I realy enjoy this song! For example how you Combine "Metalle" and "Pop" ...
It sounds like very much effort...
Also, I want to ask where i couldt download/buy this song because I also want to hear this Mobile...
I hope you'll answere and I'm interessted for more ;)
Hope this English wasn't that bad ^^
Reviews for "Wake the Dawn"
Really great and relaxing song! The lyrics are also good! But why cant i download this song? I wanna hear it whenever i feel sad coz this song just makes me feel relaxed when hearing to it. :)
This is an NGADM 2015 Review.
This round kills me a little inside, because this song is just so good… and so is Midi’s. It’s quite shocking how well matched the two are, when they’re so stylistically disparate.
I suppose what I’m saying is that this song is amazing. Amazing compositionally, amazingly sung and produced, quite well mixed and mastered, exciting and effective structurally. Not only that, but it’s very memorable and quite instantly catchy. In the last few days, I’ve had this in my head a surprising amount, especially the part at 1:32. Both- no, all four of you, are very talented. This is an epic project, and it feels massive and impressive in scale.
I find this track extremely "grabbing". The simple, uplifting melodies and chord progressions are fantastic and well executed, and another aspect that I find so important to how I analyze this track, is the sheer size of it all. You’ve got four singers, fully written lyrics, multiple instruments (most or all of which were physically recorded, I imagine. I mean, you could have used a piano VST or something, but it doesn’t sound like it to me.) The obvious amount of effort that has gone into this, even at a glance, was almost reason enough for me to swing in favor of your track. I suppose there were some things that held me back, like a few production nitpicks. But other than that, this is an incredibly solid, near flawless piece; and I love it!
The lyrics, once again, are really good. In my opinion, they weren’t as strong as in The Prodigal. I felt perhaps that some of the single syllable words covering multiple notes were a little unnatural, like “may our feet be-e” for example, but not terribly so. That’s a nitpick if there ever was one, haha. I definitely enjoyed a lot of the harmonies more and I think in general the *vocals* (as opposed to lyrics) themselves were stronger. They were clearer, and in general fit more appropriately into the mix. There were a few moments where I thought they should be a little louder, but honestly… no instances of this are worth mentioning. The levels in general are great!
The mix in general is great as well. There is almost nothing that sticks out to me as out of place, too soft or too loud. I suppose the snare might be a little loud in the quieter parts, such as 01:44 to 02:10, but just *barely*. The mastering is strong and transparent, and the song feels pretty even across the spectrum. There’s even a bunch of nice stereo stuff going on as well, lots of small subtleties that are absolutely gorgeous… especially when I actively pay attention to them. It’s too easy to tune that stuff out for me nowadays, because unless I’m actively analyzing a song I miss a lot of the small stuff like that. Great work!
There’s so much to praise about this song, and so little to criticize. Despite some difficult decisions and how close everything was, I definitely think this track deserved to win. I think Midi’s did as well, so I guess I’m glad that one of them won, lol. I guess it came down to some subjectivism and some going with my gut.
Overall an amazing song, from some amazing people. You two dudes make an amazing team. Congratulations on First Place!
bassfiddlejones responds:
Geoplex, thanks a ton man. We've really enjoyed your reviews and your levelheadedness about the whole competition. I'm also really happy we could impress someone with a huge EDM background! I agree the lyrics weren't as strong as our previous piece - they did not come as naturally and I had to work out a few parts painstakingly over a few days (lyrics are hard man!) - but I'm still pretty happy with them (though the syllable things are something Josh and I went back and forth about for a fair amount of time, haha). Like I mentioned below, Josh was able to use his studio monitors/room to mix this, so I think the vocals came out a little clearer. Also, my wife singing the main melody provided a different range that kind of soars above mix a little more easily than my own vocals do.
Thanks a ton man for the score and feedback, we're super excited to take first place in our first year competing ! :D look for more from us in the future!
(oh, and yes everything was recorded live except the drums and piano. The piano is actually a mix of two VST's that give it a really natural feel)
Im only listening to through laptop speakers at the moment so I cant completely review it, but from what I hear it sounds really good. Sounds like a lot of effort was put into it. It's weird how it only has that may views, I think it deserves to be heard by a lot more people.
bassfiddlejones responds:
Thanks man! I would certainly like for it to be heard by many more people, haha.
This is an NGADM Round 5 Review
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You, sirs, have been rocking this contest since the start. Every round you had an extremely memorable, distinguishable track, and each one was so well-produced, well-executed, and well-written. This was, above all, an incredibly well-deserved first place.
What I respect the most about this track would be the scale of it all. Once again we've got four talented vocalists in here, and on top of that there's actually a lot of detail and variation that can be found in elements of the mix like the guitar and vocals. In addition to that, you have a tried-and-true song structure, climactic ending, and emotionally uplifting melody, which makes this a VERY fulfilling and satisfactory listening experience. Production-wise, this is also no slacker! I much prefer how you mixed the vocals here than in your previous track, and everything is clear and pronounced. Some specific things I loved about this would be the thick vocal harmonies, dreamy texture on the guitar, 2:53's rhythmic change, and of course the beautiful lead vocal performance.
Like I was saying to midimachine in his review, finding issues in these tracks was a huge problem for me, even after over a dozen listens to each. I eventually settled on complaining about the fact that this is... I dunno, safe? If I had to compare this to the other tracks you've submitted to the contest, it's decidedly more straightforward, with a cookie-cutter pop structure, standard uplifting key change at the end, and mostly simple composition. I hardly care because of how WELL you executed everything, though. This is me nitpicking a track which I consider among the best that this year's contest has to offer.
Truly brilliant work to you all, not just for this track but for the five excellent tracks you've graced our ears with. Congrats on being the first team in NGADM history to land first place, and thanks for the wonderful music!
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SCORE: 9.8/10
bassfiddlejones responds:
Step, my man. It has been quite a journey, and we're super ecstatic to have even made it this far let alone take the win! I agree with you that (generally) the composition aspect is more simple than some other stuff we've done (I mean, we didn't use 3 key signatures and 5 time signatures like Vanquish the Night, haha). But we put probably an equal amount of time into it. Josh actually mixed this on his studio monitors this time (he had been using slightly above average computer/laptop speakers for the previous rounds since his studio is no longer in his home). Thanks for all the work you put into this Step! (even putting LunacyEcho's track up on the front page instead of yours, :P I see what you did there)
It has been an honor!