Strong return. You do a great job of building tension and interest at the end. I was kind of looking forward to a reprise of the chorus :) Your vocal and guitar work show a lot of polish.

Thanks
Bill

[ Reply to This ]

Nicely done, Aaron. Sounds very good.

My only suggestions would be to tweak the arrangement a bit. There's perhaps TOO much musical energy invested in the beginning of the song that seems to give the build at the end a sort of uneven feel.

I would suggest you fade the U2 guitar approach as the first verse begins and use either single electric piano or guitar chord *sweeps* for accompaniment and then build that energy into your chorus, instead.

And, as Bill (peacepiano) noted, a reprise of your fine-sounding chorus would probably give this piece a more balanced, albeit traditional, structure.

But overall, this is a very good piece of work. ;)

--- Joe

[ Reply to This ]

Great guitar works my friend as well as the singing
cool rockin song my friend glad you posted this and
sharin it with us !!

[ Reply to This ]

Nice to have you back and with a wonderful piece of music and message to share.No need to apologize for the lyrical content,though I understand your reservations.I have found most folks very open and encouraging here at MJs regardless of faith or belief.Your post is a fine one and I hope you get much positive feedback and support.Excellent song writing,crafting and performance.I wouldn't change a thing.Great tune Aaron.

Blessings,

[ Reply to This ]

There's not a problem with crying that out for what you feel conviction in - wish you had posted the lyrics.

Really cool song. Thanks for the post!

. - Harold

[ Reply to This ]

Aaron,
Thanks for the acknowledgment of the squirm. So, the musical content is great. Crisp distortion and compression on the guitars. The drums are really well EQ'd. Love when it dissolves into lushness at the ending. I totally dig your rock-able side. You should rock your praise more often.
Philip

[ Reply to This ]

Thank you so much Aaron for sharing this wonderful praise song. I love the lyrics, you should really upload them if you can of course.

God bless and have a wonderful New Year!

Lisa

[ Reply to This ]

Hi Aaron, nice to meet you. Harold pointed me at your song tonight and I'm glad he did. This is a great rocker - nice guitar sound, excellent vocals. Can you post the lyrics?

I only have one suggestion: I wouldn't mind hearing more backing vocals on this... I could hear you fattening it up a bit on the choruses. Especially more towards the end, to have it build up more and then really let go. Kind of goes to the point Joe is making, except rather than toning part of the arrangement down I guess I'm hearing you create the dynamics by laying it on even stronger later in the song! Isn't it fun to get all these multiple (and somewhat conflicting) points of view?????

Good luck with your music. I'll me listening to more of your songs, and look forward to hearing new tunes from you in the future!

Happy New Year,

Alan


[ Reply to This ]

I love when I don't know where the song is going specially when it's a good journey, and I love it when people give praise there own way. I havent heard your other songs yet Harold pointed me towards this so it's the best I've heard of you so far :D Bravo!!!
Moses

[ Reply to This ]

Hey All,

Thanks for all your comments. I've sent notes to you and will comment on some of your songs. FOr everyone else, here is the jist of what I said:

-----------

Bill (peacepiano)-

Thanks for coming back to listen to my stuff again :). 'Repeat offenders' are usually a good sign for an artist :). I appreciate your thoughts of another chorus. When looking at the other comments I notice mixed thoughts.. lol... when writing the song I decided to end on the bridge to leave a "make you wanting more" feeling. :D

-----------------

Joe (J.A. Stewart)-

I think you can take any song, change their original arrangements and get a completely different (sometimes better) feel. The "Idol" TV shows have given us plenty example of that :S... lol.

I'll try a few different arrangements and see what I like the best (although I'll be honest and say I really like the current one at the moment ;).

----------------

Feter-

Thanks for checking it out :).

-----------------

Daniel (godchaser)-

I'm happy you understand the 'warning label' I put on it. MJ is actually a lot more open to 'religious content' than when I first joined in '05 (or at least there are more people who enjoy it). I just respect people's own believes but letting them know what it's all about.

-------------------------

Harold (Rocha Malhada)-

Thanks for understanding... I gave in and posted the lyrics anyway :).

---------------

Philip (racerat)-

I'm glad you were able to enjoy the feel of it. Many musicians (sometimes very obviously) express their personal views on life, love, and belief. The main difference is that mine has it's own 'genre', so I let ppl know :).

--------------

Lisa (lisashaye)-

Thanks for checking out hearts alive :). I gave in a posted the lyrics so you can go back and check them out :)

--------------

Alan (NorthPoint)-

I can see your point about the dynamics. I was actually looking at putting more voices in the bridge build up at the end... like a multiple versions of me, at different volumes.... I've heard examples before.. will play around with it... thanks for the confirmation :).

--------------

Moses (HipHopMoses)-

Thanks for your input on hearts alive. It seems Harold is the song's biggest fan :). The last couple songs I've written have been geared toward more of a 'rock vibe' (with this song the best so far). You'll most definitely see more of this flavour from me in the future :).

---------------

Well, I think that about does it so far.... still happy for more comments :)

Aaron

[ Reply to This ]

I can imagine this on the radio -- just needs a little more polish around the edges.

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks brewsta... any ideas?

[ Reply to This ]

Welcome back Aaron and thank you for this wonderful praise song to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


May He bless you richly,

Rick


[ Reply to This ]

Thanks... I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

[ Reply to This ]

everything sounds so good and you have a really nice voice. i'm personally not a Christian, but no need for a warning label. everyone has to sing about what touches them personally. love your guitar sound, what did you use for that? amp or really convincing plug-in? great job.

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks for the encouragement :). It's to see people that understand that.... it's like I said to racerat, my 'belief' expression just happens to have it's own genre (lol).

For the guitar I used my Epiphone LP with the 'GtrAmp' plugin that comes with logic express 7. I took one of the channel presets (i think "Crunchy blues") and then tweaked it to suit exactly what I wanted (including adding stereo delay :).

[ Reply to This ]

but this is a great piece to come back with. The harder sound matches up well with the challenge in the lyrics. I agree with the idea of the 'return to the chorus', but this works, too, especially if you're following it up with a similar song.
I like your voice. I don't remember hearing it on previous posts.
I hope to hear more from you soon!

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks, I hope so too :)

[ Reply to This ]

That you have such a low score. Should not be so, you have a fabulous young pop gospel sound!

Way to go !

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks! Your comment is very humbling, especially from you :).

[ Reply to This ]

I like your sound. nice crunchy rock guitar. just curious, howd you do the drums? I like the pattern, although I think it could use a little more variation throughout.

I like your stuff. Us 20 year olds gotta stick together, you know?

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks man.. and yes, lol we need to stick together in this apparent middle age village. :)

I used pre-recorded drum loops... can't remember if they came with Logic x7 or if they were downloaded them (they're all mixed together)... anyway, I just cut, paste, looped, layered, etc...

[ Reply to This ]

man it's all good....very good!

[ Reply to This ]

thanks :)

[ Reply to This ]

This is a wonderful song. So glad you shared it with us. You sing and play very well and the message stands on its own. So important and Very powerful. Keep up the awesome work. I look forward to more from you.

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks Gail.. will definitely be more in future....

[ Reply to This ]

great voice and well played and arranged . I love the spacyness you've created here. I'm just sorry I was so late arriving here, cheers M

[ Reply to This ]

It's great to see you backed here my friend, this amazing piece. The vocals, playing, quality are just at its best. Thanks a lot for sharing and I'm really sorry for being late but you got my comment on my note before!!

Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi

[ Reply to This ]

I don't know how I could have been here so long and missed such good music. This is a really professional mix. You have a really nice voice with lots of power. I look forward to hearing more of your songs.

chip

[ Reply to This ]

I have to say, i'm so pleased to find someone of the slightly 'younger generation' on MJ's! (no offence everyone-i just sometimes feel intimidated!lol). I genuinly LOVE this song, really reminds me of Lifehouse (one of my favorite bands). Your voice is really great, and although i'm still a 'MacJams Newbie', i really think that not enough people have picked up on the real quality of your singing.
Really, Really enjoyed this
Thank You!

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks for all the comments... wow... I need to check this place more often. I've been in a new living arrangement (without steady internet) the last few months and haven't had a chance to get on here... that'll have to change....



Thanks again....




[ Reply to This ]