Pull the Plug - Project-43

[Rockermann]

Guys,

I'd love to get some feedback on this early demo mix of a new cover song we're working on. All the parts are in place, but there is a little more work to do to finalize things, but it's close I think.

The track is a cover of the song "Pull the Plug" by Starz. Some here might be familiar with them. They were pretty big back in the late 70's early 80's. This song has always been one of my favorites. And just imagine my surprise when I suggested we do this song, our other guitar player tells me he knows the original guitarist from Starz. To make a long story short, he contacted him and sure enough, Richie Ranno agreed to play on our cover of his song. He does all of the solo/lead guitar work throughout the song.

The song also features The Fret's own Deeaa on lead vocals. And what a terrific job he does on this one!

http://soundcloud.com/rockermann/pull-the-plug-master

If someone could tell me how to embed the Soundcloud player here, I would appreciate it!

[Eric]

Sounds nice. I can't quite figure out why, but this song doesn't exactly turn my crank. Still, for what it is I think you made it sound very good.

[deeaa]

I think I'll post what I just posted to an NG about singers, and related to this cover song as well, although maybe more appropriate for the vocals thread...well if not for any other reason than to get notifies of this topic :-)

I want to say it's been a real big learning experience doing these cover songs...it's changed my appreciation of singers a lot. And surprised also what I can and cannot do.

We're doing Iron Maiden's Hallowed be Thy Name and
BOY is that a hard vocal to do! I spent hours on it, and I just don't
understand how can he get such a high note rappin' goin on in the
verse while still maintaining a terrific driven sound throughout.
Initially I thought the legato screams could be hard, but no...it's
the semi-spoken (but real high) rappin' that's nigh impossible to
recreate. I've rapped and sung the song a gazillion times since I was
15 or so (the song actually coaxed me to start learning English as my
3rd language back then) and thought I had it nailed, but now that I
recorded it, only then I realized what incredible sound he does get on
the original. I suspect Dickinson ain't even human....I sound like a
choirboy next to his bellowing. Compared to that, Halford and Dio were
very easy to cover, which was kind of the other way round than I had
expected.

This Starz song was similarly a learning experience...the guy sings
very blues-style, very flexibly and using a lot of different sounds
and vocal tricks...and also very cleanly with no huskiness for much of
it. I can't, after 20 years of singing hard & heavy, get out any so
delicate sounds; while I've gotten steadier and more aggressive voice,
it's also lost some flexibility too. I just hope in another 20 years I
won't be reduced to only singing AC/DC or something with a steady
crooning only :-)

Now, maybe if I sometime took time to learn some other people's songs on guitar, that might also reveal something new to me...I've always kind of just made my own stuff and never cared to learn what others have done. Maybe I should change that.

Cheers,

Dee

[Rockermann]

Dee,

I agree on the covers. It's been a LONG time since I tried to play other music. We've been working on originals for over 5 years and I had forgotten how challenging it can be step out of ones comfort zone and try something different. It's a good exercise no doubt. It's already improved my playing and gotten me out of a couple of my ruts.

[Commodore 64]

Bruce Dickinson is God.

Deea: I demand that you post the HBTN demo up, IMMEDIATELY.

I'll find out where my seats are next week. There's a concert on July 15 that I'm going to. I gave a nefarious character 200 bucks, he promised center stage within the first 10 rows. We'll see if he delivers. It's a chance I was willing to take...

Pull the plug is a little too freaky morbid for me, but it was a great job on the cover.

[deeaa]

Sure we'll post it C64, when it's about ready...right now I believe there's hardly anything there but the vocals, which I may try to improve still before the release time :-)

[helliott]

Agree that the storyline is way morbid. But the playing is great. And the vocals are very strong.

[Rockermann]

Morbid? Yeah, maybe... but that's what rock is all about! :)

Seriously, I believe the song was loosely written/based on the Karen Ann Quinlan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Ann_Quinlan) saga that was going on at the time in the US.

[Rockermann]

Updated URL in first post to reflect new mix/master...

[Commodore 64]

Morbid? Yeah, maybe... but that's what rock is all about! :)

Seriously, I believe the song was loosely written/based on the Karen Ann Quinlan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Ann_Quinlan) saga that was going on at the time in the US.

Reading my comment in retrospect seems preposterous, considering I love HBTN, which is about a man questioning his faith right before he is executed.

[Rockermann]

I wanted to 'bump' this as we have what I think is our 'final' master on this track. Since the first one posted, it has different vocals and drums tracks. And a lot of remixing. :)

Would love any additional thoughts you might have? Does it sound 'done' to you?

http://soundcloud.com/rockermann/pull-the-plug-master-6

Thanks!