So the new Blind Guardian got leaked

[Zealotry]

I'm pretty sure CM/NB did the leaking themselves, because it's got annoying promo voiceover guy popping up here and there.

I'd call this the intersection of A Night at the Opera and Imaginations... Still has the intensive layering of guitars and vocals as on ANATO, but this time the guitars actually sound like guitars rather than synths. The writing is generally more 'compact' than the last two albums, with none of the tracks exceeding 6 minutes and everything is generally heavier and punchier. So it seems like they listened to the complaints people had after the last album.

A very strong effort overall.

 

[Occam's Razor]

you should not do this, really. I don't care for albums as long as they are not officially released. Plus, from what you say, this sounds like the impression the "Fly"-maxi already gave us...and considering how long it is since the album will be out, you are probably right that the label did it themselves, as I don't think they send any promos out that early. Why do you look after the new BG with your favorite sharing-software anyway?

 

[Zealotry]

Because I'm impatient.

 

[JayKeeley]

It's a shame they released "Fly EP" before the album, otherwise I'd be much more enthusiastic about hearing new BG material.

 

[DBB]

you are probably right that the label did it themselves

Or someone at the label passed a copy along to one of their impatient contacts who promised not to share it with anyone, but they decided to share it with one of their impatient friends who felt like a kid with a new toy and wanted to bask in the adulation of showing something special and that no one else had to the rest of the world.

Heard an interesting story about a new Opeth song being passed along to the DJs at Sirius and they decided to play it for all and sundry and the Roadrunner employee got into quite a bit of shit.

At this point, Blind Guardian makes me think of leaking, but it has nothing to do with the Internet.

 

[Occam's Razor]

this is both naive and unprofessional behavior from people who should know it better...and then they complain about the decline of the record label business...

 

[Zealotry]

This album is seriously fucking dense. I've listened to it well over a dozen times and only now are things beginning to stick. That's not a bad thing, since we're talking about BG and not Motorhead, but the songs on the single were the closest thing to 'accessible' as you'll find on this record.

 

[Sumeet]

I think what some labels do is strictly limit the number of promos that get handed out, and then make sure the promo voice-over stuff is slightly different on each promo copy... that way if it leaks, they can determine exactly whose copy leaked, and stop giving them promos in the future.

 

[Occam's Razor]

You don't seriously think that labels make the effort to pursue and control all writers that get promos? - What I realized is, some labels do not even care what you write or if at all! A friend of mine gets the whole treatment from a label. If he hands in reviews regularly and on time, he may choose to get a full copy of a cd of his choice (ful packaging, often deluxe editions) from their roster - and the reviews needn't be favorable at all! The label is a rather well known one...

Publicity is what counts, and often, the publicity comes from premature leaking, which happens on purpose at times...

 

[Sumeet]

You don't seriously think that labels make the effort to pursue and control all writers that get promos? - What I realized is, some labels do not even care what you write or if at all! A friend of mine gets the whole treatment from a label. If he hands in reviews regularly and on time, he may choose to get a full copy of a cd of his choice (ful packaging, often deluxe editions) from their roster - and the reviews needn't be favorable at all! The label is a rather well known one...

Publicity is what counts, and often, the publicity comes from premature leaking, which happens on purpose at times...

Sometimes the labels don't care, and sometimes they are even responsible for the leaks. For example, I can't imagine that Nuclear Blast is overly concerned if something leaks. However, sometimes when a major label is releasing a pop album, for instance... it's not the kind of thing that is going to get around via underground buzz... and it's not the sort of music that is going to get good underground buzz anyway. Their sales are based on one big, flashy, coordinated publicity splash on radio / MTV / whatever. They only want a small number of big publications to have promo copies so that their reviews can be published the same week as the release. They might use the technique I mentioned above. However, I think it's also done at other times when it's most probably not worthwhile.

 

[Atom Smasher]

Heard an interesting story about a new Opeth song being passed along to the DJs at Sirius and they decided to play it for all and sundry and the Roadrunner employee got into quite a bit of shit.

Someone I know was interning for Roadrunner when that whole fiasco transpired. We had a good laugh about it. That's why "The Grand Conjuration" (albeit in edited form) was the first song from Opeth's latest album to leak, it was ripped right from that broadcast, apparently.