Master of Illusion unreleased songs

[Indestructible]

3. "The Right Place and the Wrong Time"
4. "Count My Sins"
5. "The Tragedy Suite"
6. "Faith and Desire"
7. "Lonely Angel"
8. "Astral Empire"

I've just seen these mentioned by Steve about 2 years ago, when Master Of Illusion was about to be relesed. So, I'm just curious. Will these songs ever be released? Maybe on Blood Alliance? And were they recorded+mixed+mastered and everything, but were just not released?

Thanks in advance if anybody knows something about this. I'll be happy if you tell me.

 

[1928]

Ah, the good ol' Tragedy Suite...

I think I just barely remember something about this. Those are some good song titles, too... I especially like Astral Empire, sounds like something that would've been well fit for Magic Never Dies.

 

[Symphony]

None of these songs will be on the new record. As I've said before...if a song doesn't make it for the album it was written for, it is highly unlikely that they would ever appear on an album. Maybe on a rarities album in the future...or a solo record or something like that.

None of them were recorded to album quality but we do have demos of some of them

 

[Indestructible]

I am that guy who emailed you earlier Steve, by the way.

Well, why didn't they make it to the album? Is it because they weren't good enough or something like that?

 

[Symphony]

Well, it's a while ago now but it's a combination of not fitting with the rest of the album and me feeling that maybe they weren't quite up to scratch......one of those songs was very long as well...15 minutes or so if I remember right.

 

[Power_Metal_Dom]

3. "The Right Place and the Wrong Time"
4. "Count My Sins"
5. "The Tragedy Suite"
6. "Faith and Desire"
7. "Lonely Angel"
8. "Astral Empire"

I've just seen these mentioned by Steve about 2 years ago, when Master Of Illusion was about to be relesed. So, I'm just curious. Will these songs ever be released? Maybe on Blood Alliance? And were they recorded+mixed+mastered and everything, but were just not released?

Thanks in advance if anybody knows something about this. I'll be happy if you tell me.

Ahhh this. Round these parts it's a bit of a fan mission to try and get Steve to release this teased material and be saved from the editing room floor Right now I'm too psyched for the new stuff though

 

[Symphony]

There are always songs that don't make the cut for whatever reason. Curiously one of the first songs I wrote for the Blood Alliance sessions was a song called "Story of my Life"...which, as you can now see, failed to make the starting XI....so to speak

 

[Indestructible]

It's also because the CD can't handle too much on it right? like 70 or 80 minutes at most. But there's this thing called double album though

 

[1928]

That could be it, but I believe what Steve has always told us is that he selects all of the best songs for the album, and pretty much anything that doesn't make that album is scrapped because it isn't on the same level as the songs he picked.

Would be very interesting to see a PQ double album, though!

 

[Indestructible]

You mean songs that he considers as less amazing/appealing are scrapped? or because there was no room for them?

 

[1928]

You mean songs that he considers as less amazing/appealing are scrapped? or because there was no room for them?

If my memory serves correctly (because I've asked Steve the same thing), it's the first thing, about the songs being 'less amazing' so they're scrapped.

 

[Indestructible]

oh well maybe if he hops on here and tell us himself that'd make it more clear maybe.

but yeah I get the main idea anyway =P you've got to put your best songs on albums.

 

[Shredlamode]

I think the key for choosing which songs make the album is that they have to work together either in vibe or as a theme. Also there's no point putting filler material on there just for the sake of bulking up the track count - if the songs didn't make the grade the first time, they're unlikely to make a re-appearance.

As Gav said somewhere, it was actually really difficult choosing the Japanese bonus track as we feel all the tracks could of made the album. Steve has done a stellar job on the song writing front this time

 

[Indestructible]

Hi Andy, yeah I understand your point.

Just curious, why do you guys write songs that won't ever appear on an album? or you just write many songs and then demo them and pick those that you feel are good enough to appear on the album.

 

[Symphony]

Andy and Gav are absolutely right with everything they have said on this issue. It's all about quality of material...we had a couple that we tried in the rehearsal room this time round that just didn't give us the same vibe as the ones that actually made the album cut.

Nothing at all to do with the fact that 78-79 minutes is the max for a single CD. To be honest, I don't think the attention span of a lot of people today reaches 50 minutes never mind 70+. You can tell that when you hear young kids talking about "have you heard the latest song by Artist X". When I was a kid and still now it is all about the album.

I'd rather hear 10 great songs than 6 great songs and 7 fillers.


Blood Alliance has a couple of themes running through a number of the songs and I'll be very interested to see if everyone picks up on these lyrical themes and references.

 

[Indestructible]

What are fillers homie? Not that I'm stupid or anything but my English isn't that great.

 

[Symphony]

Songs that don't really stand out on a record or are average at best...or that just follow a typical formula that the band in question might use time and time again.

Non-catchy chorus is another potential mark of a "filler"

 

[Cronopio]

And Steve knows about catchy. *NOT irony*

 

[1928]

Damn right, Neverworld and Magic Never Dies are two of the catchiest albums ever!

 

[Indestructible]

I understand everything now thanks!