I can see how you'd stick in there for the duration of the recording, trying to get a better outcome, refine, edit etc. trying to improve the songs in whatever way possible. But I guess if the final product still disappoints then you're at a crossroads. And we all know what to do at the crossroads right? Sell your soul to a better band!

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"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."

if they are that bad, tell him

The band has been together for almost 7 years now, and we are all friends, but just weekend friends it seems. We all respect each others talent.
When the singer came up with the idea of doing this cd, we all thought it would be a great idea. But originally, he was looking for other players to record it, not the band he had at the time (us). he was also doing this on a shoestring budget, and paying for the whole thing himself. When he couldn't find or afford the players he wanted, he came back to us. Of course we all said sure, we'll help you out and do it. The studio he chose was 60 miles away for me and the bass player, so needless to say we didn't make a daily thing of going there and working on it. Mainly, we would go there about every other Sunday afternoon for 4 or 5 hours.
The guy who had the studio was a drummer friend of his, so we didn't even use our drummer, which gave the project a bad taste to start with. It didn't help that the studio drummer wasn't real familier with his studio gear so some things were learn as you go for him.

Most songs on the radio are set up in a kind of pattern that has a flow. Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus and maybe a lead break. Most songs have a rhyming pattern, a story, and a hook line. These songs were different.

The first verse was 4 lines, the second verse maybe 3 lines, chorus, third verse maybe 6 lines...no pattern at all. Every song had the same choppy rhythm patterns, no formula, just random thoughts on paper. When I say I helped arrange them, I mean that I took eah song and tried to give it a feel or a rhythm. One ended up a rocker, a waltz, a two step, etc. I tried to arrange the lines of the song, but he said that would take away from the ideas and the things he was trying to say, so I let it be. Some of the songs were so hard to learn, we would spend a day on one, and still not get it done. His songs had a distinct thing tho-every song had a pause or two , and he could never come back in on time. Even with a click track.

I like the guy, and he is a great singer. He has developed a small following, and I'm sure he may sell a few cd's to family and friends, but I'm sure he'll give most of them away. We looked at it like this-he paid for the whole thing-it's his project to do with it what he wants and how he wants. We've tried doing a couple of songs during our sets, and they will clear a dance floor. Polite applause at best. I'm not going to walk out of the band because of it. We've been together too long, we work every Sat night, and for now, it's fun. I'm hoping he'll see the responses from the crowds and it will slowly be forgotton about.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.