Let a Man Be Lost - [COMPLETE TRACK BY TRACK] - Page 2 - Roleplay

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Let a Man Be Lost - [COMPLETE TRACK BY TRACK]

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PANIC!		#21 Posted : 06 December 2010 07:47:55(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #10 Musical Information We Were Once a Fairytale begins with an insistent tone repeating, shortly thereafter introduces a great melody, and then people laughing, at or with Ryan, which isn't made clear. Then there's a big 1980s-sounding chord, and then, 50-seconds-in, the song leaps upward, becoming a big, bright pop jam, filled with energy, while all of these pieces keep moving on and even twisting themselves around in different ways. catches you with a surprisingly lovely pulsating melody which almost glimmers its way underneath the song until the drums kick in and Hernandez delivers the biting line "tell everybody that we know / that I don't love you no more" to an insecure ex. However the chorus line of "no one will ever never know you like I do" suggests an affection Hernandez still holds for his ex and hints at ties that can never truly be severed. The first four-in-a-half minutes of this song are the closest thing to a club-jam Hernandez has ever created, sounding creepy as fuck, with its sticky French-house keys conjuring coke-fueled restlessness. Here's where Ryan's recent alternative hip-hop influences start to take over, pushing his music into thrilling and unrecognizable new shapes. It's one of the most bleakest or even meanest tracks lyrically, but is also a triumphant pop song that convey the album's feeling of heartache while lifting off in jubilant ways. Another transition occurs here as does on the opening song of the record, this one being more production manipulated rather than musical changing tempos, as it's heard the entire first four minutes and thirty-something seconds of the song in just ten seconds then quickly rewind backwards in a split-second. This next near four minutes of We Were Once a Fairytale is the comedown, a moment of mellow, but it's also the album's most precise and impressive changing of the mood. Part of this is that the lyrical references to flashing lights passing by him like memories, like time, feel like a resolution of sorts, a progression from some of the name-calling he indulges in. And his singing hits the rawer emotional place that as a listener you want him to hit on an album like this. But it's mostly about the music being brilliantly odd. There's a wavering keyboard sound that almost resembles the noisy feedback of an experimental rock band but is used emotionally, as a melancholy tone that lingers in the air, threatening to fade but still always hanging on, even with the orchestras playing along side them. Hernandez lets it sink into the background but also stops to shine a light on it, taking the song to still-motion to highlight the feeling. Lush layers of backing vocals are played against this ‘noise’, absorbing and complementing the strangeness to make the ballad tender as it needs to be. Put this next to previous artists' versions of the sad-love ballad, like say any mainstream pop artist piano ballad, album-fillers, and you'll see that Hernandez isn't worked with musical clichés here. He's taking the song-form of the lonely-hearted ballad and giving it his own spin, with depth of sound that generates a depth of feeling. A haze of distortion floats above tolling keyboard chords and a hammering beat. Our beleaguered protagonist tries to escape into the back seat of a cab only to arrive at another emotional dead end. "Life's just not fair," Hernandez sings, as a second, distorted vocal reverb effect retraces his syllables like a digital shadow, ending the song on that note. With such a simple, overused phrase, but Ryan sings it in a way that cuts deep through the chest. It encapsulates the theme of the entire album: a poignant and powerful observation of not only the unpredictability of our lives, but the brutal negative effects of love and the desperation of deep and complete loss. The most surprsing fact of the song might very well be, that the whole eight-plus minutes of the song, not once does Hernandez attempt to pick up a guitar. relying completely on his vocal performance and production work. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "We Were Once a Fairytale is the single most experimental song I've ever done in my career. The first four minutes or so, of We Were Once a Fairytale is a very machismo song, a somewhat masochistic song even. Those four intense minutes are just of me proclaiming to myself more so than the woman, of trying to convince myself that I'm over a break-up. I think even anger is used to cover that in the song, because towards the bridge of the song, I even almost scream out in frustration saying that I don't love this girl anymore, which of course is a lie but us guys have a lot of pride and this is my pride song on the record. The song is meaningful because it expresses one of the many feelings a person feels when they're in the midst of a break-up or have just broken up. This song in particular was written sometime after a break-up, a time where I realized that an ex of mine was getting married with her ex-boyfriend, the boyfriend she had right before dating me and that's where the anger of the song comes from. Which I always told myself that I was never going to write a 'diss' song or a angry song towards an ex, but sometimes there are no better ways of expressing yourself. The last four minutes of We Were Once a Fairytale, are made up of pure symbolism, lyrically, in a song. Part one was written when I was in a drunken state, and part two was written in the aftermath of that, in a I wouldn't say hangover yet, but in the moment between being drunk and having a hangover, which I think there is such a thing. I think there is a state between those two where you are drunk but almost half sober in your mind. Anyways. We Were Once a Fairytale, Part two, is symbolic in the sense, the scenario is a man who is coming out of a club, drunk, and he hops in a cab to go home. And this song takes place between the period of time where this man gets into the cab and when he is finally dropped off in front of his apartment or whatever. Of course, its all symbolic, so the cab isn't really a taxi cab it is going through pain and holding on. Essentially it is about an individual who is going through hard times in life, though they're hanging on, their spirit is broken and they feel defeated he knows where he needs to go to be happy and achieve his goal of true happiness and satisfaction but he still finds himself standing still and reflecting on moments that have brought him to where he is currently in his life and feel life is unjust. I think this is the centerpiece of what this whole album is about, this song inside another song, is what Let a Man Be Lost means. He knows his destination, but he's just not there." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, vocal harmony, programing, producer Steve Jordan – drums Pino Paterson – bass Charlie Wilson – keyboards David Ryan Harris – guitar, backing vocals Additional Personnel African Tribal Drums Violins, Violas, Cellos provided by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Previn – strings arrangements Ophelia Cavallo – backing vocals, vocal harmony Edited by user 22 April 2011 17:23:50(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified



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PANIC!		#22 Posted : 12 December 2010 07:48:19(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #11 Musical Information After two songs that step away from the blues/pop spectrum of music that made Ryan Ross Hernandez famous, all three of Ryan's sides as a musician, the songwriter, the singer, and the guitarist go back to his roots, with the seductive Slow Dancing in a Bed Full of Teardrops. A blues-pop ballad of love, loss, and relationships reaching their boiling point. Hernandez has always been one to sing about heartbreaks and women, but contrary to past ones, many of the songs on Let a Man Be Lost look at relationships from a sour perspective. Slow Dancing in a Bed Full of Teardrops is just flat out cold. It chronicles a relationship's gradual demise and the reflection thereafter. The track recalls classic Hernandez with more grit. Some of his savvy lyrics in the song are bruising in their candor, and he captures the tender and querulous qualities in an intimate relationship, really paint the picture of knowing love is ending and having to surrender yourself to that helplessness, in a way that might hurt the feelings of his female fans just a little bit. But Ryan sings it an matter that makes you feel it as the Titanic break-up song for the emotional set as Hernandez sings vocally so sophisticated that amidst some very intentional guitar riffs there are a few moments that you just want to give Ryan Ross Hernandez a hug and tell him it's going to be okay and that this bitch who broke his heart is just that, a bitch. Ryan has learned that with love songs, he doesn't have to have the overall sound be it sad, instead he has learned to invoke sexiness. Even when he's lamenting a relationship going up in flames he's absolutely irresistible. This one just has the soulfulness that longtime fans have been hoping that Hernandez would eventually pull out. The soulfulness that oozes here is phenomenal. The guitar sound is great and reminds listeners of listening to Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, B.B. or any of the great blues artists. As soulful his voice may sound, he isn't trying to soul-search in this one, he is seems to be trying to get over a heartbreak by bringing taking shots at an ex who treated him unkindly. Some great guitar riffs play against the slow melody, and as Hernandez sings lyrics that will have everyone wondering which of his well-known exes the song is about. It glides along just how you would expect this aptly titled song to glide. It's slow. It dances. It hurts. It's the exact type of song that only Hernandez can get away with, a swooning romantic ballad with strings, drums and tambourines. A song with a title such as this one practically begs the obvious label of "slow-burner" - it's too obvious, but yeah, that characterization works. Where Hold On, Hold On, I Don't Trust Myself emitted a bit of warmth and empathy for a person he didn't want to hurt, this slower and more mournful song lashes out a bit due to the hurt that someone has caused him. We've heard Ryan sing breakup songs before, but this is no All You Need Is Love, from his previous album - he's not the poor sap just wishing a girl would come back to him. He's asking her to confront the fact that "we're going down" despite her best attempts to smooth things over, and despite the slow, seductive tone, he isn't planning on being there as a shoulder to cry on after the relationship inevitably ends. The guitar work is quite lovely here - an instrument that now sounds like tears of bitterness, and there are a few hotter moments of fury amidst the guitar breaks here. Ryan might take his anger a little too far when he flat-out says that he's in a world full of sadness due to his girlfriend acting like a bitch, and that's a far cry from the woman-on--a-pedestal sentiments of a song - it's bound to sting some listeners' ears a bit. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "With Slow Dancing in a Bed Full of Teardrops, begins the course of five or so consecutive songs that are all about very personal stories on relationships. This one in specific is about the inevitable ending of a relationship. It's like a moving painting of a doomed relationship, put into these five minutes of music. I think as humans we know through our minds and hearts, that something can't last, but yet we fight for it because we like the pain of fighting for love. Of course we don't notice that until weeks or months after that relationship ends. It chronicles, very vividly, not only the dying of a relationship but the feelings just as your about to break up with that person and the feelings when you do and the argument or fight begins. The song is dedicated to a woman that refused mutual understanding of the inevitable break-up. They do not mutually agree about the inevitable ending of their relationship. Both sides have their flaws and have done wrong in the relationship, and that's the main thing that I wanted to get across, but more so the wronging from the woman. It's closest thing to a domestic violence song, I'll ever write, yet the song is not about that subject at all. I think the midst of an argument, you do a lot of things you regret due to the emotions running high. I use the term, 'bitch', in this song, which is the first time I use it in a song. I'm not a fan of using that word to describe a woman, personally, but you have to understand how these sorts of drawn-out breakups work, too, where you say things you don't fully mean as warning shots to get the other person to back off and admit defeat. It's complicated. I called this specific woman a bitch and she slapped me. So, I even it out in the song. I don't sugarcoat lyrics. When you break up with someone, you feel a mixture of emotions, if you really love and cared about the person you broke up with. This song showcases the two biggest ones in my opinion, which are, sadness and anger." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, guitar, producer Steve Jordan – drums, percussion Pino Paterson – bass David Ryan Harris – acoustic guitar, vocal harmony Robbie McIntosh – additional guitar



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PANIC!		#23 Posted : 15 December 2010 08:26:40(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #12 Musical Information The LP takes a dark and twisted turn, with Let's Blame Everyone But Ourselves. A song that chills more than anything off his previous two albums. It's that rare, effortless fusion of penthouse-boudoir R&B and hip hop grit, once again leaving his guitar to hang on his back, and just focusing on his vocal delivery. The piano and bass over a pre-recorded, cracking and dragging snare drum and subdued tambourine provide a brilliant basis over a gracefully unhealthy tale. Hernandez raises it with arguably the best chorus contribution on the album, but the first pivotal point comes from sheer production. The production on this record at times seems bigger than life, and we can suppose this is what happens when a perfectionist Hernandez, recruits no one else but himself to help create a conceptual masterpiece. The sounds aren't overwhelming in scope and breadth, in this song, they're intentionally minimalist. For example, the melancholy piano sampled creates an excellent space for Ryan to meditate over the causes of a failed relationship. Voices come at you from three separate, distinct areas, indicating multiple personalities taunting Hernandez over the now hauntingly elegant instrumentation behind him. His voice toggles between naturally clear-sounding and ominously pitched-down as it pans back and forth. Sped up, slowed down and stretched out. The effect is almost psychotic, suggesting three or four inner monologues fighting over smashed emotions, giving the sense of the paranoia even, that he tries to overcome. It's the only moment on the record where Hernandez manipulates his vocals. It's used to reflect a woozy internal war, is even darker and more panic-stricken. It is a terrifying and real picture of a blue valentine. It shocks the attention, pulling you into Ryan Ross Hernandez as he preaches the next verse before his alter-ego lulls you into thinking everything will be just fine despite string-laced repetitions. It's the heart-wrenching way he sings without any backing singers aid on Let's Blame Everyone, utterly failing to match his crystal clear clenched-throat performance on the chorus, on purpose, to give the listener a vision of a tormented man singing on his knees. That raw passion that Hernandez can so easily transcend, bringing the listeners deep into his utter despair and sorrow. This is a crucial gossamer, showing him collapse under the weight of what everyone collapses under: love. Usually a paragon of good taste, is roped into the pathological melodrama of Let's Blame Everyone But Ourselves, a brutal missive directed at an ex. It spews a tirade of invective that makes it clear who was to blame for that relationship's demise. Hernandez utilizes his deep, falsetto voice to sing, torn asunder and bleary-eyed, the sublimely smooth, troubling chorus, over mellow cello and tinkling piano, then he enters to sing, almost freestyle, more of the couple's love-hate relationship (a less physical version of Rihanna and Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie"). It retreats back to a spurned relationship with hindsight ranging from regret to arrogance to pride with its lyrics. It sees his alpha-male bravado in full force before succumbing to the realities of heartbreak that would have any man breaking down in pleas. Five minutes in, Hernandez lets the lights dim, leaving him shrouded in a glow from above with dark obscurity, as he sings the chorus of the song a capella, over the gente cello strings playing alongside him. Ryan Ross Hernandez wants to show the listeners him, as a man, not as a pop star. That's clear with how, in his clean vocals, misses the high notes a few times, but just shakes it off and keeps going. Normally you'd want to laugh for sheer past knowledge of Hernandez, but it's reduced to silence and uneasy, unsure tears that seem involuntarily forced in the halo-effect Ryan Ross Hernandez lull. The strings and piano laden unfazed, til the end. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "Let's Blame Everyone But Ourselves, was one of the last songs written for the record, and is one of the most emotional changed songs off this record. If Slow Dancing in a Bed Full of Teardrops, is about a couple falling apart, then Let's Blame Everyone But Ourselves, is about a man who viciously attacks an ex-girlfriend, in words of course. A man who is doling out blame over a deteriorating relationship to an ex. It's the angriest song I've ever sung or written. It came out of a time where I was in a very dark place, even before the specific relationship ended. But when it ended with the women spoken to in this song, was really when I hate rock bottom. To give you a time frame, it was written when that whole debacle of the Rolling Stone storm from my interview earlier this year was still brewing. A few weeks later, I found an ex cheating. And I'm sorry ladies, but if you cheat on your boyfriend when all he does is treat you well and love you, you deserve to be called a bitch. Even more if you cheat on that great guy with an ex-boyfriend of your own. I wrote this song in a druken haze, almost, and of course when you are coming off that, all I could do was end the song off in a sort of, bittersweet sense. Despite the constant problems with the female, he can't separate himself from her. The man is fragile and broken, but deals with it in this song in a very thick skin, with duality and oppressive nature of romantic." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, arrangements, production Steve Jordan – drums Pino Paterson – bass Ethan McLagan – piano Additional Personnel Cellos provided by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Ophelia Cavallo – backing vocals David Ryan Harris – backing vocals Edited by user 22 April 2011 17:24:11(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified



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Laurelles1		#24 Posted : 16 December 2010 02:23:08(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Moderators, Registered Joined: 09/11/2009(UTC) Posts: 8,329 Location: Floating about on an iceberg somewhere Thanks: 436 times Was thanked: 407 time(s) in 288 post(s)		OOC: I just wanted to say that this RP is possibly the greatest thing ever to exist, ever. Nice one dude.
		Awards (stroking myself and thinking I'm superior): @Chaos awards: Best Band - Mind Best Album - Shattered Fairytale by Mind Technical Ecstasy - Jason Smith (x3) Best Solo Male - Jason Smith Birdies: Best Producer - Jason Smith
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PANIC!		#25 Posted : 21 December 2010 07:41:00(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #13 Musical Information After a streak of slow and mid tempos, we finally get a fast tempo pop/rocker with a huge, arena-ready chorus. A sunburst gold, pop nugget that, that has the power to brighten any daytime radio playlist. Whoever doubted a up-tempo song unable to pass over with a ballad-based story and vocals, haven't heard this song. May Our Love Last for Tonight, is a song gradually building in power and which has, fittingly, an enchanting melody. For the first minute and thirty seconds, simple acoustic guitar figures slowly crescendos behind Hernandez's soft voice, but as soon as the chorus makes its way in, it seems as though Ryan recruited everyone in the studio to sing alongside him, to transcend the powerful chorus. May Our Love Last for Tonight, is a heartwarming gem, on which Hernandez, a usual razor-blade serious songwriter, writes about those warm butterflies when you have a crush or even, love at first sight. These are deliberate songwriting and production choices, not happy accidents or the work of someone who approaches pop music casually. The hazy crush of the song showcases Hernandez's instinct for capturing emotion with astonishing exactitude. The high notes on this gem, are those of legendary pop artists of the past, such as Sting or Prince, but instead of Ryan struggling for the high notes, since of course he doesn't have the voice as those two, he sings as smoothly as possible with his entourage singing behind him. By now, thirteen songs in, he has drawn you so deeply into his character that your first impulse will probably be a protective one, when it comes to matters of the heart. This one of most unabashedly romantic song on the album, describing the aftermath of meeting a special someone without knowing whether the instant infatuation is at all reciprocated. But this isn't a singer/songwriter trying to return to his adolescent years. This is a singer-songwriter who is telling us, that even a thirty-one year old, successful and good looking musician, can't always get the girl. We get a glimpse of a first meeting, without the naïveté, that another songwriter might give us, with the same subject at hand. With its incredible orchestration and from the heart vocals, it's that strength one needs from a steady paced, pop/rock track. This is a song that everyone can relate too. The melody is floating; the character is floating. Catchy without being irritating, this is more like the early Hernandez songs fans could recognize from his debut album and even PANIC! years: it is the narrative which sneaks in and steals the spotlight. Describing an initially mundane night in which he is faking happy expressions, the song goes on to describe the moment he catches the eye of someone breathtaking, and the dynamic of the night changes... and experience which, surely, everyone has felt at some point. The way he tells it, though, is more like a story than a song. There are few gaps left to fill in: you feel as though you are in her shoes. It is your night. He even cops the Prince trick of duetting with his own filtered voice, hoping, pleading, with himself that she isn't in love with someone else. Of course, the song continues the underlying theme of sadness, each of its previous ones has, since Hernandez is recounting this experience alone and with a heavy heart. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "May Our Love Last for Tonight, is about pining away for if you're ever going to see someone again-walking away too early. It's about this girl that I met in New York City, and I had talked to her by text and all that stuff before, but I had never met her. And meeting her, it was this overwhelming feeling of: I really hope that you're not in love with somebody. And that entire evening, I remember the glittery New York City buildings passing by, and then just sitting back in my apartment thinking, am I ever going to talk to this person again? And that pining away for a romance that may never even happen, but all you have is this hope that it could, and the fear that it never will. I started writing that on my couch when I got back. Because it just was this positive, wistful feeling of: I hope you understand just how much I loved meeting you. I hope that you know that meeting you was not something that I took lightly, or just in passing. And I think my favorite part of that song is the part where, in the bridge, it goes to sort of a stream of consciousness of asking this woman the question, or not a question, more like pleading with her not to be in love with someone else. Because at that moment, that's exactly what my thoughts were. And it feels good to write exactly what your thoughts were in a certain moment. If this particular woman heard this song, I think she would know it's about her, because I use this phrase she used when we had that single conversation. This one was one of the very early song, written with this record in mind. The second one written, I believe after The Halfhearted Lover. May Our Love Last for Tonight, was written in September 2009, so this song has a very strong backbone to it because it actually lasted such a longtime and beat out a few other songs to make it on this record. I feel I should say that, nothing really came out of this enchantment, expect for that one meeting and this song. I doubt this song will change her mind, in specific, since she's a married woman now. I guess I have to thank her for being the inspiration behind this song. A song that will most likely get me laid." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, vocal harmony, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, production Steve Jordan – drums, percussion Pino Paterson – bass David Ryan Harris – guitar, backing vocals Charlie Wilson – keyboards Robbie McIntosh – additional guitars Additional Personnel Hayley Pasternak – backing vocals Jeannie Martinez – backing vocals Annabelle Padgett – backing vocals Taylor Cytonbaum – backing vocals Amber Crowe – backing vocals (OOC: Haha, well I wouldn't go that far, but thank you. I think this is my first RP in a long time, where I'm happy with how it is shaping up.) Edited by user 15 May 2011 11:11:57(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified



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PANIC!		#26 Posted : 22 December 2010 11:22:39(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #14 Musical Information Just when you thought we were heading for the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, we take a huge step back with The Other Side of Desire, that if anything is the most emotionally tiring song to listen to on the album. The Other Side of Desire is couched in a denim-clad AOR soft-rock, in form of plain pop sensibility. It has great uses of instrumentation build up. The slow adding of layers during the interlude of the song make the final guitar lines mean that much when Hernandez finally wails them out, making it a slow burning of starry melodies. On this tune, he tones down the fluff a little for relaxed crooning where you can see how a break-up record like Frank Sinatra's classic, In the Wee Small Hours, was a form of inspiration. Of course Hernandez's vocal chops are no where near that of Sinatra, he has mastered how to transcend his emotions on record, and those emotions abound are allowed large room to breathe here, as Hernandez reaches a transcending crescendo of melancholy. When Hernandez sighs out his fear of being forgotten in his breathy, wounded croon, it's difficult not to empathize with the guy. Switching to 3/4 time helps to change up the mood a bit for this mostly economical ballad, built around a quiet but melodically pleasing electric guitar melody. This song's designed a bit better to gradually build up the tension and explore Hernandez's desperation. If you believe in his lyrics, he's a man on the brink of madness as he seems to imply when he croons. He's a bit jaded here, not knowing if love is worth it, and basically making the most existential argument he can think of for someone, anyone, to spend the night with him. It features circular guitar work and a layered arrangement as his sultry vocals gives into lust in a rhythmic and dense epic that's confident, passionate and strong. This song has the most moving buildup and freight-train-climax. When the harmonized guitar solo comes in, women will cry like the first time they saw The Notebook. This is a song you could study for years. The melody and harmony vocals are elegant and will have you singing the harmony part in the car. The solo in this song pairs with the song as a whole, the guitar carries you home. His vocals are airy. It feels all peaceful until Ryan tells you he is about to lose his mind if this woman, or just any woman, doesn't come to spend the night with him. He admits that his biggest fear is being forgotten. He even offers to compromise his beliefs to hold on the relationship. The drumming is mostly consistent all the way through out, keeping the beat steady, until the guitar solo where it heavies itself before returning to its steady pace. Hernandez's songwriting is as melancholy as they get. The guitar work throughout the song rivals anything from Dark Secret Love in terms of emotion, and Hernandez's voice reaches a new plateau, as well. The line between ache and desperation can be wafer thin, and when Hernandez teeters into the latter territory with The Other Side of Desire it can be tough to listen - be it autobiography or fiction. Under more upbeat musical circumstances - aside from a luxuriously melancholy guitar solo, the track is pretty drab - it would be easier to digest his confessions of fear and confusion. The same lack of bite infects the gauzy, midtempo tunes that abut Desire. There's plenty here about the vagaries of the human heart, or rather his heart. It's risky reading autobiography into first-person song lyrics, but it's safe to say that narrator of these tunes is no stranger to heartache. But sleeping in his clothes on the floor in the shimmering, Sting-like he finally lets the real cat out of the bag, singing his lyrics straightforward, with no fancy metaphors. In the end, he's just a vulnerable guy, who wants to express his heartache through music, with his powerful and passionate lyrics, it allows the romantic attributes of his new album to shine through. Hernandez uses more hard rock-n-roll to make one last plea to his lover before calling it off completely. which seems to channel Walt Whitman's legendary "O Pioneers!" poem with its lyrics about lustful yearnings and the inevitability of old age and death. One of the album's most genuine-sounding tracks, it's not an outright, Sex Pistols-like exclamation of resistance, but it's the most aching and despairing Hernandez caught on record yet. While the mixing of the keys and drums to their part, this is really one of those songs when played live, where the spotlight will just be on Hernandez putting his emotions as best he can onto his guitar playing. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "The Other Side of Desire, is a five minute and thirty two seconds, of just pure middle of the night wanting, you know that middle of the night wanting? That turns you into a child. This tune is about waking up, in the middle of the night, wanting. A crazed desire, up to the point where it's like self-destructive. You want someone so badly, that you question everything around you. 'I don't know! Maybe I am in love with you! But maybe I'm not in love! But the thing is, I want you!', it's that moment where just the crazed desire takes you over, where you can't even explain yourself. This is just the musical manifestation of just needing somebody, just absolutely at the end of your rope, needing somebody. This is one of the songs I don't wanna talk about much, because I just want this song to go straight into people's hearts, when they listen to it. I decided to call it The Other Side of Desire, because in my opinion there is two sides of desire, one part of desire is, the good desire, the desire to be with the person you love and just wanting to be with them. And then the other part of desire is a dark one. The other part of desire, is just wanting someone in your bed, to sleep with or have sex with, not really caring if that person loves you back, or if you even love that person. I feel that this song, can be taken with either side of the desire spectrum." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, guitars, production Steve Jordan – drums Pino Paterson – bass Additional Personnel Melanie Ramsey - keyboards Timothy Bradshaw - Hammond B3 organ



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PANIC!		#27 Posted : 23 December 2010 07:44:06(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #15 Musical Information Next we have That Girl's a Beautiful Mess, the song that many sources have reported to be about GirlSpice member, Nadia Berry. this one is nearly a whispered ballad supported by acoustic guitar and strings that get as big as they would on a Barry Manilow song. The basic instruments heard through out the song are the acoustic guitar and brushed drum snare. The small horn section is only used as the intro and disappear until the choir vocals come it again, but yet again quickly vanish. The song works well with the strings, building up the empowerment of the song. Lyrics are pure clipped wordplay, to describe both his relationship with the woman and how much of a beautiful mess the girl is. Even with Hernandez's songwriting introducing his full wit, this is mainly a song that plays it pleasingly straight. Instruments start off really nice, subtle, and quiet enough to allow Ryan's soft vocals to come through. The song's full of contradictions, evokes a very melancholic emotion, but won't leave you depressed the entire day. Instead it's the kind of a beautiful sad love song. The phrasing and imagery in his lyrics is very poetic. He leaves the meaning of his songs up for interpretation, which also adds to the poetic undertone. He sings of a relationship that is messy but beautiful because of its originality. It makes one remember a simpler, younger time, surely sounds like it has some inspiration from California rock legends, Tom Petty or Fleetwood Mac, with its blend of acoustic guitar and a subtle violin peaks through, while the keyboard adds a soft, underlying melody. He gives a simile in the chorus that describes the beautiful mess of the relationship, as picking up trash in dresses. It keeps itself in the ballad territory and slows down the tempo of the album to a slower, more reflective note. It is indeed a beautiful song and the rising melody just makes the song, that much lovelier. There is a stinging verse though that might stick for the listener, the moment where Hernandez croons; "Just because I said I didn't love her / Doesn't mean I wanted her to leave / In fact I was quite depended of her / But that, I never wanted her to know." Whether the song is actually about Nadia or not, it still doesn't make it any less aching. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "That Girl's a Beautiful Mess. That Girl's a Beautiful Mess, is the first song in my career, that I've written about a relationship and a woman, that doesn't necessarily describe it as positive or negative. It's a song that takes a very neutral, reflective look back at a relationship. It's a feeler, this song has the power to take you back and think of that beautiful moment with an ex. It makes you think about the good times, and embrace the hurt, but remember where the love was once long ago. I think there are some songs that really capture you in your heart and your mind, so much that when you're singing or listening to it you feel like you're on an entirely different world, you feel the words, and are transported into a whole new echelon. That Girl's a Beautiful Mess, is basically about, giving yourself or your time to someone else. This was the second to last song written for the record, and yeah, the girl its about is beautiful, but together we were just a beautiful mess, no pun intended." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, guitar, production Steve Jordan – drums Pino Paterson – bass Charlie Wilson – keyboards Bryan Lipps – trumpet Bob Reynolds – saxophone, horn arrangements Additional Personnel Violins, Violas, Cellos provided by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Previn – strings arrangements Hayley Pasternak – backing vocals Jeannie Martinez – backing vocals Kristen Moss – backing vocals Annabelle Padgett – backing vocals Amber Crowe – backing vocals Edited by user 04 January 2011 12:27:13(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified



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PANIC!		#28 Posted : 04 January 2011 11:44:44(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #16 Musical Information An Unknown Love Affair has a really dark calm feeling. It takes the down tempo approach in a soft and exacting song. He discusses meeting up with a past lover, reconciling the couple they once were with the people standing before one other. It's one part stale heartbreak mixed with a shutter of hope. Beautifully executed in Hernandez's acoustic-sensitivity fashion. The song is the shortest on the record, and very possible, in his discography, only proves he can write amiable pop melodies. It's a straight folk rock tune. Love Affair, offers some very restrained singing and chord picking, as though Hernandez wanted to revert himself back to the singer-songwriter in a coffee shop mode. Not only is it the shortest song, but it's most lyrically simplistic, though has an enjoyable guitar backing it up. This track is simple, beautiful, and meditative. The guitar arpeggios flowing under the chorus are the musical high's, and the lyrics are like a little poem set to music. Ryan's voice display's a husky tenderness and inquisitiveness that's very affecting. This song either shows off Ryan's most poetic/visual side as a singer/songwriter or weakest as a man. The entire feeling is like a beautiful dream. It's music for cuddling in front of a fire on a rainy or snowy Sunday afternoon. Crash cymbals — the intricate guitar medley and husky, low-range vocals are constantly accompanied by brushed-cymbal sound. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "An Unknown Love Affair, is a little fairytale. This is the last song that came about for the record, and was written and recorded in an hour's time. I always had this idea of a guy, who somehow or another, slips through time in the wrong way or wakes up in the morning and, what would happen if you woke up one morning and the person you love, didn't even know who you were? How would you prove to them that they loved you? So it's about this moment of going up to someone. It's either this beautiful fairytale or the world's worst pick-up line. Of saying; "You know what's the strangest thing?". And you have to see somebody that you love, who doesn't know you and keep cool, just enough to ask them the question if they have any idea who you are. It's really interesting because the answer, I mean I know the answer, which is really sad in my mind, it's "No." So that is another imperfect thing. Is the narrator of the song telling the truth? Or is he just a wack job? I have this very visual story in my mind, for this song, that I'll probably go into detail at a concert or something. This is the song with the least words, but one of the most visually vivid songs that I've ever written. This is also the one song on the record, that critics will either look over completely, in their reviews, or they'll pan it out to be shit." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, guitar, production Steve Jordan – drums, percussion Pino Paterson – bass Additional Personnel Nathan Lauer – piano Edited by user 04 January 2011 12:27:29(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified



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PANIC!		#29 Posted : 04 January 2011 12:32:10(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		TRACK BY TRACK #17 Musical Information As a guitarist, Hernandez is more adept at the terse, lyrical, cleanly articulated solos he takes on songs like, Do Not Cross, Man in Repair. Let a Man Be Lost is just the current stage in Hernandez's trip, but he has taken a big step toward finding himself. As he sings on this tune "I haven't found everlasting happiness / A woman to love me for better or worse / Or a home to call my own / I got a glass heart that's currently under construction / But I'm getting there," it's clearly interestingly written, as he introspectively examines his aching heart. On first listen, you will probably think warm organs open this track, but you would be wrong. Hernandez's uses a pog pedal on his electric guitar, to make his riffs sound like an organ. Slow and free-flowing might be the two keywords you'd use to describe it, with constant drum arrangements and acoustic flickers; but despite the campy melody Ryan Ross Hernandez is in soft command of his airy, breezy falsetto, plus a electric guitar heats up and delivers another delicious solo a bit later which fluctuates at the 3:30 mark, then bends back into spacey mood music like nothing happened. It's a song for the heart to heal, and that a person dealing with a breakup generally goes through this conflict between the mind and the heart, where the mind says, "Just forget about it and get on with your life" while the heart seems unwilling to comply. It's a very honest, relate able sentiment. It deals with life's problems and coping with them. Although the song is over six minutes long, each second flies by with the breezy melody and Hernandez's soothing vocals. Again, the lyrics are perfectly written, and I can personally relate to this song on several levels. The chorus will quickly become an anthem for anyone who's had experience (or currently is) working on themselves or their life, before moving over and letting someone else come into their lives. It cautious hopefulness, with it's pleasant slow rhythm and Ryan's plangent singing combing well. Hernandez's guitar solos are very airy on this one, going along perfectly with the melodic, string and drum affair - doing a pretty good job of changing soundscapes. Song Meaning by, Ryan Ross Hernandez "The lyric idea for Do Not Cross, Man in Repair, is kind of knowledgeable about the way people are. We're always on the way down or the way up. You never really enjoy the moment when it's all put together, because it probably never really is. Those moments where things come apart is only setting you up for that moment when you put it back together again, and you're so surprised that it's actually coming back together again. There is this beauty in the idea of just accepting the fact that you're not ready for a relationship or just letting someone else into your life period, because you're in repair. I think at the end of it all though, it's a longing hope that, an ex or someone who use to be close to you, at one point, will be glad to have known them. This song describes what all of us, as human, feel every single day We all are in repair or looking at the man or woman in the mirror to get it together. Human nature is forever swinging us between where we are and where we need to be. Everyone at some point of their lives or another, they're trying to get their mind straight before trying to find your ideal mate. No other song could have ended the record, other than this song. It's the perfect closer for Let a Man Be Lost." PERSONNEL Ryan Ross Hernandez – vocals, guitar, production Steve Jordan – drums Pino Paterson – bass Charlie Wilson – keyboards Robbie McIntosh – guitar Additional Personnel Melanie Ramsey – keyboards Charlie James – 8-string guitar (OOC: I know, I have taken forever to finish this, but whatever. Anyways. Feel free to comment or do a review for this, whatever you like.)



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PANIC!		#30 Posted : 14 January 2011 10:33:01(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		Prologue to Let a Man Be Lost (note: This prologue was written by Ryan Ross Hernandez himself, and is included in the album's booklet.) Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial, in fact, that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I've begun to fear more than that is letting the moment pass without saying anything. I think most of us fear reaching the end of our life, and looking back regretting the moments we didn't speak up. When we didn't say "I love you." When we should've said "I'm sorry." When we didn't stand up for ourselves or someone who needed help. These songs are made up of lyrics, no, words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me. These songs are open letters. Each is written with a specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person, explaining to them certain things from myself that they could not understand. To all the beautiful women who I've broken because of my bipolar, love tendencies. To the woman who broke my heart. To my mother who I never thought would be my first heartbreak. To my family and friends, that despite all the indirect ways I've hurt them still find a way to stick around. To everyone who tries to downplay me. To someone I made their world very dark for a while. To a girl who stole something of mine. To someone I apologize for what I said in front of the whole world. To this woman that came into my life out of nowhere and brought me intense happiness. To everyone I've ever hurt, directly or indirectly with something I've said or done. Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you'll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone. What you say might be too much for some people. Maybe it will come out all wrong and you'll stutter and you'll walk away embarrassed, wincing as you play it all back in your head. But I think the words you stop yourself from saying are the ones that will haunt you the longest. So say it to them. Or say it to yourself in the mirror. Say it in a letter you'll never send or in a book millions might read someday. Or even go my route and say it in a song millions will hear. I think you deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying "I could've, but it's too late now." There is a time for silence. There is a time for waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it. love, ryan r. hernandez PS: If you're reading this with an instrument or a notebook full of lyrics in your lap – get to work, and deep in it. We all need you.



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stephaniewazhere		#31 Posted : 12 February 2011 07:29:50(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 21/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 18,252 Thanks: 6248 times Was thanked: 7557 time(s) in 3439 post(s)		OOC: Took me a while to find it AND read it lol and I must say, you really outdid yourself. This is insanely good. If i had time in my hands i would try to match this. Even if I had the time, I probably couldn't. I'm pretty sure you did this is no time. Some people have the gift or ability to write. And you have that. All the tracks were described in detail. Good Ass Job!
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PANIC!		#32 Posted : 18 February 2011 16:14:35(UTC)
Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2009(UTC) Posts: 5,367 Thanks: 3593 times Was thanked: 2833 time(s) in 1047 post(s)		(OOC: Thank you. It didn't take me so long to write, I just neglected it for a really long time since I was busy with other things. This is pretty much all song descriptions for songs that I made up completely in my head. Oh, and to everyone, sorry I disappeared for a little while. But now I'm back and hopefully jump right back into things.)



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