and the guitar and low end play a bigger role which is how I like it.

I disagree completely. And I'm too lazy to explain my point of view (would have to write a novel on the matter and I don't have time right now), sorry

Too bad you feel that way.

I must be leaking of brain to understand your problem. Read your lines again and try to make a point, it's just a complete mess and gallimaufry what's written up there.

The RR album is above all one thing - progressive. It appeals to some and not to others.

And if POTF were to write songs only for popularity they wouldn't have the personality and depth that I so much love with the guys.

Either way this discussion really belongs in the RR thread.

Totally agree. ...Bad mixing??... ...I've never noticed any of that neither with the old music nor the new one. All the sounds are just perfect for me. And what comes to the band, he same lovely poets they are, just showing on different feelings. Every album is unique and reflects the personal development of moods and processes inside its creators.

Revolution Roulette might sound a little different, but are you the same every day? I think it is brave to show also the darker and more aggressive side of you, if you do it beautifully. It is kind of a crisis that you make through and after it you still say that you are there, as fragile, incomplete and humane as always and ready to say sorry and willing to start something new. Like an internal recreation. But still you are you.

I've got Studio Monitors, so they're designed to deliver a flat non-bias response unlike your usual home theatre or stereo system which generally lower the mid range to give every song that spongy, tinny kind of sound (exaggerated highs and lows). So maybe others don't notice or pay attention to how songs are mixed due to the fact that they're listening to them through consumer equipment (nothing wrong with that, they just tend to hide flaws to some extent, where as the job of studio speakers/monitors is to expose them). Just to reconfirm, I think the new album is mixed better than both the previous albums. Also, having studio monitors for just general listening isn't a bad thing, because when you get that song which (in your opinion at least) is perfectly mixed, it's just so much more satisfying listening to it on Studio Speakers than other types of speakers.

POTF songs I really dig include "Late Goodbye", "Seek You Out", "Carnival of Rust", "Lift" (melody was great, but I hated how it was mixed), "Roses" and "All The Way" to name those I enjoy most. All these songs have very prominent melodies (and by melody, I mean tune or rythm - I don't know the correct terminology). With the new album on the other hand, I find I have to hunt more for the melody and when I find it, it just doesn't grasp me as much as the songs is previous albums.

I'm being very negative. Don't get me wrong, there are still songs on the new album I like, just more duds so to say compared to previous albums. The types of music these guys are composing now has drifted slightly away from the type of music I enjoy most.

Anyway, it's obviously very difficult to put into words why I think songs on this album aren't as good as on previous albums. So I'm going to stop here . Just my opinion remember, I'm loving hearing others (whether they agree or not).

At first I thought that the music on RR had a more heavy style to it, more dark etc... I was not fond of it, as it was so different from the other albums, but when I went through the album the second time, my opinion towards them began to change. I have grown to the point where I love the album just as much as the others and would not change a thing about it. I like that they changed things, making their songs have a different style and feel to them, for it adds excitement. It keeps me wondering what they will do next.

So, in my opinion, I love every song on RR and the more I listen, the more they grow on me

I completely agree. While for example "Late Goodbye" uses the very original and seldom-heard intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-C-chorus -structure, "More" from RR just repeats the familiar

intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-
break_with_burtonesque_pizzicatos_and_a_chipmunk_choir-
part_with_some_synth_arpeggios_and_guitar_harmonies-
a_short_guitar_solo-
chorus-
the_break_part_again_with_full_band

-pattern. I don't know how many songs have used that exact same structure. Shame on POTF.


Funny, just some time ago someone here said how the old albums were oh so nice and good to the ears, while the new material is so harsh and hurts the delicate ears. Which one should us believe? OK, you have good monitor speakers, but then again, the other guy (or was it a gal) knew some real music producers!

Nothing to add

Lol, Admin.

Somehow I feel that we might have discussed this already.
So if you are interested what others think, you can find a whole 22 pages of it here:
http://www.poetsofthefall.com/forum/vie ... php?t=2703

Hey, I know some too, AND I've got good speakers! And ears!

Then again, I'm not really interested in this topic anymore.. look, Santa Claus is riding a seagul!

*runs after*

Boy, this party really died.

Everything said, agree. For more complaining please call us at 1-800-1-WHINER.