I found this cd that we recorded back when we were changing from sffirehydrant to Coat Of Arms. Our singer was sick, and sounds like shit on it, and there were really no lyrics yet, so half the words are made up on the spot and don't make sense. Also, our old bass player is on it, and he messes up a lot, but he also sometimes does some really cool shit. These were all done live just for us to listen to, so everything was one take, and there was no post production other than a little phaser I added at the beginning of Reigned On. I'm posting it because I like parts of it, and I want people to hear it. Parts are really bad though, so it's ok to laugh. I do.
1 -
Forget These Shots - This is on our final album, but much more well done, obviously. The lyrics aren't finished here, and Matt completely messed up the end. The lyrics are supposed to be: "One time, we'll make a pact: Leave by the light of dawn, and lose what's around our necks or crosshairs will keep us strong." What comes out sounds like, "One time, around my neck: Poopstains around my neck. Drugs, yeah, will keep me strong. Drugs they have kept me strong."
2 -
Screen Looker - We used to call this song "Dun dun dana" because that's what the first riff sounds like. We used to play FPS games on tour a lot though, and we'd call people out on screen looking, so we named it Screen Looker. Note the bad bass notes and screams. Lyrical laughs: "When I'm alone, I'm feeling lonely. When I'm alone, I'm feeling lucky." We dropped this song after we wrote more, because it just wasn't as good.
3 -
Weak and You Lie - There was a band around here called A Week In July, and they were assholes. So, we wrote a song about them being dicks. I think we were going to change the title to "Strictly Business." This song ended up having some of my favorite lyrics, but you wouldn't be able to tell from this recording. The instrumental section in the middle is sweet, and we actually did record this for our album, but we broke up before it was finished. I have the instrumental track, if anyone wants it. It's worth it for the middle. Again, note the bad bass notes.
4 -
Secret Show - Another one that made it to the album, but here it is in it's embryonic state. The end is in 5/4, but I used to play a 4/4 drum part over it. I thought it was cool, until I heard it on this recording. It doesn't make much sense, and was overly complicated, so I immediately changed it.
5 -
Reigned On - This one had a few major changes to it in the final version. Aside from the words being really fucked in this version, (like the rest,) the double time sections in the second part and the ending were swapped with less-frantic half-time. Bass player fucking up again. You can really tell that Matt is sick in this one. He's sort of giving up. lol.
We've been talking about getting together and recording the last 3 songs that we ever wrote, as well as doing a version of Weak And You Lie. Medic was a song about people dying in war, (Nouman,) and had an awesome 7/8 bridge. Encore was our heaviest song, and had some 5/4 mixed meter in there, as well as Dan doing his power metal voice. I don't remember much about the other one, but I have videos of us playing it. I'm in the process of trying to rip the sound from VHS, so we'll see how that goes.
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