Jeremey's new album is a "must have!"

[steveo777]

Just got my CD in the mail today, even signed by Jeremey.

Thanks!

[annie89509]

Well done sir! You have produced gold. I love it and it is worthy. I am playing it over and over again, while waiting for my actual CD to get here.
http://www.jeremeyfrederick.com/

Best money I have spent on a CD in years. It is that good!

When you buy the CD you get a download link for immediate gratification.

DO It now! There is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Thank you Jeremey. It's great!

How do I hear samples of all the songs before I buy?
And is that Jeremey's wife on the cover?

[Ehwmatt]

Well done sir! You have produced gold. I love it and it is worthy. I am playing it over and over again, while waiting for my actual CD to get here.
http://www.jeremeyfrederick.com/

Best money I have spent on a CD in years. It is that good!

When you buy the CD you get a download link for immediate gratification.

DO It now! There is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Thank you Jeremey. It's great!

How do I hear samples of all the songs before I buy?
And is that Jeremey's wife on the cover?

Here is a sample of every song on the CD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEpcOQQkTeo

[Ehwmatt]

Jeremey is a good friend, so I can't give a review and pretend it's objective. But I'll try and sum my thoughts up briefly. First, two broad positive thoughts:

First, Jeremey has proved once and for all that he is a talented writer. He understands how to build a hook and he draws nicely on influences far beyond Journey/general AOR. On the album's strongest tracks, hooks abound. Listen no further than Can't You See He's Gone (1), Every Little Thing (2), Stay (3), What Can I Do (6), and the moody, Cure-esque Goodnight Song (8) (note: J is not credited with a writing credit for Goodnight Song, but it's a favorite for me). This should silence cynics who claim he contributed only sparingly to Never Walk Away and critics who deride tribute singers/bands in blanket fashion.

Second, Jeremey is in fine voice here. But the real showstopper on this CD is the vocal layers. Jeremey has used his vocal talent to track some stunning layered harmonies that would make Mutt Lange, Steve Perry, or even Brian Wilson proud. The first track, Can't You See He's Gone, assaults you with a vocal harmony barrage from the first second with an acapella clip from the chorus. It really makes for a dramatic intro to both the CD and a song that I've been enjoying in demo form for the last few years.

Now, on to the musicianship issue:

Some people here have questioned the "musicianship" on this album. The musicians on the disc are accomplished AOR players who could play circles around me if guitar were their second instrument. I do feel like the tracks could have used some more spontaneity in the instrumentation in some cases. For example, the guitar solo in the otherwise Can't You See He's Gone is nice, but a little too AOR solo by numbers for me. It's something I would have played over the track using my limited musical vocabulary. But there are some stunning moments. The guitar riffs and especially the solo on Every Little Thing are great: melodic, but fresh (and in the solo's case) with several slippery legato licks that make guitar players want to rewind after the solo trails off to try and work it out in their heads. And the guitar player is the same on both tracks. Similarly, I love the interesting little U2/Cure-esque guitar rhythm riff on Goodnight Song that plays before the chorus.

I suspect that the perceived "musicianship" issues are not so much due to a lack of skill, but because of the way I'm assuming this album was recorded (i.e., passing recorded session files among the musicians to track their own instruments and passing revisions back and forth). It's not easy to achieve a true band feel recording this way (especially with rhythm instruments, which probably drives most listeners' perceptions about what they're hearing), and I'm guessing that's what people are hearing when they cite the musicianship.

On a somewhat related note, I really like some of the risks Jeremey took with some of the songs he put on here, and I think some of those risks suffer a bit from the way this album was probably recorded. For example, I Think I Know takes a shot at a moody jazz feel, but it definitely would have benefited from having some jazz musicians, particularly on the horns (the multi-talented Jeremey handles everything but drums on this interesting track). Still though, a fun track.

Finally, the album is definitely at its best when it is rocking. Some of the slower tracks aren't my thing, but I think a lot of people will find something to love in songs like This Is Your Life (not my type of song, but a touching message and a demo of the aforementioned vocal layers) and Hoping For You. I'll probably stick to the rockers.

All in all, it's a really good effort by Jeremey, who managed to write and record this (presumably long distance with the other musicians) while touring with Frontiers and coping with vocal issues on the back end of things.

[Jeremey]

How do I hear samples of all the songs before I buy?
And is that Jeremey's wife on the cover?

Hey Annie, Matt's link is great, but they are unmastered clips. Fully mastered, full length versions of the songs are streaming at www.music.jeremeyfrederick.com. And no that's not my wife, LOL, that's a stock photo I licensed. I was searching for images tagged as "lonely girl with radio" and it was perfect for what I was looking for.

[Jeremey]

Jeremey is a good friend, so I can't give a review and pretend it's objective. But I'll try and sum my thoughts up briefly. First, two broad positive thoughts:

Awesome Matt, thanks & I'll try to use my limited quoting skills here, LOL.

First, Jeremey has proved once and for all that he is a talented writer. He understands how to build a hook and he draws nicely on influences far beyond Journey/general AOR. On the album's strongest tracks, hooks abound. Listen no further than Can't You See He's Gone (1), Every Little Thing (2), Stay (3), What Can I Do (6), and the moody, Cure-esque Goodnight Song (8) (note: J is not credited with a writing credit for Goodnight Song, but it's a favorite for me). This should silence cynics who claim he contributed only sparingly to Never Walk Away and critics who deride tribute singers/bands in blanket fashion.

Thank you man, that was a large reason fueling the release of the CD, as I'd been written off so much especially when word got out that I was in line for the Journey job, and then after when my contributions to Never Walk Away were unfairly written off as a "charity" writing credit by some.

Second, Jeremey is in fine voice here. But the real showstopper on this CD is the vocal layers. Jeremey has used his vocal talent to track some stunning layered harmonies that would make Mutt Lange, Steve Perry, or even Brian Wilson proud. The first track, Can't You See He's Gone, assaults you with a vocal harmony barrage from the first second with an acapella clip from the chorus. It really makes for a dramatic intro to both the CD and a song that I've been enjoying in demo form for the last few years.

And thank you again, LOL...I worked really hard making the harmonies a part of the "sound" of the CD, and to make them uniquely mine rather than a cop off of the Journey sound of stacking the Perry voices...I think the harmony vocals in songs like "Stay" and "Hoping For You," do the best to capture that melding of styles between the Journey sound and the Beach Boys sound and the gospel sound I was going for.

Now, on to the musicianship issue:

Some people here have questioned the "musicianship" on this album. The musicians on the disc are accomplished AOR players who could play circles around me if guitar were their second instrument. I do feel like the tracks could have used some more spontaneity in the instrumentation in some cases. For example, the guitar solo in the otherwise Can't You See He's Gone is nice, but a little too AOR solo by numbers for me. It's something I would have played over the track using my limited musical vocabulary. But there are some stunning moments. The guitar riffs and especially the solo on Every Little Thing are great: melodic, but fresh (and in the solo's case) with several slippery legato licks that make guitar players want to rewind after the solo trails off to try and work it out in their heads. And the guitar player is the same on both tracks. Similarly, I love the interesting little U2/Cure-esque guitar rhythm riff on Goodnight Song that plays before the chorus.

Good catch between those 2 tunes. Vic played both solos, on Every Little Thing, which was the first solo he cut between the two, I absolutely loved it, and it really fit the song and the sound I was going for. The solo on CYSHG is the second take of the solo on that song. Vic first recorded a great solo for CYSHG, which I can best describe as "blistering." I felt like the groove of the song was more subdued though, and we went with a second take, which isn't as flashy but I felt fit the tone of the song a little better.

I suspect that the perceived "musicianship" issues are not so much due to a lack of skill, but because of the way I'm assuming this album was recorded (i.e., passing recorded session files among the musicians to track their own instruments and passing revisions back and forth). It's not easy to achieve a true band feel recording this way (especially with rhythm instruments, which probably drives most listeners' perceptions about what they're hearing), and I'm guessing that's what people are hearing when they cite the musicianship.

Yeah, pretty much the necessity of recording between several different players across the country. Everyone involved also was gracious enough to fit this project in amongst other "real" job duties, so a lot of what was recorded was based on my initial demos, rather than having the luxury of a "band" of musicians fleshing out their own parts, though both Eric and Vic really took ownership of their contributions and I couldn't have been happier with how things turned out.

On a somewhat related note, I really like some of the risks Jeremey took with some of the songs he put on here, and I think some of those risks suffer a bit from the way this album was probably recorded. For example, I Think I Know takes a shot at a moody jazz feel, but it definitely would have benefited from having some jazz musicians, particularly on the horns (the multi-talented Jeremey handles everything but drums on this interesting track). Still though, a fun track.

Agree, again budget/time issues as well...I played some parts out of necessity and some parts because I wanted to put my own stamp on things...I would have loved to had a real horn section...There was guitar on "I Think I Know" originally recorded by an amazing blues player that again was great, but it just didn't fit the mood of the tune...I realized it was a jazz song and not a blues song when I heard the parts and in the end we used my ad libbed guitar bits, which fit well but would have been better if I had the time/budget to bring in a really great jazz player.

Finally, the album is definitely at its best when it is rocking. Some of the slower tracks aren't my thing, but I think a lot of people will find something to love in songs like This Is Your Life (not my type of song, but a touching message and a demo of the aforementioned vocal layers) and Hoping For You. I'll probably stick to the rockers.

All in all, it's a really good effort by Jeremey, who managed to write and record this (presumably long distance with the other musicians) while touring with Frontiers and coping with vocal issues on the back end of things.

Thanks so much Matt, it's been a real labor over the past year and a half, and there's been many, many things that have conspired against its release, but I've learned a lot along the way, and if there's a market for a follow up, I will have learned quite a bit that will make it an easier CD to release.

[SusieP]

I've just ordered a copy.

[AR]

It's really good and not obvious. Jeremey recorded what he wanted to. Proud of both him and Jeff with their new recordings.

[annie89509]

Ordered the cd....can't be bothered with a download where I have to burn my own, lol.
Have seen J's wife (her name escapes me at the moment) posted here before...tall, pretty brunette...thought that might be a photo of her on cd cover...haha.

[SusieP]

Thank you Jeremey, my copy arrived on Saturday morning. It's now Tuesday afternoon British time and I've already played it more than I've played Revelation.

In a nutshell - I like it.

The packaging and the CD 'label' = amazing!

First of all, the rasp is very evident, so it is clear what you have been through with your voice.
I really, really hope you make a full recovery and that your voice comes back even better. And I hope the therapists have helped you so that you don't oversing or hurt your vocal chords again.

Your vocals on all the songs show you have an undeniable talent.

CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S GONE
The vocals on this are outstanding. And it's a great choice to open the album and give us a taste of what is to come. And the lyrics are interesting!

EVERY LITTLE THING **
Really like this one! Love the guitars and I dunno why but the piano on this one reminds me of Billy Joel.

STAY
Great singalong one. Brilliant hook. You really are a superb songwriter, Jeremey!

LOTUS
The rasp is very apparent in parts on this one. But even so, you sing it great! And that high note comes right out of nowhere! Bloody hell, man, it's amazing!
And I really love that line, "In the end I found the better part of me."

I THINK I KNOW ***
Well, what a moody little piece this is.
Atmospheric.
It flows like it's following a movie storyboard.
It conjures up images of a dark street, dimly lit and a guy with his collar turned up against the cold. He's searching a seedy part of town and the only thing missing is a sleazy sax.
Then the guy extends his search. We next see him driving a Dodge Challenger across the desert and all we need to add now to the song is a soulful Blues Harp.
Seriously, this would make a great soundtrack to the opening credits of a movie.

WHAT CAN I DO
Love the vox, keyboards and guitars on this.
I want to avoid comparisons to the Steve Perry sound, but this one does sound like you could have written it for 'Street Talk.' And that's a good thing.

And who is this John Spinks guy? I like him. You work well together.

HOPING FOR YOU
Another atmospheric and moody one, but I haven't warmed to this one yet. I will be playing the CD in the van to and from gigs though, so give it time.

GOODNIGHT SONG
Is that really you on guitars? Well done.
I have one gripe about this ...............................I HATE FADE OUT ENDINGS!!!

PRELUDE JEREMIAH
Pretty.

and now, you saved the best for last. What a fabulous song and a great one to close the album.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE *******
Soaring vox which gave me goosebumps. This really is the standout track for me.
I think it's an excellent song.
My only worry is the bit "I wanted you to know, instead of letting go, I've learned to let you grow"
sounds like "I know you're telling me the truth, and though it's just no use, I can't stay away from you" - Gloria Estefan's "I Can't Stay Away From You."



Overall comments,

I HATE FADED OUT ENDINGS.
I know this album is meant as a showcase for your voice and therefore the musicians took a bit of a backseat - but, I still think they could have been more equal in the mix.
The drummers are obviously 'feathering the brakes' which is a shame because if they had been allowed to let rip a bit and let their creativity out I think it would have helped rather than hindered the mix.
But I know you wanted to showcase your voice.

And when I win the Lotto and when your voice is better, I will send you a large cheque so that you can buy as much studio time with as many top session musicians as you want to record some more.

So, thank you for sending me the CD. I shall continue to listen to it and I wish you all the best in your recovery.




Oh, and I HATE FADED OUT ENDINGS.

[Jeremey]

Thank you Susie!

I responded to your post in the Journey forum - I'm glad you like the CD!

[SusieP]

I spotted your reply, thanks.


Yes I really like the CD.
You should be proud of it.

I'm now going to check out The Outfield.


xxx

[whocares]

totally worth the buy! Got mine in the mail today. Great job Buddy!