Anberlin Band • Page 218

We'll always have Anchor And Braille.

 

i was not a fan of Tension, so this next album needs to be really good

 

I've decided to part with my Anberlin boxset. I have it listed high on discogs ($550 - based on how much it last sold for) but if someone wants to work out a deal here I'm thinking $400 and the buyer covers paypal fees and shipping. I've spun it very little and the slipmat is included and unopened. Here are some pics of it.

 

Best case scenario would be to keep Stephen and Matty material on different releases, instead of mixing them together like on Vega.

 

The best case scenario doesn’t include Matty at all lol

 

Or just use a new band name for the new music

 

Never really understood this logic since it's equally easy to ignore that the new music exists unless you're a freak that must own everything with a particular name on it. Just pretend it doesn't exist.

 

I've said it plenty of times before, but the band absolutely can and should do what they want. Tour as Anberlin with a new singer, record new music with the new singer, whatever, who cares. Obviously we know the difference.

That being said, this is very clearly a whole different band with a different sound from what Anberlin has been for 20 years. It would just feel more true to the art of the music to have a new band name with the new music, doing it this way makes it feel like a total cash grab where they are holding onto the past and not wanting to move along, which they clearly don't want to.

Same thing as the new Linkin Park, they can do whatever they want, but it's this same scenario

 

Honestly feel like new LP sounds more like their previous material than the two Anberlin songs we have with Marty.

Not changing the band name is 100% a financial decision. I imagine you take a pretty significant hit when you change the name vs. keeping it, and the only time bands change names is if they don't have the rights or something bad happened and they don't want to be associated with the previous band (think: As I Lay Dying. When all the stuff went down with their singer, all the members got together with a new singer and started Wovenwar).

 

Plus, if you change names with a new band, live shows likely wouldn't be playing the whole Anberlin catalogue. I get it, it just feels dumb as a fan

 

But why, is my thing. It's 100% psychological to me. Them using a different band name does nothing except make it "easier" for you to disassociate. But it's easy either way, so I dunno, it just seems pointless to me.

 

because
its
dumb
and
Marty
sounds
dumb
and
we
don't
want
it

 

BTW, this is 100% not a defense of Matty or how the band is acting about this. I understand the disappointment. It is disappointing!

I am solely talking about the psychological impact on people of a band not changing their name so they are forced to reconcile with the fact that nothing gold can stay, all things change.

 

It's a little like the Every Time I Die situation (but much less conflict). Better Lovers is basically the same band with a different singer, but they don't sound the same because the singers are different. People will miss Every Time I Die, but the new band gets to build its own excitement without having everyone comparing Greg to Keith on the songs they've already loved for years.

The way that Anberlin depends on their older material (and the fact that they only have a few songs with Matty so far) complicates the comparison, but it would've been kind of easy to avoid the fan disappointment/confusion without losing any of the people who are in on Matty. Stephen still could've joined for nostalgia shows, and the band could still play the older songs alongside the new stuff (and continue to release new music under both names, if they still want to record with Stephen); there aren't any rules for this, so it'd just be taking more care of their legacy through better fan service. Some clarity about the situations/expectations and any basic awareness/acknowledgement that people care a lot about the band would go a long way to maintaining the 20 years of good will.

 

Different band name sells way less tickets

 

this is also not a defense of Matty or his inclusion in the band, but i'm genuinely curious about the extent of Matty's involvement in the songwriting process for this new material, because part of me wants to say he's the biggest reason why the new songs sound the way they do (that or the band is writing around his limited abilities), but another part of me remembers that the entirety of Lowborn was written without Stephen and he went in and added vocals and lyrics at the end (potentially indicating that the other members have more of a hand in determining the sound of new material, while still giving him co-writing credits on these new songs, although the band said they wrote them together).

i guess the question is whether the new songs would sound more like Anberlin if it was just Stephen and the lyrics were different. because the instrumental backbone isn't as much of a departure from some of their older material. i think Seven was probably a larger departure from their "typical" sound than Walk Alone, as that one is just derivative of NTFP-era Anberlin with shitty lyricism and generic vocals (the hook is incredibly reminiscent of Stationary Stationery). at the same time, Seven felt a bit like a push in that heavier direction we heard on Silverline and Convinced. the make or break factor really seems to be Matty's vocals and lyrics, because if Stephen sang these songs, i think the reception would be a little bit more positive, but they feel more generic when Matty sings them.

this is why i'm worried about what High Stakes sounds like. the two songs with Matty are so different from one another that we don't really know what their next release would sound like, but if i had to guess whether they'd go more conventional, old-school Anberlin or heavier Anberlin, i'd imagine they'd go more conventional and do something similar to Walk Alone, and i think the vast majority of us here wouldn't like that. i don't want any more music with Matty, but if they insist on releasing more, at least do something that sounds interesting from an instrumental standpoint. even then, i don't know how Matty's vocals would complement something that's not overtly generic or heavy (God forbid he sings anything like Inevitable).

 

bare minimum, if Stephen is still involved, at least market the band as a six piece with alternating vocalists, because the marketing so far has been horrible. i think he was in like two promo photos for the album campaign for Vega and that's it. he's been absent from every other photo, press release, etc., with Equal Vision's website even going so far as to call Matty the only vocalist. i remember years ago seeing Within Temptation say their lead guitarist was gonna step back from touring to spend time with his kids he had with their frontwoman, and even then he and their touring guitarist were a part of every bit of press for their new material. even Brad Delson is still doing PR, music videos, etc. for the new LP album despite the fact he's not longer touring with the band. maybe Stephen's absence from any marketing signifies he's not involved period, and that's fucking sad if true.

 

Makes me wonder if it's Stephen or the band who isn't letting go

 

Well, in a recent episode of Chris DeMakes a podcast, they discuss how Stephen actually hand-picked Matty and brought him to the band before they knew he wanted out.

Not defending anyone, promise haha

 

The biggest thing here is just the lack of clarity. If they announce a single with only Marty, everyone will say, “can’t wait for the songs featuring Stephen!” If an album/ep comes out and Stephen isn’t on it at all, but he’s still in the band, what are we doing? I guess just say, “can’t wait until the next album, hopefully he’s on that one”?

can you imagine if Saosin didn’t kick Anthony out all those years ago, and just said, “yeah Cove is mostly on the recorded material and playing live, but Anthony is still in the band”?

 

according to christian on “as the story grows” podcast back in august, he said they already had the two songs written for the album. then when stephen said he wouldn’t tour and brought the idea of matty to the band, they gave them to matty because “it would be cool to have both singers” and they wanted him to be able to “sing some of his own songs rather than just stephen’s songs.” which idk sounds like there might have been stephen versions already.

he also said going forward on recorded material, maybe it will be “mostly matty, with some stephen, maybe both of them, we’re not sure.”

 

My best guess in all of this is, the whole band was moving forward once they got back together, Stephen realized touring life is just not for him anymore with a family, he preempted his departure by already putting a backup in place, the band reluctantly and then enthusiastically agreed because they just wanna keep touring, and now fans clamoring for the singer who didn't want to keep going is bringing up all sorts of frustration.

Still none of that changes how easy it would be to keep Matty in for touring and let Stephen stay in the studio. It's really a great plan until you make Matty the lead vocalist and not give fans the respect they deserve by being open.

Unless Stephen is just like, "I'm out for studio work too." But I really can't imagine him not being down to keep writing and recording for the band at least. It's just like, just let your fans know if he is.

 

so it really does boil down to Matty's vocals/lyrics making or breaking these two songs then, if the band had them already completed prior to him joining. i do remember Christian saying no versions of Stephen singing them exist because they "couldn't see Stephen singing them", but if it's the case they're just gonna primarily write with Matty, then there's probably a really strong chance Stephen won't really sing with them anymore unless it's a special occasion, which sucks.

again, i don't wanna approach new material with skepticism, but the times i've been impressed with Matty in any capacity have been very scarce (from my brief exposure to his other work). so if he's gonna be the primary vocalist, unless something changes and he somehow gets a hell of a lot better, i'm probably gonna be disappointed to some extent.

 

yeah this is pretty much what i gathered too. im pretty sure he records in his hometown with his producer from his church. he’s never really been involved in writing the music. i dunno why he couldn’t continue to do that for recorded material. it seems like maybe the rest of the band thought it wasn’t fair to matty to not let him sing his own songs?

 

Revisiting Nate and Tim from UO’s side project Carrollhood. Would take another ep from them over any new anberlin music. I loved these eps when they released and made it to the release show for the most recent one but it’s been a minute since playing them. Amazing and inventive stuff. Love that all 3 members sing.