"EXCESSIVE"
Music and Lyrics: Michael Foster
Music Written: September, 1985/June, 2006
Lyrics Written: June, 2006.
Music and Lyrics: Copyright 2006 by Crystal Magic Music (ASCAP)
Michael Foster: Guitars, Vocals, and First solo (left)
Mark Easton: Guitars, and Second solo (right)
Barry Easton: Drums
Michael Corsini: Bass
Recorded in June, 2006...at ROUGH CUT STUDIO...Eastford, Conn.
Mixed in July, 2006...at GOLDEN SUN STUDIO...North Palm Beach, Fla.
Arranged, Produced, and Mixed by: Michael Foster
Engineered by: Mark Easton
In late 2005, I stumbled upon a shoebox full of old cassette tapes in a closet, which consisted primarily of twenty year old plus recordings of Avalanche rehearsals. When I found this one...I realized it was from a 1985 3-piece short-lived incarnation of Avalanche that I had put together in an attempt to resurrect the band five years after the original group had broken up. At that time...I was having many problems in my life...I had gotten very "excessive" with my drug use...and I don't remember a whole lot about that time. The tape quality was terrible...but this song was on it...and even without any vocals or lyrics...it stood out as a really strong cut. I don't remember if there ever even were lyrics written for it...or what the original title of the track may have been...and just getting the tape to play at all was very difficult. When I left for Conn. for these sessions I decided to bring the cassette tape with me. Once the band heard the music...it immediately became the choice as "first song to record"....which presented a dilemma...because there were no lyrics...and no idea about a melody to go with the music. I decided that we would rehearse and record it anyway...and once that was accomplished...I took a rough mix..put in on a CD and drove around for a day...trying to find the right melody and lyrical subject. As I sat on my very successful twin brother's deck at his estate late that afternoon in the middle of the woods in Hampton, Conn... I remembered that the night before...his floodlights kept turning on and off all by themselves. I found out that motion sensors on the lights were being set off by moths flying around them...and as I looked around me...the inspiration came.
Once I had the lyrics...the melody and the phrasing became a very easy task. The vocal recording was one of the easiest I have ever done...it was almost as though the song was just waiting for me to write it...and "Excessive" became the first track finished from these sessions. SongPlanet DJ Bert Gagnon, who lives in Conn. actually came to the rehearsals when we were working this one up...and we had a chance to spend the day getting to know him. We all had a great day...and Bert, thanks for taking the time to hang out with us. You are one of the very few people outside of the Avalanche "family" who has actually seen the band perform "live" in over twenty years. Hopefully...that might change "down the road".
This is the first of the new 2006 Avalanche recordings. It is a "balls to the wall" rocker...and so we wanted to keep it "live" sounding and raw. This year we made numerous improvements in how we record the band...from new amplifiers...to much better microphones. The band is also really starting to feel like a cohesive unit again...the chemistry has always been very magical...but this year...I was really able to feel it from everyone...for the first time since the original band broke up over twenty five years ago. It is a huge treat for me to play with these guys....and this year it felt like everyone was really feeling the same way, too. Less than twenty five studio-hours were needed to rehearse and record this song...from the time I played that very poor quality twenty year old rehearsal cassette tape for the guys for the first time. That amazes even me. When I talk about "a magical chemistry" within
Guys everytime I hear this on MixRadio, I am blown away. Fantastic!
Stephan
rock the way it should be! balls out and bad ass!
i love those leads!
peace,
KIller rock and Roll as it use to be. Its like I steoed into A time Captsule. I love it best time in History when Music was killer. Great Job killer lyrics. Capturers the essence of what Rock N Roll Is really all About.
WORLD GONE WRONG gone electric - and electrifying! Oh, that LOVE of money that evil thrives in. You've captured all of the greed, lust, power-grabbing, all that is "Excessive" in this turned-down universe. High energy righteous indignation at its best.
I was taken in by the title; good guitar sounds speeding in one ear of my headphones and the other balanced in the other side; cool balance; Fine vocals; with a neat emphasis on the word in the lyrics; adds some neat variance. This really moves along like a speeding sports car on the California coast, esp. the seering guitar making waves as it sweeps by and hugs the road, cool efx. & fast finger fun. This has a great sound mix. Good production. A true progressive rocker. SUPERB****
-Your friend. -Vesa.
hey guys, you wanna ROCK!! this is the place you want to be, listening to Avalanche. You like lead solos, Mike Foster and Mark Easton satisfy all your cravings, you want that big bass and drum, Michael Corsini and Barry Easton deliver. Man when that wah hits in this piece you know you've arrived, 2 blinding leads, a fun vocal and a driving backbone that get you in the mood to party. These guys have been there and done that, and thankfully are still pumpin in 2008...a pleasure to know you Nav.