Painted Smiles reviews - Part 2

The version of Painted Smiles that I recorded last year is the first song I have submitted to GarageBand.com on which I had someone else do the vocals. So I don't take the feedback about vocals personally here. I do notice though that there are at least two reviews that say the vocals are loud in the mix - I have had the same comments for Heart Like a River, so that is something I will want to pay attention to on my next recording project.

Cheese... what is that about? I had a few comments about cheese on Heart Like a River as well. Is that a musical term? There is an article on Wikipedia titled Cheese (cheesy music), which is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy. One of its editors notes that the phrase "Cheese" is pretty well used in the UK. Sure enough, the reviewer who gave me that comment is from UK.

There is one particular review here, I just can't resist doing a little bit of psychoanalysis. He (or she) gives his location as Unspecified, and says my opinion here is not so important. Come on, you're writing reviews of other people's music, your review is your opinion, and I at least hope it's your honest opinion. But know this - I put my music out on GarageBand.com in order to get it reviewed, so your opinion is no more and no less important than anyone else's.

That's enough ado. Here are the reviews.

From Maryland -

Interesting mood and lyrics. Kind of a bland message. Vocals are way too up in the front. Should be mixed better with the music. Overall, a decent production. Sounds vampirish.

From Canada -

I like the musical ideas going on. the riff at the begining sets the tone. The lyrics might be a bit hoaky.

i like the solemn tone from the male lead singer. I think production did a good job here. i think it would be nice to hear some more work on the melody. I am reminded somewhat of pink floyd in a way.

From Eugene, Oregon -

Cool guitars, the synths are a bit 80's, but in a good way. The vocals are a bit loud in the mix.

From Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom -

i really enjoyed the intro but when the vocals came in a couldn't believe the cheese....it is good for this type of song

From Brooklyn, New York -

I don't really know what you were going for with this song. I don't know what direction the rest of your songs could go in. It's recorded well, but the lyrics don't seem to mesh well with the music.

From Unspecified -

No... I don´t like it... sorry. But my opinion here is not so important. I don´t like this kind of mood. Guitar solos irritates me, you know... Well, the recording is very nice, which gives you points. That´s it.

From Australia -

intro sounds like Iron Maiden.. nicely produced song.. very different vocal in verse, contrasts with the music in an odd way. This song sounds really original... which is great. Perhaps needs a few listens for me to really to get into it but it is well written overall and its original sounding which i admire lots.