Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Recently, there was some discussion about this in the Dream Theater topic. That started with a concert review in which was said that Petrucci playbacked a backing tracked backing vocal. Dream Theater uses backing tracks excessively. But such use has become a general "issue" in (hard)rock and metal. What do we think? Do you completely accept it, do you despise it, or something in between...? Which kind of backing tracks are "allowed" in your opinion, and which not? For example, what do you think of backing vocals from tape? Does the genre play a role for you? Which genres (or bands!) should absolutely not use backing tracks? Which genres or bands absolutely fail without a backing track? Do you (not) realize what is running on tape? Do you feel fooled because of that?
These following interview sections with Schmier from Destruction led me to open this topic. The topic title is a quote from the song Elegant Pigs (see below):
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On the Destruction track "Elegant Pigs", which deals with rock bands using backing tracks:
Schmier: "It's just a sad fact that a lot of rock and metal bands nowadays are using backing-track tape for backing up the band, with vocals, and strings, and backing vocals, and guitars, and keyboards, and all kinds of shit. For me, when you play live, there should be no backing track. A lot of vocalists also back up their whole lead vocals with backing tracks nowadays, and that's a very sad fact. In that song 'Elegant Pigs', I'm asking 'What the fuck happened to rock 'n' roll?' It's lying. The fans don't know when the band is cheating, but for me it's a fucking topic that I want to talk about. A lot of my musician friends don't like the fact that I'm talking about it, but I don't care. For me, rock 'n' roll is a holy spirit, and it's a fucking no-go to do this in this kind of music. A lot of pop bands have been doing this for generations, but not in heavy metal. Yeah, I'm dealing with stuff that is basically bothering me. It's also a big release for me to write lyrics — kind of my own psychological session."
On why some rock bands use backing tracks:
Schmier: "I think there are different reasons. What I hear on times, of course, is that the big bands are doing it so they sound live like they do on the record. They say, 'The big bands are doing it, too. I wanna sound good live,' and so then they use all of this backing stuff. Then there's another reason, which is that there are a generation of singers that can't do it anymore, or could never do it. Then they're backing up their vocals; the high parts, the melodic parts, the harmonies. They're backing them up with all of those backing tracks. Then there's a third thing, which is the new generation. The new generation is the laptop generation, who grew up producing their albums on their own laptops. When you go onstage, you just flip out that laptop, and then you have like 20 backing tracks running with the band. I see this a lot with all of the new bands. There's one singer, and he's singing in three harmonies live, and it's, like, 'What the fuck?' It's different. It goes from generation to generation — it's not just the old guys that can't do it any more. It's also a new thing which the young guys do too."
Destruction - Elegant Pigs
These following interview sections with Schmier from Destruction led me to open this topic. The topic title is a quote from the song Elegant Pigs (see below):
- - - - -
On the Destruction track "Elegant Pigs", which deals with rock bands using backing tracks:
Schmier: "It's just a sad fact that a lot of rock and metal bands nowadays are using backing-track tape for backing up the band, with vocals, and strings, and backing vocals, and guitars, and keyboards, and all kinds of shit. For me, when you play live, there should be no backing track. A lot of vocalists also back up their whole lead vocals with backing tracks nowadays, and that's a very sad fact. In that song 'Elegant Pigs', I'm asking 'What the fuck happened to rock 'n' roll?' It's lying. The fans don't know when the band is cheating, but for me it's a fucking topic that I want to talk about. A lot of my musician friends don't like the fact that I'm talking about it, but I don't care. For me, rock 'n' roll is a holy spirit, and it's a fucking no-go to do this in this kind of music. A lot of pop bands have been doing this for generations, but not in heavy metal. Yeah, I'm dealing with stuff that is basically bothering me. It's also a big release for me to write lyrics — kind of my own psychological session."
On why some rock bands use backing tracks:
Schmier: "I think there are different reasons. What I hear on times, of course, is that the big bands are doing it so they sound live like they do on the record. They say, 'The big bands are doing it, too. I wanna sound good live,' and so then they use all of this backing stuff. Then there's another reason, which is that there are a generation of singers that can't do it anymore, or could never do it. Then they're backing up their vocals; the high parts, the melodic parts, the harmonies. They're backing them up with all of those backing tracks. Then there's a third thing, which is the new generation. The new generation is the laptop generation, who grew up producing their albums on their own laptops. When you go onstage, you just flip out that laptop, and then you have like 20 backing tracks running with the band. I see this a lot with all of the new bands. There's one singer, and he's singing in three harmonies live, and it's, like, 'What the fuck?' It's different. It goes from generation to generation — it's not just the old guys that can't do it any more. It's also a new thing which the young guys do too."
Destruction - Elegant Pigs
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