The Last Hero
| The Last Hero | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alter Bridge studio album | ||||
|
Publication |
October 7, 2016 |
|||
| Label (s) | Napalm Records | |||
|
Title (number) |
13 |
|||
|
running time |
66 min 4 s |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Studio (s) |
Barbarosa Stadium, Orlando |
|||
|
||||
The Last Hero is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Alter Bridge . The album was released on October 7, 2016 via Napalm Records . In North America, the album was released on Alter Bridges Vanity Label Caroline Records .
Emergence
At the beginning of 2015, the band announced that they would not play any concerts that year. Guitarist Mark Tremonti used the time and released the third album Dust by his solo band Tremonti while singer Myles Kennedy toured with guitarist Slash . At the same time, Tremonti and Kennedy separately collected ideas for the next Alter Bridge album. They later sat down together and worked on the results. In January 2016, the recordings for the album began at Studio Barbarosa in Orlando .
The album was produced and mixed again by Michael "Elvis" Baskette . Already recorded the albums Blackbird , AB III and Fortress with Alter Bridge . The recordings lasted until April 2016. Ted Jensen took care of the mastering . At the beginning of June 2016, Alter Bridge signed a contract with the Austrian record label Napalm Records, which applies to all territories excluding North America . For the song Show Me a leader one has music video rotated. The limited version of the album includes the song Last of Our Kind as a bonus .
background
| Track list | |
|---|---|
|
|
The album title refers to a basic theme that runs through the lyrics of the album. According to Myles Kennedy, the lyrics are about heroes or the lack of heroes. He and his bandmates believe that society needs more modern heroes. The Last Hero wouldn't be a concept album though . Kennedy toyed with the idea of doing one. He rejected these plans, however, because otherwise he could not include some songs on the album, which the band wanted to have on the album.
Kennedy took inspiration for the heroic theme from the works of Joseph Campbell , particularly the television series Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth . Kennedy named the American pastor and civil rights activist Martin Luther King as an example of a modern hero . Kennedy denied any political background. Rather, it would be about reflecting on the present and people's frustration with the whole system.
Two songs deviate from the basic theme of the album. My Champion is about the fact that Kennedy was quite short as a teenager, which often led to frustrations for him. His parents and teachers then gave him a lot of advice on how to deal with this situation. Kennedy turned this advice into lyrics. Cradle to the Grave deals with the loss of parents.
reception
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews
According to Katrin Riedl from the German magazine Metal Hammer “Alter Bridge perfect the balance between catchy hit songwriting and a hard base”. The band has "not lost any of its skills, but has skillfully and credibly expanded its sound cosmos", for which it awarded six out of seven points. Ingo Nentwig from the online magazine Metalnews.de described The Last Hero as "another timeless pearl of alternative rock ". There are "no signs of fatigue" and the band "seems to have developed even more fire", for which Nentweig also awarded six out of seven points. Felix Mildner from the online magazine Plattentests.de saw the album more critically . He described the work as a “ retort skirt that is well thought out and well made”. However, "real high points could hardly be made out and a little more experimenters in songwriting would not have hurt". Mildner rated the album four out of ten points.
Chart placements
The Last Hero debuted at number eight on the US album charts . The album reached the highest chart position in the United Kingdom with number three. The album reached number five in Germany and Switzerland , while it was number eight in Austria and Australia. The Last Hero achieved further placements in the top ten in Italy with eighth and in the Netherlands with ten.
Awards
At the Loudwire Music Awards , Alter Bridge was named best rock band and The Last Hero named best rock album of the year. Show Me a Leader also received an award for best rock song.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ALTER BRIDGE Begins Work On New Album. Blabbermouth.net , accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ ALTER BRIDGE Signs With NAPALM RECORDS. Blabbermouth.net, accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Jens Peters: The country needs new heroes . In: Rock Hard , October 2016, page 68
- ^ A b Frank Thiessies: Courage as a concept . In: Metal Hammer , November 2016, page 44
- ↑ Alter Bridge in the US charts. Billboard , accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Alter Bridge in the German charts. GfK Entertainment , accessed on October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Alter Bridge in the Austrian charts. Hung Medien, accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Alter Bridge in the Swiss charts. Hung Medien, accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Alter Bridge in the British charts. Official Chart Company, accessed October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Katrin Riedl: Alter Bridge - The Last Hero. Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 21, 2016 .
- ^ Ingo Nentwig: Alter Bridge - The Last Hero. Metalnews.de, accessed on May 18, 2019 .
- ^ Felix Mildner: Alter Bridge - The Last Hero. Plattentests.de, accessed on October 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Chad Childers: 6th Annual Loudwire Music Awards: Complete Winners List. Loudwire, accessed April 10, 2017 .
Web links
- The Last Hero at Allmusic (English)