eyeTUNES

I was just transferring some old tapes and CDRs of demos to my PC and thought it would be funny to post some of these things here. Maybe you guys can encourage me to re-record them. Or discourage me from doing so. Haha. Most are these demos (many are just snippets) I only vaguely remember doing; some I don't remember at all. They're all generally just scratch demos, since I never liked spending a long time making things sound good; I just wanted to get the ideas recorded. But I like some of these songs. They vary from rock to rap to punk to metal.

We'll start with the early stuff, the songs I recorded as a teenager.

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NEEDLES (Clip) *

* Sound quality is low. Turn it up!

"Needles" was one of the first songs I ever wrote. I never recorded it with vocals, other than the chorus. I have the full instrumental version of it. I remember I recorded like four different guitar tracks for the chorus, rendering it impossible to play live unless there were four guitarists. Haha. I still have this song memorized in my head. As soon as I heard it again I knew all the lyrics. Crazy, huh? I wrote this when I was about 14 years old (I'm 32 now); it was about my father's addiction to drugs and alcohol. The chorus goes:

Don't know if I can take it
Yeah, I don't know if you'll ever break it
And I don't know as I kneel down to pray
Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever say goodbye
Or just stand and watch you die

Pretty messed up lyrics for a 14 year old. I'd love to do a new version of this one, just for kicks. I'd also like to record the first song I ever wrote, which I never actually put down on tape because it never flowed right. The lyrics were terrible, but now I'd probably be able to work it into the version I have in my head. Who knows! Maybe someday.

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KINGDOM (Demo Clip)
KINGDOM (Alt. Demo)

This song's a bit older. This one comes from around 1992 or 1993, I think. Back when the new Corrosion Of Conformity and Pantera were getting popular. This song is definitely influenced from those styles. I only have two versions of this song now.

This one and another that has a bit more singing after it fades out in the clip here. That version, I think, would sound cool if I re-recorded it, but the recorded version sounds a little merry. I tried to do this big harmony thing and it doesn't sound good to my ears now. Haha. But this one I included here is cool, I think. I dig my screams in the chorus.

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I SWEAR (Clip)

Not sure what this one was really called; it's not my song. This is a band I tried out for way back in the day. They had a really dumb name like, Steel Power, or something. "Steel" was in the name. Anyway, they were this bluesy rock band and sent me some instrumental demos and the actual songs with another vocalist. I thought the vocals sucked, honestly. There was no hook and the lyrics were retarded. One song was about skydiving. Pffft!

So I recorded three songs and sent them to the band. I never heard from them again. Haha. Not surprising since I totally made the songs into metal/rock songs that were nothing like the blues rock style they had. Somewhere around here I have those songs in complete form and in a better recording. This one had me doing almost death metal vocals for the I swear part, far heavier than this version. So I'm sure they weren't too keen on my new versions of their songs. Haha. This one is just a scratch demo I did to get a feel for the lyrics I threw together. I thought the songs I recorded were pretty damn cool. I like this one. I hope I still have the good versions.

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YOUR LONESOME (Clip)

This is one that I don't quite remember doing. It's something of a rap song, I guess, but not really since I'm not rapping. It's me doing somber verses over a beat and then screaming a chorus. I have loads of old instrumentals; I'd like to see if I still have this. I think a proper recording with some added guitars could make it into a really cool song. I like the lyrics for the verses; not quite sure if I understand the chorus, though. It doesn't make much sense, at least 15 years later.

I must have done this one when I was about 18 or so, which is when I started experimenting with different styles of music. No idea. It is me, though. Kind of a cool little discovery. Not sure if you guys will dig it, though.

Hey, you got some really good stuff. I like needles and I swear. Cool writeup on each song.

journeyman wrote:

Hey, you got some really good stuff. I like needles and I swear. Cool writeup on each song.

Right on! I had resigned this thread to a flop! Haha. Thanks.

i half expected to hear Phil Collins singing on Needles when it first started. with that simple beat.

your lonesome sounds like something Marilyn Manson or NIN would do. not bad at all for that style.

i swear sounded like any song on college radio that i've heard a gazillion times.

Kingdom was my fave of the bunch. has a Coal Chamber feel to it in the chorus.

mc666 wrote:

i half expected to hear Phil Collins singing on Needles when it first started. with that simple beat.

your lonesome sounds like something Marilyn Manson or NIN would do. not bad at all for that style.

i swear sounded like any song on college radio that i've heard a gazillion times.

Kingdom was my fave of the bunch. has a Coal Chamber feel to it in the chorus.

Right on. Thanks.

Gotta bump this one. I found a lot Eyesore track from Korea, and it made me giggle.

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KEEP IT UP (Rough Demo)

I remember recording this song in my dorm room as a joke. I can't believe I found it. Haha! I was bit drunk at the time. Over there, I only had a 4-track recorder to work with, and it was my roommates. Anyway, the song sounds like complete crap, just guitar and vocals, and the lyrics are just complete nonsense. It's about a drunken threesome. True story. Sad, but true.

I love the breakdown! Haha.

That's really bad.

Can't access the earlier tracks though.

i wouldn't say bad... but very under produced punk. needs work on the vocals. also needs bass & drums.

The guitar parts are really cool, but the lyrics????

Man, all I had was a guitar over there. Haha. I actually brought none of my own equipment, thinking there's no way in hell I'd be in a band or anything there. It was a remote assignment, and I prepared for hell and sacrifice. But my roommate brought his guitars and amps, another guy brought his guitars and a whole drum kit, and one dude brought a frickin' PA!

Either way, everything about that song is crap. And my vocals are way out of tune at times. I do think it's funny, though, and I like my 80s hooks. Haha.

I went to listen and it says they all have been deleted...

MetalRob331 wrote:

I went to listen and it says they all have been deleted...

Yeah, all those in the first post have been long deleted.

I re-uploaded those old songs, and I also added an alternate take on that "Kingdom" song. It's the full song, though, only unfinished. I sing the verse a bit more, instead of the short, choppy screaming. And there's a weird breakdown singing thingy, that I hardly remember doing, but sounds kind of cool (too bad there's some off-key singing).

Again, those are just demos. I never concerned myself with sounding awesome. So when you hear crappy, out of tune singing, that's okay. =)

Eyesore wrote:

I re-uploaded those old songs, and I also added an alternate take on that "Kingdom" song. It's the full song, though, only unfinished. I sing the verse a bit more, instead of the short, choppy screaming. And there's a weird breakdown singing thingy, that I hardly remember doing, but sounds kind of cool (too bad there's some off-key singing).

Again, those are just demos. I never concerned myself with sounding awesome. So when you hear crappy, out of tune singing, that's okay. =)

haha i'm no singer either but hey i try..

Oh, I can sing—I think. I just had no patience for recording. Too much brain work for me, I guess. I just hit record and let it rip. One or two takes and that was good enough for me. Haha.

Kingdom is my favorite out of the bunch, I Swear wasnt bad either. Awesome work...

Which version of "Kingdom" was best? Some day I might re-record it. Who knows!