I recorded Far behind on my Serious radio, and I'm fairly stunned Far Behind hasnt gotten more static from some of the "hardcore" social d fans here.
The first lead after the intro is garbage. Its got a funny high pitch sound like something out of a avril lavign riff. It is NOT typical SD the way its laid out.
Then theres a bridge bout 2/3 of the way through the song where they palm mute their chords like these sum 41 type "pop punk" bands do.
I was just thinking the other day that this song is totally unexpected and outta left field with the direction the band seemed to be going in.
They started the early 80's as punkers, then transitioned into a garage sound in late 80's then to an alternative/punk sound in the 90's. Then Mike Ness goes solo and puts out some country/blues/rockabilly sound of the late 90's then translates that back into Social D for SLR$R, then they come out with a great cover of Death or Glory, and a brilliat song in Bakersfield....You'd think they were going to carry on with the country/blues/rockabilly sound. I certainly never thought i'd here a SD song with the weak first lead and bridge.
Other than those two things i think the chorus, verses and the last lead guitar is Classic SD. But the first lead, and the bridge hopefully are no sign of what is to come and is just something that got overlooked.
I like the song far behind for what it could have been, but i hate it for the fact that parts of the song are certainly following into a type of music that is the current "trend". Mike Ness has been well documented in saying that the band has stayed successfull becuase they stayed away from trends.
Hopefully they re-record this song fix the lead, and bridge and leave the Satellite radio version "FAR BEHIND"
are you for real? the first lead is by johnny 2 bags and that's his style, so yes it's not typical social d... and i think that palm muting power chords is something social d has done since, oh, lemme think... 1979! maybe sum 41 got it from social d. so if you're gonna pick apart palm muted power chords and a high pitch not in a solo, you have problems. big problems.
<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">I totally agree. After hearing Bakersfield and Diamond in the Rough, I expected this song to follow in that maybe "more mature" style... those two songs just felt like a natural progression for them. I have my fingers crossed that is just a radio friendly release and the real stuff is yet to come on the studio album.I was just thinking the other day that this song is totally unexpected and outta left field with the direction the band seemed to be going in.
I love this song and I cant hear it enough. Im a hardcore social d fan and have been since the first time i saw them in 1988. Mike Ness can shit in a box and put a label on it and Ill think its good. writing catchy songs is hard enough to do without having somebody tell me my leads suck or complains about palm muted power chords. Whats so trendy about that? Its a technique for playing hard, crunchy rock and roll. If you know anything about playing guitar then you know this technique also.
It's rare to walk into a record store and buy an album you like from top to bottom. You can get any Social D album and totally dig every song on it.
<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">I second that wolfpitsI love this song and I cant hear it enough. Im a hardcore social d fan and have been since the first time i saw them in 1988. Mike Ness can shit in a box and put a label on it and Ill think its good. writing catchy songs is hard enough to do without having somebody tell me my leads suck or complains about palm muted power chords. Whats so trendy about that? Its a technique for playing hard, crunchy rock and roll. If you know anything about playing guitar then you know this technique also.
"Mike Ness can shit in a box and put a label on it and Ill think its good. writing catchy songs is hard enough to do without having somebody tell me my leads suck or complains about palm muted power chords. Whats so trendy about that? Its a technique for playing hard, crunchy rock and roll. If you know anything about playing guitar then you know this technique also."
Mike Ness has stated that he can write catchy songs all day long, but thats not his goal. Thats why i find this song to be not up to SD's par.
If you wanna palm mute in the middle of a bridge and sound like every other new "punk" band out there....go ahead, but thats not what social distortion has been about in the past. They palm mute in the chorus where the bass, lead guitar, drums, and now organ fill in.
les Paul guitars have great tone and sustain, thats why they use em. Sustain is defeated when you palm mute.
I've played guitar for some time and understand palm muting, it has its place certainly, but SD has never really embraced it in their bridges. They are about amazing, yet simple leads, great tone, and good lyrics. I'm litstening to WLWHWT right now and can honestly say there is very little EMPHASIZED palm muting. Same with SL&R&R.
As for "TWO BAGS" style. His style is playing leads with the high strings but WAAAAYYYYYY more agressive than Far Behind, and with way more tone. The wimply little lead in far behind sounds drowned out and played without emotion. Perhaps the song was just misproduced, and that guy should find a different band to screw up.
Wolf pits, if your such a big band guy, I would think you'd be a little critical of this song.
I'm all for loving Mike Ness' work blindly, but i'm also not a sheep either.
Ya'll are more than welcome to disagree with my opinion, but this song just seems very soft to me, and outta left field.
This is the first song in about 17 years i havent like from SD.
<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ May 25, 2007 04:33 PM: Message edited by: raptorschild ]</font>
The song is good, I don't think it's their best but it is certainly not their worst either. Everyone's entitled to their opie onion!
Far Behind is not a BAD song, but by Social D standards its pretty weak. Bakersfield and Diamond in the Rough are MUCH better songs, I was hoping one of those would be included on the Greatest hits album. I geuss we will have to wait.
those 3 (diamond in the rough, bakersfield, far behind) i really like, don't get me wrong but they seem to lack a spark, like somethings missing.
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