A new recording from the June-July 2009 Avalanche Recording Sessions and the new CD about looking for the redeeming qualities in a person...despite their human flaws.
melodic
hard rock
classic rock
mainstream
original rock
political rock
arena rock
the road less traveled
songs with a message
avalanche hard rock band
michael foster
will there be tomorrow
Story behind the song
THE BEST OF ME
Copyright 2009 by Crystal Magic Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Recorded July 10, 2009 at ROUGH CUT STUDIO, Eastford, Conn.
Engineered by: Mark Easton.
Produced and Arranged by: Michael Foster.
Mixed by: Michael Foster at GOLDEN SUN STUDIO, North Palm Beach, Florida (July and August, 2009).
Mastered by: David Pendragon at THE STUDIO, Canberra Australia.
Music: Mark Easton and Michael Foster.
Lyrics: Mark Easton.
Michael Foster: Electric Guitar (Left), Harmony Vocal, Harmony Guitar, First Guitar Solo.
Mark Easton: Electric Guitar (Right), Lead Vocal, Harmony Guitar, Outro Solo.
Barry Easton: Drums.
Michael Corsini: Bass.
SONG INFO ON "THE BEST OF ME"
This was the final song that we came up with during the very last week of the 2009 Avalanche Recording Sessions at ROUGH CUT STUDIO in Connecticut. Mark Easton came into the studio with the basic chord and vocal idea...and after a few listens, I made a few changes to the original chords in order to give them a more up to date sound...essentially changing many of the minor chords to suspended ones. Once that was done...I arranged the rest of the song, added the guitar fills between the vocal lines, and added the two hard rock outro sections, as well as the harmony guitar sections to the arrangement. From there, the band began rehearsing it in it's finished form...and we actually recorded the basic tracks the very next day. Vocals and solos were actually overdubs (essential to proper mixing)...and they were recorded on the last day of the sessions. The harmony vocals were something I thought might work well with Mark's original vocal track as I heard Mark sing his part...and so after a few tries at it...it became obvious that they worked very well on this one...and so they were the last vocal thing we actually recorded this year. We have wanted to do more harmony vocals anyway...and we also felt that since we have two lead vocalists in Avalanche...it was overdue for us to do some songs with shared lead vocal chores. After hearing how this one came out...we're pretty sure that we'll be doing more of this kind of stuff in the future.
We are always concerned with preserving our musical identity...but this year I really felt the need to insist that we try a whole lot of new things...because an Avalanche that stops moving is just...a snowdrift. We worked harder this year on the writing, production, and arranging because of that...and I included the use of twin lead guitars sections to add texture to three of the new songs.
Mark and I also spent a lot of time on getting proper recording levels and mic placements this year...and the investment in that extra time and effort is immediately obvious to anyone who is familiar with our earlier recordings.
I also would like to thank David Pendragon for his friendship...and for his production assistance on this year's recordings. I added a few brand new drum microphones to our already quite extensive collection...(all the new ones were suggested by David)...which has greatly improved the clarity and presence of Barry's drums in all of this year's recordings. David and I have become very good friends over the past year. I had originally hired him to do the Mastering on our new CD in his studio in Australia...but we soon found that we really hit it off after speaking to each other a few times on the telephone...and as our friendship grew, I was also invited to play guitars on a couple of David's new projects. We now speak to each other very regularly on the telephone...almost every week, in fact. He has become a close friend...and an invaluable consultant and colleague to me. And all of us in the band now consider him to be a full member of the Avalanche team...and we're very happy to have him aboard.
Barring any unforseen obstacles...we hope to bring David to the United States for next year's Avalanche recording sessions...to serve as our Engineer and Production Consultant at ROUGH CUT
Lyrics
THE BEST OF ME
First Verse
Rain is pouring down...
Thunder all around....
I only hear the sound of my crying.
As I hear the cries....
I come to realize....
The sound is only my heart dying.
Chorus
All I ask of you....
Let me close to you....
Try and you'll see the best of me.
All I ask of you.....
Let me close to you....
Try and you'll see the rest of me.
Second Verse
Just the other day....
I watched you walk away....
With nothing left to say...I kept talking.
A vision dressed in white....
In my darkest night....
You came along...but kept on walking.
REPEAT CHORUS
SOLOS TO END.