Hey Adam: Welcome to the horribly frustrating world of home recording. I started recording about 2 years ago (at 31), and this sounds better than my first recordings. Nice tune too.
Now for the productive part:
Don't be afraid of the "pan" knob, LOL. This sounds like everything's pretty much right up the middle, which gives the recording a mono sound. Pan the lead offcenter a bit, and same thing with different vocal parts.
It sounds to me like the guitar was played without a pick. I'd recommend using a pick, because it gives a bunch of cool high end to the guitar that's not gonna' be there otherwise. If you are using a pick, maybe you need to change the strings, because the guitar sounds kinda' "dead."
Did you play the guitar at the same time you sang the lead vocal? If so, you might try recording them seperately so the guitar isn't quite so Accented with the vocal, if that makes any sense. With something like this, it almost requires a VERY steady, boring guitar part, even if it's just arpeggiated. If you tracked them seperately, you might try filling in the gaps in the guitar pattern with another guitar. In fact, I record a bunch of acoustic stuff, and my favorite method is to play the same thing 2X, as close as you can, pan one to the left and one to the right. It'll give a much better sense of "stereo," because nobody can play the 2 parts exactly the same, and the differences give the recording a much "bigger" space.
On your vocal, I liked the reverb a ton...what are you using? As far as the vocal itself, I think you might wanna' take another stab at parts of it...for example, the very first word "SOFT," you kinda' slid all around it before you landed...LOL. Also, on a lot of the "It's Love For Sure's", it's pretty obvious that you're reaching, but you're kinda' being quiet at the same time, so it's very VERY hard to pull it off in key. This'll sound lame when you read it, but you should try really forcefully singing those parts a few times before you hit the "R" button so that you're comfortable with it...and don't be afraid to really belt it out to warm up. Also, if you're recording the vocal with headphones on, try taking one ear off so you can kinda' hear yourself in the room...it makes you sing louder.
Another thing I've been doing lately (well, sometimes), is to set the track up, and record the vocal all the way through 3 times so that you can pick and choose the best lines out of each take. I don't know if that's even possible on the gear you're using though, so forgive my ignorance here.
Finally...did you record using some kind of metronome? I think that's really important on stuff like this, especially if there are breaks, so that you can sync up different tracks. The solo parts were kinda' out of sync, and there were some timing issues when you're using backup vocals. (e.g., 2:21)
IT'S LOVE FOR SURE @ 2:02, that vocal distorted. Same thing at 3:14 and 3:30 on "FOR".
Wow, I know this sounds like a ton of negative stuff, but I just really get off on trying to sound smart...LOL. Seriously, it's all pretty standard advice here, but it took me months to figure out a lot of the stuff I just typed; so I'm trying to help. Don't hate me.
Post lots,
Chris
