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Post by hooligan on Aug 10, 2014 22:14:37 GMT
I heard that there are several demos from the IYNB era floating around. These include demos of Satellites (including one where Rik sings), Today, as well as unreleased songs such as Effortless Now (whose title phrase appears in the lyrics of a later song that I can't remember now) and Fear Fighter. Does anyone have these demos, preferably in FLAC? Thanks! EDIT: The song that references Effortless Now is I Can't Come Down ("And letting go, is effortless now")
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Post by willow on Aug 10, 2014 23:34:11 GMT
Is Effortless now just the demo of ICCD? If so, that's in the iTunes store.
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Post by hooligan on Aug 11, 2014 23:59:11 GMT
I doubt that Effortless Now is a demo of ICCD. Even though I have no way of verifying this, most likely ICCD borrows a lyric from Effortless Now, much like SAM did from the prehistoric demo Say It with Bombs.
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Post by joshwood on Aug 12, 2014 2:06:24 GMT
Effortless Now actually kind of is a demo of I Can't Come Down - pretty much the same exact verse, completely different chorus, longer song, poppier, more fun...I tend to think Effortless Now is actually better than ICCD, even though I do have a soft spot for Rik's short, simple guitar solo in ICCD.
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Post by joshwood on Aug 12, 2014 2:23:46 GMT
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Post by nowimnobody on Aug 12, 2014 13:58:21 GMT
Wow, that's quite the treasure trove. I'm having all of it! Thanks man.
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Post by tomw on Aug 12, 2014 16:10:58 GMT
Aye, hats off Josh. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by hooligan on Aug 12, 2014 17:51:28 GMT
Thank you very much joshwood! Really enjoying that version of Too many times with the In the End coda. Two of my favorite songs in one!
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Post by hooligan on Aug 12, 2014 17:58:13 GMT
I heard that Embrace recorded a song for the Fireworks greatest hits album. They apparently even made a video for it (perhaps it was to be a single). Does anyone know what song this is?
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Post by joshwood on Aug 12, 2014 18:08:08 GMT
I heard that Embrace recorded a song for the Fireworks greatest hits album. They apparently even made a video for it (perhaps it was to be a single). Does anyone know what song this is? It's called the The Day the Radio Broke My Heart. Danny wrote about it on his blog: "This is such a pervasive myth that bands who write their own songs do it in reverse too. They think that if they stop caring about putting their own soul into their work it will have a broader appeal. We almost did it ourselves on our singles collection, we recorded a song called “The Day The Radio Broke My Heart”. We gave ourselves a week to write and record a single for the album, and though I still love the title the song wasn’t very good. Fortunately our record company told us to get a grip and we never released it."
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Post by hooligan on Aug 12, 2014 18:23:45 GMT
In the same blog post, Danny writes:
"Bands can make the mistake of thinking that because most of the stuff on mainstream radio is middle of the road, they have to aim at the blandest lowest common denominator in order to write a single. In fact the polar opposite is the truth. To get deathless pop you have to go right out there, be brave put your soul, your arse on the line. And whether that’s just a piano vocal like Adele’s “Someone Like You” or the Nero/Skrillex pop hit “Promises” it can be anything, everything but safe."
Does anyone else find this funny? If Embrace really wanted to "be brave put [their] soul, [their] arse on the line" when they released singles, they wouldn't have put out poppy, MOR singles like FYH and I Run.
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Post by wootoo on Aug 13, 2014 10:55:31 GMT
I largely agree with you, hooligan. Embrace's singles choices have been very conservative since the 3rd album. Although probably less so for this album.
For me FYH and I Run are the weakest tracks, but I think its worth noting that I Run is clearly a song that Danny put a lot into emotionally.
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Post by nowimnobody on Aug 13, 2014 19:15:48 GMT
It's a bit of a no win situation for them really. It's easy to say "just ignore the mainstream and do what you want" but when it's your job you have to pay attention to the commercial side of things. I wouldn't have gone with I Run personally, and I think when you take the singles as a set of three it (I Run) makes FYH look like a poorer choice than it was. If it was Refugees, FYH and Quarters we'd be having a very different conversation.
Talk about veering off topic, this thread was a bout IYNB demos...
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Post by jimmy on Aug 14, 2014 9:37:45 GMT
I believe the single choices have always been weak for EMBRACE. Especially 2nd and 3rd singles from the album, e.g. Looking as you are would never get top ten yet there was better album tracks. Protection and Quarters for FYH and I Run would have been better. Apologies for the veering.
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Post by wootoo on Aug 14, 2014 11:17:02 GMT
It's a bit of a no win situation for them really. It's easy to say "just ignore the mainstream and do what you want" but when it's your job you have to pay attention to the commercial side of things. Of course. Everyone has their own opinion. But I don't think its so much a case of people saying Embrace should ignore the mainstream. More that people think (rightly or wrongly - fact is we'll probably never know) that Embrace could have sold more records had they been braver with singles choices. Because they've become typecast, and the single choices only preach to the coverted. With diminishing returns.
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Post by firstcut on Aug 14, 2014 20:50:57 GMT
i'm not sure that's quite right really. refugees doesn't sound like embrace and wasn't even sung by danny, so that's quite "brave". i personally think the album campaign fell flat because of this song as it doesn't work as a comeback single. in the end or protection would probably have worked better. i personally think the only reason refugees was the lead single was to take the heat off danny. i don't think it's a case of them having to choose "braver" singles, it's just they seem to pick the wrong ones quite often. what would releasing quarters as a single have done? it isn't as radical as some fans seems to think, it's just tarted up in a different way with some cheesy synth and wouldn't have been playlisted - so that wouldn't have sold any more records.
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Post by hooligan on Aug 15, 2014 3:20:55 GMT
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Post by wootoo on Aug 15, 2014 15:04:44 GMT
i'm not sure that's quite right really. refugees doesn't sound like embrace and wasn't even sung by danny, so that's quite "brave". i personally think the album campaign fell flat because of this song as it doesn't work as a comeback single. in the end or protection would probably have worked better. i personally think the only reason refugees was the lead single was to take the heat off danny. i don't think it's a case of them having to choose "braver" singles, it's just they seem to pick the wrong ones quite often. what would releasing quarters as a single have done? it isn't as radical as some fans seems to think, it's just tarted up in a different way with some cheesy synth and wouldn't have been playlisted - so that wouldn't have sold any more records. Refugees was certainly a brave choice. Personally I really like it, and clearly I'm not alone. But perhaps it would have been a bigger hit if Danny sang the whole thing. Then again maybe hits are beyond Embrace right now, and there's no shame in that. And I don't think it'd be as good a record if Danny sang the whole thing. I'm not sure anyone is calling Quarters radical. But its a good song that showcases Embrace doing some unexpected stuff. I was speaking with Monkey Boy about it at the Hammersmith gig, and we were in agreement that with some good remixes on the b side they might be able to get some dancefloor action with it. That could've helped open them up to a new audience. Or, of course, it could've bombed.
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Post by buckley on Aug 18, 2014 19:48:52 GMT
Downloaded these 5 or 6 years ago and I've always loved them. Great versions. Effortless now is a particular fave of mine.
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Post by ozzie on Sept 16, 2014 15:12:27 GMT
Hi Josh, Any chance of making these available again please? Thanks
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