Shinedown. Not a fan but heard something interesting tonight

[Heritage Softail]

So this guy that hangs out at one of the watering holes I frequent is a roadie....

He said that Shinedown uses recorded guitar tracks live....

Almost all of the live guitars...

I know nothing about the band....

I don't really know the guy...

I don't know if he is for real or not....

Sounds like perfectly solid grounds to slag a band with a baseless comment on a public forum.

Kinda like asking someone if they are still gay.

 

[glip22]

Zach Myers can play. I really doubt he's fake. The guy takes an acoustic out and jams all the time. Nothing too difcult but he can play and solo live. He doesn't need to fake it.

 

[Lord Toneking]

Remember there's 3 sides to every story so I wouldn't put the roadies word into gold. Maybe some tracks but ALL the guitars? Did the guy have any axe to grind with Shinedown?

Hey man he heard it from a guy in a bar, whats not to believe?

Maybe more believable if he was at the grocery store maybe?

 

[Mudder]

Shinedown is all about the vocals anyway. If it's a good show I wouldn't be upset.

 

[Mizati20]

Saw Shinedown recently... my after leaving the show my entire band without mentioning anything to each other during the show almost all at once said the vocals were on a backing track... they were just TOO perfect... I mean, it was flawless and the guy was running around singing in weird positions etc... theres absolutely no way a HUGE portion of the main vocals weren't on a backing track...

The guitar sounded fine and the guy played his fucking ass off...

 

[glip22]

Saw Shinedown recently... my after leaving the show my entire band without mentioning anything to each other during the show almost all at once said the vocals were on a backing track... they were just TOO perfect... I mean, it was flawless and the guy was running around singing in weird positions etc... theres absolutely no way a HUGE portion of the main vocals weren't on a backing track...

The guitar sounded fine and the guy played his fucking ass off...

Well there you go but not the guitars. That sucks if Brent is lip synching his shows. Lame Dude has a powerful voice. I guess he wants to preserve it. Sounds like he does from the comments.


http://www.shinedown.com/forum/i-cant-b ... lipsyncing

 

[glassjaw7]

Yeah, it adds to the live show alright.

People are ridiculous.

Not sure who that's directed at... I don't see a problem with bands doing this if it fills in an integral part of a song that can't be recreated live. Guess I don't see what the big deal is, but I'm talking more about parts like three part harmonies, synth stuff...basically parts that were added in production that can't easily be recreated by the band unless they have a guy on keys/synth.

However, I do think it is lame if it's just for the sake of sounding "better", like auto-tune, etc. My buddy told me a long time ago that Angus Young does this for his live guitar tracks and at the time I had never heard of or realized that bands could even mix live/pre-recorded tracks and I thought he was nuts. Now I wouldn't doubt it. Maybe that's how he can move around like a school girl on acid while playing! Or he's just really got it down.

IMHO if you need extra vocals, instruments, whatever, then hire extras for the tour. I saw Poison a while back and that is what they did, they had a keyboard player and a couple of backup singers. Live means live, I do not want to see a band pretend to play their songs, that sucks.

I see where you're coming from, believe me. Ten years ago I would've ripped any band apart for doing any of this but now I just don't care as much. I guess I can see past it if it's used sparingly and not as a crutch. I know what you mean though. It is sort of fake and there's a fine line between beefing up your live show and just being completely artificial.

 

[benduncan]

ok, i admit it, the cowbell in my live show is....on a backing track

i cant help it, everyone keeps asking for more cowbell..

 

[Mudder]

ok, i admit it, the cowbell in my live show is....on a backing track

i cant help it, everyone keeps asking for more cowbell..

Hey man, you gotta multitrack that cowbell, make it riiiiiinnnnnngggggg.

 

[fek]

So this guy that hangs out at one of the watering holes I frequent is a roadie....

He said that Shinedown uses recorded guitar tracks live....

Almost all of the live guitars...

I know nothing about the band....

I don't really know the guy...

I don't know if he is for real or not....

Sounds like perfectly solid grounds to slag a band with a baseless comment on a public forum.

Kinda like asking someone if they are still gay.

I wasn't slagging anyone and I clearly stated that there were no solid conclusions to be drawn from what I heard. Many others came in and said that it is common practice for this to happen. Another came in and said that they heard from a credible source that they don't play very well.

I can't say that I have even heard more than one Shinedown song and really don't care either way. I just found it interesting to hear that and even more interesting how common it is these days for this to happen.

 

[steve_k]

I saw Shinedown back in '06 before they reached 'Super' status. Definitely didn't sound like they used pre-recorded tracks for anything, and they played/sang damn well. Saw them again a year ago, and I couldn't tell any different. Overall, I think it's a shame that bands use pre-recorded tracks.

I understand supplement tracks, but if you're going to Milli Vanilli the whole show, you don't deserve my attention, or my $$ for tickets to your show, alubms, etc.



But if you're forced to fake a performance for a TV show, there is no better way to do it than Muse did:

Same drummer?

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

I don't know about Shinedown, but my former drummer tours now, opening for national acts and he has told me this is 100% true about most popular rock bands today. ...Even Rush. Sorry, but I believe him, he's seen it, and his own band does it. It's just the way it goes these days.

 

[steve_k]

I don't know about Shinedown, but my former drummer tours now, opening for national acts and he has told me this is 100% true about most popular rock bands today. ...Even Rush. Sorry, but I believe him, he's seen it, and his own band does it. It's just the way it goes these days.

Well, Rush isn't hiding anything. They've put it out there that they play over pre-recorded backing tracks for some stuff.

But, for Shinedown, it isn't the music they are playing that requires it. Not sure why they would feel the need to. Maybe Brent needs a little auto-pitch from time to time. I know they didn't when the band first came out of Jacksonville. I just saw them last year at a festival in Germany and I was in the Snake Pit for Metallica. Brett's vocals were spot on but I didn't notice anything looped or backed from the guitarist.

 

[glip22]

I don't know about Shinedown, but my former drummer tours now, opening for national acts and he has told me this is 100% true about most popular rock bands today. ...Even Rush. Sorry, but I believe him, he's seen it, and his own band does it. It's just the way it goes these days.

Well, Rush isn't hiding anything. They've put it out there that they play over pre-recorded backing tracks for some stuff.

But, for Shinedown, it isn't the music they are playing that requires it. Not sure why they would feel the need to. Maybe Brent needs a little auto-pitch from time to time. I know they didn't when the band first came out of Jacksonville. I just saw them last year at a festival in Germany and I was in the Snake Pit for Metallica. Brett's vocals were spot on but I didn't notice anything looped or backed from the guitarist.

True. Rush doesn't hide anything. They play over various tracks to add dimension to their live sound.They use various vocal enhancements as well. Neils drums are computerized when he wishes the effects. Geddy's voice is 100% live even if he is having a little trouble. Auto tune is a good idea for Brett and Zach can play. Bretts vocal are no easy feat as he sings with power. No way can he do that for long so maybe he is conserving but he should find a better way than cheating the fans. The guy can sing.

 

[reverymike]

I've played with Shinedown on several bills, and the answer is YES, they are using quite a few protools tracks in their live show. Vocals, guitars, etc. They're used to thicken things up and create that massive sound - and to make it much more like the recordings. They play along with the tracks. I'm sure a good amount of the performance is still live, but there is no doubt in my mind, they would sound considerably different if they were playing completely live as a 4 piece band.

That being said, the vast majority of bands at that level all do the same.

 

[Webb]

I don't know about the guitars, but Brent is without a doubt mailing in his performances these days. I've seen Shinedown multiple times...little dive places after the release of their first cd to larger full scale recent shows. He is a great singer and never used to lip-sync, but somewhere around the time of "Us and Them", his voice became completely shot. It's painfully obvious that he is not singing live anymore.

Here is a good example...listen to the chorus in each (fast forward to about the one minute mark). It's easy to see which one he is actually singing on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNf2ibB216Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE7KwarjJNw

 

[MississippiMetal]

You tour for 7 years straight and your voice will be fucked too. Unfortunately it gets to a point where the machine is rolling and can't be stopped, so you do what you have to do to keep your part of it going. When people say the music biz is tough, this is partly what they are talking about.

 

[Mailman1971]

I remember seeing David Lee Roth on the Eat Em and Smile tour...
looked up in the rafters and saw a 2nd guitarist that was also playing keyboards.
Sorta was shocked.....but it was all live so no biggie.

 

[glip22]

You tour for 7 years straight and your voice will be fucked too. Unfortunately it gets to a point where the machine is rolling and can't be stopped, so you do what you have to do to keep your part of it going. When people say the music biz is tough, this is partly what they are talking about.

No way he could have kept that up. Not sure what the right thing to do for the fans is though. Its obvious, so shouldn't he just make it public or keep taking his fan's money. I really am not sure what the right answer is but I will never pay to see him now.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Remember there's 3 sides to every story so I wouldn't put the roadies word into gold. Maybe some tracks but ALL the guitars? Did the guy have any axe to grind with Shinedown?

Hey man he heard it from a guy in a bar, whats not to believe?

LMAOOOOOOO