take a walk with valk for some music talk
Mar 4, 2018 12:07:20 GMT -5
Post by valkiriforce on Mar 4, 2018 12:07:20 GMT -5
It's no secret - Vertical Horizon and Switchfoot are kinda like my personal Led Zeppelin and The Beatles; they both got me started in music in the early 2000's. My mom used to hear Switchfoot and John Mayer in the car rides we took everywhere at the time and I grew to familiarize with the music to the point of nostalgia. It wasn't until around 2007 that I rediscovered some of these artists and heard their music that I realized I remembered them incredibly well and had to go out and buy these albums for myself. I heard Vertical Horizon through my sister who heard a song through someone else, and oddly enough "Miracle" was the first I'd ever heard from them as opposed to their well-known hit song, "Everything You Want". It's definitely surreal looking back to when I started getting into buying music CDs for myself since all I ever bought growing up were either Lego sets or video games lol, but it opened up a whole new world for me to explore and talk about with people.
What really fascinates me about Vertical Horizon is their musical history; it began with two guys playing acoustic guitars and singing songs on their first record, it grew into an acoustic band on their second album, evolved into an electric pop/rock sound for their third album and became an alternative rock group by their fourth record. There was a bit of a hiatus they had in the 2000s due to record company problems, which resulted in having to re-release their fourth album under another label and include an additional track. They would often switch between Matt Scannell and Keith Kane on vocals every other track in their early works, but thanks to record companies being what they are, they decided Matt was going to be the lead guy by the time their third album came out, while Keith only had one song on that album. Sadly, Keith left the group around 2009 or so, but they still continue to make music and even recently released their seventh album, "The Lost Mile" which fascinatingly enough sounds far more electronic than anything else they've done. That's what really gets me about this group - every time they put out a new album it's hard to know what exactly to expect, but it's bizarre that a group could have songs that sound like James Taylor or Dave Matthews Band and simultaneously have songs that sound something like Coldplay or maybe even Foo Fighters.
If I had to put it in Doom's terms, they kind of remind me of the Casali brothers, in that they had maps that were simply-titled but used to a strong effect. In Vertical Horizon's case, they manage to create songs that for me really embody the emotion of what could be felt over simple words, songs like, "Echo" or "Forever" are good examples of this, especially a song like Forever when you have a chorus that goes, "Foreeeeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, foreeeeeeeeeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and I really loved when it used to be between Matt and Keith putting the best of their writings out there in these great songs that sound especially amazing when played live. I think "Live Stages" is one of my all-time favorite live albums, which is something they put out in 1997 when they were at the height of their interchangeable natures of acoustic and electric guitar songs.
Anyway, they're a very special group to me, and I could write more about Switchfoot and other groups or musicians but I'll save it for another time.
Just for comparison, here's a song they did in 1992 followed by something they did in 2003 - same singer on both songs (Matt Scannell).
What really fascinates me about Vertical Horizon is their musical history; it began with two guys playing acoustic guitars and singing songs on their first record, it grew into an acoustic band on their second album, evolved into an electric pop/rock sound for their third album and became an alternative rock group by their fourth record. There was a bit of a hiatus they had in the 2000s due to record company problems, which resulted in having to re-release their fourth album under another label and include an additional track. They would often switch between Matt Scannell and Keith Kane on vocals every other track in their early works, but thanks to record companies being what they are, they decided Matt was going to be the lead guy by the time their third album came out, while Keith only had one song on that album. Sadly, Keith left the group around 2009 or so, but they still continue to make music and even recently released their seventh album, "The Lost Mile" which fascinatingly enough sounds far more electronic than anything else they've done. That's what really gets me about this group - every time they put out a new album it's hard to know what exactly to expect, but it's bizarre that a group could have songs that sound like James Taylor or Dave Matthews Band and simultaneously have songs that sound something like Coldplay or maybe even Foo Fighters.
If I had to put it in Doom's terms, they kind of remind me of the Casali brothers, in that they had maps that were simply-titled but used to a strong effect. In Vertical Horizon's case, they manage to create songs that for me really embody the emotion of what could be felt over simple words, songs like, "Echo" or "Forever" are good examples of this, especially a song like Forever when you have a chorus that goes, "Foreeeeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, foreeeeeeeeeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and I really loved when it used to be between Matt and Keith putting the best of their writings out there in these great songs that sound especially amazing when played live. I think "Live Stages" is one of my all-time favorite live albums, which is something they put out in 1997 when they were at the height of their interchangeable natures of acoustic and electric guitar songs.
Anyway, they're a very special group to me, and I could write more about Switchfoot and other groups or musicians but I'll save it for another time.
Just for comparison, here's a song they did in 1992 followed by something they did in 2003 - same singer on both songs (Matt Scannell).