Flotsam & Jetsam new album pledge drive...

Eyesore wrote:

Pretty cool.

Their updates suck, though. Haha.

Yea they do. It might be just as bad as the Timo Tolkki ones.

It took them a long time to just get to that 100%. Either they aren't really promoting it that well or no one cares. Shame cause i've loved this band since I heard Cuatro. When I did Tolkkis Pledge music project it only took a few weeks.

DallasBlack wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Pretty cool.

Their updates suck, though. Haha.

Eh, the only update I need is whether they would make it or not.

After all the brilliant updates we got from Ginger, I'm spoiled. But I think they did it right. The fans are a huge part of this new process; reward them with something other than what they ultimately paid for. It doesn't take much effort in this day and age, with the ease of technology, to keep give the fans more of an inside look.

These are the kind of updates this band is giving people:



HORRIBLE!

Eyesore wrote:

These are the kind of updates this band is giving people:



HORRIBLE!

That`s being nice Eyesore.

Ummmm.....that's it ?

I think fan-funding is great. For the fan, I think it's cool to be part of it, to know you helped to get an album made. Especially if you love the band.

Also, just because a band has been making albums for over 20 years, doesn't mean they generate enough interest beyond their niche market for a label to want to drop anything on them, or the label doesn't *think* they will generate enough interest, anyway...fan-funding is a good way to prove labels wrong.

Or Jason Newstead could just flow his old mates some of his Load money.

The latest update:



Dreadful. In comparison, this is typically the stuff we got from Ginger and his campaign:



Long clips, a little look at the band recording, funny stuff, etc. Nearly every update was pure entertainment. Flotsam's stuff is lame. I pledged for the Luscious Jackson campaign, too, and their updates are just as bad—pictures of their handmade drawings or some of the other signed items you can pledge for, even a recipe for a veggie smoothie! Oooh.

If bands want the fans to directly fund their project, give them something better than that!

Quote :

If bands want the fans to directly fund their project, give them something better than that!

I agree that the Flots stuff is way lame, but it's still a new platform for promotion. If this pledging thing really starts to take off with bands, I'm sure you'll see them putting more effort into the updates. In theory, anyway.

I don't care much about the updates, as long as the cd is good!

Yea I don't pay attention to the updates cause they've been horrible. Just let me know when the album is done and send it to me.

The cover artwork for "Ugly Noise", the new album from Arizona metal veterans FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, can be seen below. The CD will be released on November 21.

When asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the new album, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM guitarist Michael Gilbert told Metal Army America in July, "I worked with [former METALLICA and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist] Jason Newsted on a few songs, and he's given me some tips about some things and opened my view up towards how I look at my music and how I want the listeners to perceive the points I'm trying to make."

He added, "[Jason] is really passionate about music, so when I called him and talked to him, I just wanted him to help out with some lyrical stuff and hear some of the music I was writing. He's a great songwriter, too. I'm not sure if everything that he got to do in METALLICA, if he was restrained a little bit, I'm not sure about all that sort of stuff, but as far as with me, anytime he wants to write with me, he's got full rein and he's got absolute say-so in everything that happens. It's a 50-50 relationship, as it would be with Eric ['A.K.' Knutson], our singer, writing music with us, or Kelly [David Smith], our drummer."

Regarding the musical direction of the new FLOTSAM AND JETSAM material, Gilbert said, "It's probably the most mature it's ever been, but if you wanna classify it as close to any other record that we've done, it's probably gonna be close to [1995's] 'Drift'. If we were gonna make a record right after 'Drift', which was out fifth record, 'Ugly Noise' would be the next one — with this lineup, you know."

Funding for the next FLOTSAM AND JETSAM album was aided by the PledgeMusic.com project, which encourages fans to contribute funds to the recording of albums and the artists themselves to donate to charity as a part of their fundraising.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM last year parted ways with drummer Craig Nielsen and was rejoined by Kelly David Smith.

The band's current lineup is the same as the one that recorded the "Cuatro" (1992), "Drift" (1995) and "High" (1997) albums:

Eric "A.K." Knutson - Vocals
Ed Carlson - Guitar
Michael Gilbert - Guitar
Jason Ward - Bass
Kelly David Smith - Drums

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's latest album, "The Cold", was released in Europe in February 2011 via Nuclear Blast. The CD's cover artwork was created by Travis Smith, who has previously worked with OPETH, NEVERMORE, AMORPHIS and KING DIAMOND, among others.

"The Cold" was released in North America on September 14, 2010.

The worst thrash metal artwork for 2012 and beyond, that's for sure!

Then again F&J ain't thrash anymore, so it probably fits.

I like the cover.

Don't get me wrong, for alterna/grunge album this art would be perfect. I just cannot associate it with F&J. But then again the last F&J album I really like is "When the Storm..." so I'm probably way out of line here...

Yeah, I dig the artwork. Flots surely aren't thrash anymore. And from the samples I heard through this funding campaign, I'm not expecting much.

Cool cover.

I like the cover. Despite some of the opinions here, not every album needs a a hand drawn "throwback" cover to be good. Some bands like to evolve to 2012, not act like it's still 1986.

I like the cover. Looking forward to hearing the new album.

As long as they still have a sound consistent with the last two, I'll love it

SpectreFate wrote:

I like the cover. Despite some of the opinions here, not every album needs a a hand drawn "throwback" cover to be good. Some bands like to evolve to 2012, not act like it's still 1986.

adrian wrote:

As long as they still have a sound consistent with the last two, I'll love it

Same here, though I only know the last one. The Cold was such a suprise hit for me. When it ordered it, I never thought it'd be one of my top 10 albums that year but it was.

DallasBlack wrote:

adrian wrote:

As long as they still have a sound consistent with the last two, I'll love it

Same here, though I only know the last one. The Cold was such a suprise hit for me. When it ordered it, I never thought it'd be one of my top 10 albums that year but it was.

If it's similar to The Cold, I'll like it. As for the cover, I like it too. It certainly brings the album title to mind.

Well, I see it the other way around: Very few bands can act and deliver like it is still 1986. The rest "evolve"

I like how the old school logo looks in the piano, its a cool cover. I'm a little surprised they are going back to the "Drift" era style especially with the last 2 albums, they seemed to be going in another direction and now they are back to the more commercial sounding stuff. Can't say they've done a bad album except for "High" maybe, but that one isn't even that bad. As long as the songs are listenable I don't care.

If they are going back to "Drift" then this cover will be the best thing about it. I was a huge fan back in the day, and they totally lost me with that one. What a lousy album. Only looks good in comparison to, say, FORBIDDEN's "Green".