Aaron Cheney

[Royston]

Aaron,

I decided to listen to your song on mp3.com "Round and Round You" and I'm going to give you my honest unbiased opinion, if you flame me I'll never give an honest review ever again.

I found your song reminded me of the heavy rock bands of the mid 80's such as Ratt, Winger, Warrant etc. I know you say that you believe you are a talented songwriter, i found this song displayed no talent apart from the flawless performance and production. You are a gifted performer for sure but I found this song lacking originality and emotion.

The guitar riff borrows heavily from "Black Cat" by Janet Jackson (this may be unintentional) and the overall ambience is similar to that of an early Ratt song. I also found the lyrics to be uninspiring and mediocre, what does "Round and Round You" actually mean?

As i said before, you are very gifted as a guitarist and you carry a good tune with your voice. I just believe "Round and Round You" has little chance of success in the year 2001 if it were 1986 then I could see it happening, but the time has come and passed for that particular genre.

I hope you you don't take my review the wrong way and I'm sure other material you have sounds completely different.

Peace,

Royston

 

[Gidge]

Royston, if you have a problem with someone, you may need to take it to the cave..this isnt the place for this....we have a MP3 Mixing Clinic where people post their MP3's and ask for reviews....

 

[Royston]

I know Gidge, but this was the forum where Aaron was questioning his songwriting and asking for input, so I made an exception. I won't stray again

 

[Emeric]

Hey what's wrong with mid-80's (I havn't heard the song in quesiton)

Who the hell want's to sound like whats on the radio now?

If I classified my music it would probably fit into the bottom 500 circa 1973.

 

[Gidge]

Some people here might know already, but Im stuck in the 80's musically, so I wont go there...and it wasnt that you were responding to his request in the wrong place, so much...it was your technique of doing it...it seems really personal....and you are calling attention to it....just put up a frickin billboard next time...anyway, Im gonna drop it....

 

[Aaron Cheney]

Thanks.

I always appreciate it when anybody takes the time to listen to my music and comment on it.
I don't blame you a bit for making the '80's comparsons. It's impossible not to, especially when the title is the same as a Ratt song. I admit it, I cut my teeth on Def Leppard, Van Halen, RATT and the like.
Let me give you a little info on the song:
First off, I am not a stuck in the '80's at all. This hard rocker is only one song. I am as ecclectic as they come when it comes to songwriting, so I ask that you try not to pigeon-hole me as a rocker. In fact, this song is very different from most of the things I write. Listen to a few more of my songs as I post them and you will have a broader cross section of my music to judge from.
Secondly, I wasn't surprised at the Janet Jackson black cat reference. I'm never surprised at any musical comparisons. If it sounds like that, it was totally unintentional, but we are all given the same 12 notes to work with, and no matter what you do you're gonna end up w/ something similar to somebody.
Third, I'm very aware that this type of music is passe. In fact, the heavy guitar riff is such a musical cliche that most people are just plain tired of it. I'm not hoping for this song to make me famous. I write songs for my own amusement first and formost. When I wrote this particular song, I did it because I thought it would be fun to write an '80's style song. If you log on my site now, can also download a '70's style funk song and a couple acoustic pop songs.
The only part of your comments that even bothered me at all was:
"I also found the lyrics to be uninspiring and mediocre, what does "Round and Round You" actually mean? "

The lyrics are comparing the attraction of the planets and such to the attraction of a man to a woman.

Lines such as "The gravity of you and me, the motion of the stars" or "a new distraction that holds me in your strange attraction" ( a strange attractor is a scientific and mathematic..... aw, nevermind).
The chorus makes it clear I think:
"You keep me burning bright just like a satelite, You make me go 'round and 'round you
You pull me in and put me in a spin, You make me go 'round and 'round you."
If it's not clear by the bridge, then those lyrics should make it unmistakeable:
"Caught in your magnetoshpere, captured in your spell. Take me far away from here and fly me. Spinning in your stratosphere like a crazy carousel. I'm burning in your atmosphere so fly me."
Anyway, I remain satisfied w/ the lyrics. If anything, perhaps the references are too obsure for most people to get. I'll give it some thought.
I must thank you for you appraisal of my production skills and musicianship though. I knew the song was destined for obscurity even as I was writing it. But it gave me a chance to exercise the other skills, which will still be working for me for a long time to come. (Plus, the way I figure it, the '70's are back again right now, so by 2015, I could be practicing my Grammy acceptance speech for the hit single 'Round and 'Round You.)
In a way, it's refreshing to hear such a negative viewpoint. It's a break from the constant positive feedback you get from relatives and friends.
If anything, maybe this will motivate others to check out my music. I post a new song just about every month, and I have a new album scheduled for release in November.
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com

 

[Royston]

Aaron,

You are a scholar and a gentleman, I can see that you care about what others think.
On reflection, I think my comments about the lyrics were incorrect, I couldn't hear them all clearly and jumped to the conclusion that they were banal and insipid, when quite clearly they are not. I appreciate you not flaming me because I personally prefer constructive criticism than blind praise. And as I stated on my post, I accepted that you must have completely different songs in all genres.

If we ever meet I'll be sure to buy you a pint of lager.

Best Wishes,

Roy

 

[Royston]

For you 80's fans!

I too enjoy a lot of music from the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.

Some of my favourite bands are from the 80's such as:

The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Duran Duran, Adam Ant, B 52's, Stone Roses, Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, The Cult, Sisters of Mercy, Guns n Roses, Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Violent Femmes, Motley Crue, Ozzy etc.


When I was a teenager I too was totally into all the hair bands, such as Poison, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Warrant, Bang Tango, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Ac Dc etc. Once I reached my twenties though, I realized that hair band music really wasn't for me and as I have gotten older I find that I have difficulty in relating to the 80's hair bands and almost feel embarrased that I liked the music.

Do any others share my opinion?

Roy

 

[Aaron Cheney]

Here's what I can offer

Sounds great to me.

An honest opinion is a valuable thing. I have gotten ripped on GarageBand.com a few times for my honest opinions, and I've never understood why people expect everyone who hears their songs to fall in love w/ them. What a boring planet this would be if we all liked the same things.

As far as the '80's, I know exactly what you're talking about! I hate it when people start talking about what concerts they've been to, and I'm forced to admit I've seen Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Ratt, and Dokken. Oh, and worst of all, Twisted Sister. Was that really me?!

It seems like I've seen every '80's band except the one I wished I'd seen most: The Police. Why, oh why did I not go see the Synchronicity tour!?

By the way, thanks for trip down memory lane w/ some of those band names. Wow! How about Autograph, Men at Work, Flock of Seagulls?

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com

 

[Emeric]

Culture Club, Dead or Alive, Cyndi Lauper, man the 80's rocked!

Def Leppard, Whitesnake, The Cult were about the only current bands I got into way back when. (remember Kingdom Come?)

80's had a lot to offer though, especially in the not so heavy music like, Simple Minds, Mr. Mister. Hated those bands then, but now I got a lot of respect for them.

Twisted Sister? Man that would be blast.. Quiet Riot was another popular one at the time.. Seems there were more rock bands then, then their are now. Must be the boy/girl band saturation.

 

[Aaron Cheney]

Here's what I can offer

You know, all this kind of touches on another facet of my original post: What makes a good song?
Obviously, the song I wrote, 'Round and 'Round You, as well as many of the band's songs we're talking about now, sound very dated.
But other artists have either managed to write songs that are timeless or find other ways to stay relevant. What makes a song timeless?
Is it strictly a matter of effects processing and instrumentation? i.e. big guitars = '80's. Samples a la Duran Duran or cheesy synth sounds = '80's. The "Vedder" = '90's. The Cher vocoder effect will probably be looked at as a '00's sound.
But the Beatle's stuff does not meet today's recording standards, and yet it still doesn't sound dated. I mean, you can still identify it w/ a particular era, but it doesn't sound tired and old. There's just some component in there that's hard to quantify. Same w/ the Police/Sting. Led Zepplin? Hendrix? Simon & Garfunkle? Early Elvis? Am I pushing it? Other bands?
I'm not sure I hear any current popular music that I would think has a chance at being timeless.
What do you think?
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com

 

[rats]

Royston: I'm with you man on the 80's music thing. I still like a lot of the punk and more obscure stuff from the 80's but I also liked some of the hair bands like Ratt, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, and Metallica. I did as well grow out of that. I'm glad you gave an honest critique, I try to do that from time to time and someone always has to start crying about it (right Gidge ? ) so I'm gald there is someone else speaking their mind.

Although I admit I haven't listened to Aaron's song yet, it seems only fair that if someone asks for your opinion on their song, that you should be able to give it regardless of if it's good or bad. Granted you should be polite about it if possible.

I've raised this topic in threads gone by, and a common response has been, "what is to gain by telling someone their song sucks?" Well my response to that is, what is there to gain by not telling them? It's like walking around with a booger hanging out of your nose that noone will tell you is there.

Granted a music style my not be your cup of tea, but I think there are general guidelines in music as an art that can be shared and either taken as a grain of salt, or as helpful advise. I think that there are enough people who know music around to know that if you're playing a song geared to a Country and Western crowd that maybe all the feedback and cock rock soloing may not be effective (unless of course you're gearing towrds that county and western cock rock crowd), etc.

My opinion is that if you are insecure or sensitive about having your song reviewed, then you should mention that in your post, and let the truth be known.

I personally appreciate good constructive criticism from a reliable source.

 

[Royston]

Modern Day Quality Music

I going to list a few bands that have released albums in the last few years, to prove that good music has not died :

Radiohead - Kid A (still nice stuff) rel 2001
Doves - Lost Souls (Great British Band) rel. 2000
Cibo Matto - Stereotype A - (Sean Lennon's girlfriends's band) rel 1999
Elliott Smith - Figure 8 (beatlesque folk/rock) rel 2000
Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic (retro-modern indie rock) rel 1997
Mansun - Attack of the grey lantern (post-modern indie rock) rel 1996
The The - Naked Self (still going strong) rel 1999
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (brutal female rock) rel 1994
Jeff Buckley - Grace (sheer genius) rel 1994
Luscious Jackson - Fever In Fever Out (dance rock) rel 1997
Dainis - Elektra Brown (floydesque solo artist) rel 2000

I think there is some hope for modern music yet, especially with the internet helping many unheard of artists get their music out. I particularly like the new rock that is melded with good quality dance music , such as Cibo Matto, Luscious Jackson, Portishead, Shamen, Stereolab, Air etc.

 

[Marty Joe]

newbie opinion

Anytime somebody puts themselves on the line by displaying their music or playing original music live, the person performing is putting themselves on display. I think it is important to give respect to the creator. A lot of time and soul are put into the creative process. A sincere, honest review is important for the creator.

 

[Marty Joe]

Even though this isn't the place for this. I am impressed with Aaron's website and his outlay of accessible songs, songs, and downloads.

I listened to Round and Round you. I enjoyed it very much. In the realm of music, I believe there are no set rules. It may sound like 80's but then it may not. It is what it is. I like your writing angles and how they merge with your chorus. I will not get in depth because this isn't the place. Rock on.