This one is a bit of a rocker: The Perfect Illusion

I was messing about on the guitar a few weeks ago and came up with the riff for this. A bit more of a rock song than we normally do, but Chris knocked it out of the park IMHO!

I used BIAB for the bass and drums:

Drums: RockThrashHalfTimeEV16
Bass: 387

In addition I recorded four guitar tracks: Tele for the left panned rhythm and riff(doubled), PRS CE22 for the right panned rhythm and lead

All comments welcome!

The Perfect Illusion, lyrics by Christiane Spruit, 2017

Verse 1
Every day there is a new outrage
breaking news of mankind
Things are moving from outrageous to absurd
within a blink of an eye

CHORUS
Hear it comes, the perfect illusion
Here it comes, the perfect lie

Verse 2
The mood was dark and now it is turning to black
there is no way to break it through
The stars are stripes there is no climate collapse
we have to get back to the fact

CHORUS

BRIDGE
Now we come to the conclusion
the truth is hard to find

Solo

Chorus

Outro

Dave,

Great song! Chris really nailed the vocal - she's got a very cool sound. Excellent production as well - I really like the way you panned the Tele parts - a very tight "in the pocket" feel.

Bob

Dark Rock - We like it!

Very nice guitar work and Chris' vocal is spot on. Cool song! Best to both of you.

Alan & Di

This song reminds me of the music when I was a young teenager. Loved the difference sounds of the guitars. So distinct and different. Very cool. Super vocal and backtrack.

Dave & Chris...

Awesome rock song. A good rock write.

Good Rock vocal!

Cool retro sound to everything. Those drums really WORK! Nice guitar work - all over the place. Nice solo - love the tone - how did you get that?

Excellent mix - everything right where it needed to be.

Everything about this shouts "Cream!"

Nice.

floyd

Jimi!!!

Foxy Lady!!!!!

That's what I'm talking about.

Loved it. You sound like two Voodoo Chiles.

Definitely an awesome gig, nicely mastered!

Jimi without the distortion......love it! Love that guitar lead! Great vocals with an outstanding mix.

All I can say is WOW, THIS IS OUTSTANDING[.

This is a keeper!

nice riffs

hot solo, very nice

great vocals, reminds me of Pat Benatar, whom I always liked a lot

the bass player bothered me on first listen, I was gonna say

fire him and try another track, but I played the intro again and it

sounds fine, maybe a little loose, like the bass should be playing a

steady 8th note drone so that it doesn't compete with the guitar.

it's only my humble thoughts and I've been wrong before...

enjoyed the song!

Kenny

Thanks, Bob! The production side of things is something I really enjoy doing. I've learned a lot over the last couple of years mainly from hanging out here and learning from guys that have forgotten more about mixing than I'll ever know. But, never too old to learn and I always try and get better.

Thanks Alan & Di, I appreciate you taking the time to listen to and comment on our song!

Well, you will never hear anything modern from me, I'm old school when it comes to the music I listen to and the music I play.
Thanks for dropping by, Scott!

Floyd, for the last 18 months or so I've been using the Scuffham S-Gear amp simulator. It was actually Tom Adams that turned me onto it, he uses S-Gear too. In addition I'm feeding the output of the S-Gear into a waves plugin called CLA Unplugged, designed for acoustic instruments and vocals but I think it works great on electric guitar too. It has compression, reverb, and delay FX.


I've learned a lot about mixing from hanging out here for the last couple of years, and much of it I learned from constructive criticism I received from you! So, thanks for that


Like many guys my age, i.e. old as dirt, I first got really into music after hearing the Beatles on the Sullivan show. But the first time I heard Cream! Man, it blew me away. Track was "White Room", just something so different and powerful about the sound. Not to mention Eric on guitar!

Thanks Floyd, Chris and I always appreciate your comments!

Hi Dave.

Brilliant piece of Rock.

Like Kenny said, the vocal is very Pat Benatar, or maybe even Grace Slick - wonderful.

The whole thing really drives along and then that splendid solo comes in. What's not to like?

Loved the whole thing.

ROG.

Dave, I really liked that riff you started off with (it really carries the song along). You are certainly right about Chris' vocal on this (Grace Slick in her heyday had nothing on her). Some really nice licks in the solo work. Thanks, Torrey.

Good ear, David!

Yeah, Jimi was special. Great guitar player of course, but also a great songwriter! That Axis Bold as Love album ... not a bad track on it!

There is this concert series up here called Classic Albums Live, not sure if that is just a Canadian thing or not. Anyway they have this core group of musicians that will take a classic rock album and will reproduce the entire thing note for note, so sometimes you can have a lot of musicians on stage. Very cool on some albums where there were lots of extra tracks done in the studio that the bands could not reproduce live, some of the later Beatles albums for example.

Long story short, a couple of months ago they did "Are you experienced" for the first set, and then most of "Axis Bold of Love" plus a few from "Electric Ladyland" for the second set. Pretty much blew me away hearing all those great songs again, and hearing them live for the first time.

So I came up with the riff for this shortly after seeing that, and used the "Hendrix" chord, E7#9, which he used in Foxy Lady and Purple Haze.

Thanks man, I appreciate the listen and comments!

Dave, I have always loved that chord and use it a lot myself. Guitar work is super and the vocal by Chris is perfect for the song. Very well conceived and written. Has a cool retro sound that really works. An excellent listen and one of my favorites of your recent posts. Tom

Thanks LPman! (I see you are from Montreal, that's where I was born)

Thanks Mario!! (I've never been a fan of too much distortion, just enough to make it sing

Thanks Kenny! If I revisit this song in the future I'll see if I can do something better with the bass.

Dave & Chris

Excellent! Really nice vocal and a strong arrangement - and absolutely top notch playing.
Solo sounded like a cross between Jimi Page and a touch of Rory Gallagher to me (with a few others thrown in).

Peter

What he said!! I can hear the Cream, and the Jimi. Great sound, and great drums!! Take care. Greg

As David said "You sound like two Voodoo Chiles." Oh yeah.

As Gregg Allman used to say everything is "hittin' the note!"

Y'all might want to stay on this path for a while.

I'd rather listen again than try and parse out all the good stuff happening here.

There is NOTHING we don't like....a lot. Performances, write, arrangement, mix....all nailed.

J&B

Hi BlueAttitude, Great work on this! Very rockin' and sweet tune. Big fan of the vocals too. Well done!

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment Roger, it is appreciated!

Thanks, Torrey!

For me "retro" is current, I don't get out much :P

Thanks Tom, I really appreciate the support you have given us!

Thanks Peter, always great to hear from a fellow guitarist!

Man, I loved Rory Gallagher back in the day! He never got the recognition he deserved, he was as good as anyone and better than most. Page too of course. I still listen to both of those guys when I'm in the mood, that music never gets old for me.

Thanks Greg!

I stumbled across those drums by accident, but I'll use them again.

Thanks Joe! Always nice to get a comment from pgmusic staff

When I first came up with the riff for this and started working out the rest of the song I thought it might be too "rock" for us, mostly we have done blues and ballads, but when I told Chris about it her reaction was why shouldn't we do a rock song? And of course the answer is no reason why not.

At the end of the day for us it is all about having fun making music, and this one was a blast to do.

Awesome comments J&B, thanks very much!

Dave and Chris,

I totally enjoyed this. As other have already noted, this is first class in every department... great arrangement, great production, great writing and superb vocals! There sure are lots of skills on display here!

All the best to you both,
Noel

Darn, what is not to like here. Great sound. I closed my eyes and heard Gracie Slick.

Very kind of you Noel, thanks so much!

Thanks, Dan! I loved the Early Jefferson Airplane music, such a powerful sound with that great vocal.