New Arc Of Life - Don't Look Down - Nov 18

[John Vehadija]

There is a video out now, it actually helped for me to like the song more

[Ash Armstrong]

That is truly terrible. And the lyrics? Well, good grief, why?

[Mr. Holland]

That is truly terrible. And the lyrics? Well, good grief, why?

....but tell us how you really feel! 😉

[Ash Armstrong]

....but tell us how you really feel! 😉

I did manage to avoid any references to excrement. Well, until now anyway.

[pjt]

Well if this is shit, then I'm proud to be one of the flies that enjoy it. So Ash, please enlighten me what it is you really like, so I can happily call it shit. Not in spite, but since our tastes differ in consuming excrement, we for sure like different shit.

[Ash Armstrong]

Well if this is shit, then I'm proud to be one of the flies that enjoy it. So Ash, please enlighten me what it is you really like, so I can happily call it shit. Not in spite, but since our tastes differ in consuming excrement, we for sure like different shit.

Why? What would be the point?

I frequently post about my day to day listening on the Current Listening thread, so feel free to take a look and say what you like about it. It won't change anything.

[soundchaser09]

I think with prog it can sometimes take a few times to truly gel with it anyway, and actually I find myself enjoying the song more than I did initially. It still isn't Yes standards but its a nice piece all the same. I appreciate Billy for leading these Yes side projects over the past couple of decades.

[Yesed]

I think with prog it can sometimes take a few times to truly gel with it anyway, and actually I find myself enjoying the song more than I did initially. It still isn't Yes standards but its a nice piece all the same. I appreciate Billy for leading these Yes side projects over the past couple of decades.

But on this, I'd take Billy leading on vocals, over JD.

[luvyesmusic]

I am generally not a lyric guy when it comes to prog, but the lyrics are indeed pretty lame in my opinion.

The music is pretty good, and these guys are beyond knowledgeable in writing songs, lyrics, music, and even voice-noises/instrumentation, but this song isn't even cutting bait with what is presented here in lyrical firm. Not by a long shot.

Bravo for doing something different, perhaps they are stretching the genre doing something different, but in my humble opinion, the lyrics just get in the way so much, that it is impossible to ignore them. Not the best formulated song to put out there as the first single? Perhaps I am not giving it time to build on me. The first album, just a few quick listens and it was a pass. I am usually adamant about supporting all the guys, with all their production and output. I don't have time to let it build on me, but then, again, all the stuff the young kids listen to sounds far, far worse for the most part. I was wonderfully surprised when my daughter played a newer Harry Stylesl song that was really well produced, with a song which sounded like bits and pieces, and technics were stolen, so perhaps doing something completely different, is the original they are going for. Bravo for making an album. In this day in age you have to make a song where there are stupid sounds made so that people don't need to know the lyrics to sing a long, and even better ( sales-wise seems to be quite lucrative ) , if you are a black artist drop the n-word several times, demean and talk vulgar about women, insult the police. But Lord help you if you are a bunch of college white woman ( or men) who are the biggest consumers , and you are caught on video, on a team bus, singing songs that are platinum.

[The Whale]

Yeah I was going to give Ash some crap, but if I'm being honest after a hand full of listens and watching that video this does absolutely nothing for me. I'm glad others can enjoy it though.

[True]

I wonder why they made this video. Billy Sherwood looks positively exhausted.
I enjoyed watching Haun play his runs there. Jay Schellen looks engaged. Kerzner looks thoroughly bored, as if he knows something is not quite right but he likes all of the guys in the ensemble so he's agreed to give it a go.
Does anyone think the vocal effect at about the 5 minute mark sounds like the same effect as the "one eight hundred" vocal effect at the end of Fortune Seller?

[luna65]

This would have been so much better as just a lyric video, yikes!

I kind of like it? But on the other hand, there's something about it which is utterly disposable. It's like the prog version of fast fashion or something.

[Soundwaveseeker]

With this video/song, I'd have to ask myself a few questions.

Do I like it? Yes.
Does it break new ground? No.
Is it Yessy? A little.
Is the music played well? Yes.
Are the lyrics great? No.
Does it bother you if the lyrics are cliche or not witty/poignant/metaphor-laden etc.? No.
Is the video great? No. It's ok, it serves a purpose to let people know such a song/band/album/project exists.
Does the video look like two dozen other lyric videos for prog/prog metal bands on labels like Insideout etc? Yes. Its a thing these days.
Do you like Billy Sherwood music/Circa/World Trade/Conspiracy etc? Yes.
Is this the best Billy Sherwood material you've heard? No.
Is this the most disappointing/worse Sherwood material? No.
Is it good rock for the car, drivin' around? Yes.
Did the song sound good when you played it for the first time at the beach recently? Yes.
Was the sky orangey when you did so? Yes, otherwise I woulda waited.
Do you like rockin' Yes stuff like Big Generator, Trevor Rabin, White, Asia, John Payne etc? Yes.
Will you get the album when it comes out? Yes.
Will you listen to it once or only a few times before throwing onto the pile/cd rack and not get back to it for a long while? Depends. I hope not.
Does it bother me that others think this song is a steaming pile of horse/cow/antelope/dog/(insert animal) feces/upchuck/swill/other foul substance? No.
Is it such a thing? Yes, to some, I'm sure, but music is an individual experience. Even if we all listen together, we really hear all separately, everyone is different.
Is it worthy to be on a Yes album? No. It's it own thing and would have to be 'Yessed' considerably to be Yes.
Would you see Arc Of Life live? Sure.
Are you glad Arc Of Life and other side projects exist? Yes.
Can you think of any other questions to ask yourself? Not at the moment.

[luvyesmusic]

With this video/song, I'd have to ask myself a few questions.

Do I like it? Yes.
Does it break new ground? No.
Is it Yessy? A little.
Is the music played well? Yes.
Are the lyrics great? No.
Does it bother you if the lyrics are cliche or not witty/poignant/metaphor-laden etc.? No.
Is the video great? No. It's ok, it serves a purpose to let people know such a song/band/album/project exists.
Does the video look like two dozen other lyric videos for prog/prog metal bands on labels like Insideout etc? Yes. Its a thing these days.
Do you like Billy Sherwood music/Circa/World Trade/Conspiracy etc? Yes.
Is this the best Billy Sherwood material you've heard? No.
Is this the most disappointing/worse Sherwood material? No.
Is it good rock for the car, drivin' around? Yes.
Did the song sound good when you played it for the first time at the beach recently? Yes.
Was the sky orangey when you did so? Yes, otherwise I woulda waited.
Do you like rockin' Yes stuff like Big Generator, Trevor Rabin, White, Asia, John Payne etc? Yes.
Will you get the album when it comes out? Yes.
Will you listen to it once or only a few times before throwing onto the pile/cd rack and not get back to it for a long while? Depends. I hope not.
Does it bother me that others think this song is a steaming pile of horse/cow/antelope/dog/(insert animal) feces/upchuck/swill/other foul substance? No.
Is it such a thing? Yes, to some, I'm sure, but music is an individual experience. Even if we all listen together, we really hear all separately, everyone is different.
Is it worthy to be on a Yes album? No. It's it own thing and would have to be 'Yessed' considerably to be Yes.
Would you see Arc Of Life live? Sure.
Are you glad Arc Of Life and other side projects exist? Yes.
Can you think of any other questions to ask yourself? Not at the moment.

YES to all the above! Great post, with some humor is always appreciated by me.

We support all these guys. Do we like everything they do? Absolutely not. Do I enjoy the opportunity to see any of these guys and their offshoots. Absolutely!

[bondegezou]

Is this the best Billy Sherwood material you've heard? No.
Is this the most disappointing/worse Sherwood material? No.

Should I ask Soundwaveseeker what the best Billy Sherwood material they've heard is? Yes.
Should I ask Soundwaveseeker what the most disappointing/worse Sherwood material they've heard is? Yes.