*Bonus
Tracks:
A portion of all sales from this album are being donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Featuring guest artists Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), John Helliwell (Supertramp), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), Hugh McDowell (Electric Light Orchestra), Steve Rodby (Pat Metheny Group), Dave Stahl (Buddy Rich, Harry Connick, Jr.). Also appearing is long-time Apple bassist Stefon Pizzuto, former Apple vocalist - John Feldmann, long-time sax guest for the Apple - Dave Miller, and female vocalists Johannah Mackin and Deirdre Masapollo. The album was mixed by Grammy winning engineer, David Leonard (Paul McCartney, Rush, Prince, kd lang, Barenaked Ladies, John Mellencamp, Toto, Bruce Hornsby, Tony Bennett, Avril Lavigne, to name but a few!). Mastering was done by Adam Ayan (Rush, Phish, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley, Linkin Park, Wynonna, Martina McBride, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Bela Fleck, Counting Crows, Mariah Carey). River To The Sea marks the first album with vocalist, Dan Merrill. "Dan is a great fit with the band", says Jeff Miller. "It's hard to imagine a better blend of personality and musicality. I mean John (Feldmann) was/is great as well, don't get me wrong - and we're still great friends with John - but John understandably couldn't commit to a somewhat insecure life as a full-time musician with a family to provide for. However, what Dan brings to the table is awesome. We were blessed to find each other. Just don't ask me to compare John and Dan! They are both great musicians in their own right. It's like asking me to pick which Genesis singer I like better - Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins (or Ray Wilson!)...that's an unfair question! Each guy is a wonderful talent in his own way. Besides, both Dan & John are much bigger than me in the area of height...hence being vertically challenged, I don't want to get my butt kicked...so, neutral shall remain I... ...Yoda has taught me well." "The general theme/concept of the album", continues Jeff, "is kind of a circle of life sort of thing... which is a huge, and granted, not a terribly unique concept. However, we wanted to do it in possibly a different way than what might have been done by other artists who have previously tackled this subject. First off, we didn't want to make it bombastic and pretentious...there are certainly some light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek moments. The songs cover different emotions or stages of life...faith, internal/external pressures, dreams, love, career, reflection, loss, children, hope, etc. We didn't initially intend to do a concept album. But, as we were sifting through about 20-25 songs, we noticed that many had a similar theme running through them, lyrically. Ironically, both Buzz's and Dan's lyrics seemed to mesh perfectly, even though the songs were written totally separate from each other. I've always loved the coincidence of the 'weight of the world' line in "Lot Of Hope"...Dan's song 'Hope' and our song 'Weight Of The World' were written before we even hooked up with Dan...And the way both songs work within the album is perfect...a cool irony, eh? So, we thought, why not make this somewhat of a concept album? At that point, I got the idea to create segues to make the entire album flow from beginning to end with no breaks...inspired by great albums from ELO, Marillion, Pink Floyd, etc...I've always loved the idea of making an album one piece of work as opposed to 10 disjointed/unconnected songs. Not that there's anything wrong with that...in fact the next album may likely be more of that nature simply because the work involved to do a 'flowing concept album' is enormous! I always wanted to do it...however, it's terribly exhausting and time-consuming!...but, now it's out of my (our) system!" "For better or worse, this album doesn't neatly fit under one broad stylistic category...it's kind of a combination of pop, progressive rock, and jazz. Picture a mix of Sting, Genesis, Dave Matthews Band, Steely Dan, John Mayer, Pat Metheny Group, Marillion, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby, Supertramp, James Taylor, etc...there's some common ground where all of those artists meet...and that's what Simon Apple is - trying to take the coolest things from each of those styles and genres to create something that is, hopefully, uniquely identifiable. Lyrically, the messages are very positive...sometimes coming from a general faith, or Christian foundation. We've OD'd on the superficial, materialistic, obscene lyrics that pervade so much of the scene right now. I'm all for free speech, and some of that stuff is fine when it makes a point in small doses. But, it's relentless...it's more shock value than anything and it loses it's meaning if it does in fact make a valid statement. And the message being sent is most disturbing...often, a very unrealistic view of the world glorifying materialism. Again, fine in small doses...but not over and over and over again. At the same time, we don't really want to preach to anyone...we're not out to bang people over the head with religion...that tends to turn people off anyway. One of the things I love most about Buzz's and Dan's lyrics is that they can be interpreted however you want...You can take it from both a secular or sacred point of view...it works both ways...and that's what we hope for. Let the listener take out of it however he/she sees fit. Besides, this isn't the cure for cancer...it's music! Music can be a very enriching part of your life, but there's no need to get over-blown, pretentious, or overly-important about it. If it causes you to smile, or think, ponder, cry, laugh, reflect, whatever...as long as it evokes some kind of emotion, then we've succeeded." Now
go away or we shall taunt you a 2nd time...but buy the album first!
No, wait!...Come back!...We were just joking...haha...funny, funny...get
it?... ...Hello?... ...Hello!?... ... ... |
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