As is now the tradition, now that … Like Ashes has gone out to all the people who bought my album Head Like Fire and the people who followed the very simple instructions in my … Like Ashes Blog Post (which you can still do!), it’s time for me to take a look back at this collection of bonus tracks & remixes in a two-part blog series. First up is the bonus tracks…
1. Journey – At one point “Journey” was the opening track of Head Like Fire. It was always the opening track of my playlist of songs that were going to maybe or maybe not end up on the album, but once I started really finishing songs, I just couldn’t get it finished in a way that felt like a finished song. So when it became time to put together … Like Ashes, it was the first track I went back to, and I think it came out perfect. It’s unlike most of the songs normally on my album with the irregular drum patterns and more cinematic feel, but I love it.
2. Sage – “Sage” and “The Land of Nothing” are both songs that I really liked as I was making them but I held both of them back a) becuase they didn’t feel finished yet, and b) because they sounded too much like a few of the other songs that did make it onto Head Like Fire. As a matter of fact, they kind of sound like each other too. But I think they’re both really solid tracks.
3. Clearview – “Clearview” was one of the first tracks I made after finishing my previous album An Unseen Sky and its companion piece Another Sky. Clearview is actually the name of one of the elementary schools I went to back in Pennsylvania haha, but there’s really no reason for the name. I just thought it was a cool name out of context from it being a school. To be honest this is probably my least favorite song on the album, but it’s still a great track when driving and I’m glad to have it.
4. Home – This is one of my favorite tracks on this album. I actually have a music video idea for “Home,” although I don’t know when and if I’d ever manage to get it filmed. I just love the groove of it though and then the way it builds and then the big 80s dramatic guitars at the end. Love this song.
5. The Land Of Nothing – Again, pretty much everything I said about “Sage” applied to this song too. This one took a lot of work to get right, but once it was good, I was really happy with it. I like the alternating layered drums a lot.
6. Crystalize – This probably is my favorite track on the album. It’s also been selected to be on the Zia Records “You Heard Us Back When” Compilation CD (making 3 years in a row for me after they previously included “Shadows on the Ceiling” and “Burnout”). The distortion, the drums, the breakdown in the middle, the way it all comes back in. It’s just a killer groove that I’m really happy with.
7. The Precipice – I really, really love this song. It reminds me of another track of mine, “The Master” from Another Sky. They’re kind of companion pieces in a way. The funny thing about this one is that when gathering up unfinished tracks, I totally forgot I made this. It wasn’t nearly as complete as the finished version you’re hearing now, but still, it really gave me an awesome surprise shock when I hit play and was like “wow, when did I make this?!?” haha.
8. Scarecrow – Once upon a time, the name Head Like Fire was going to refer to a full album of songs with big heavy industrial guitars like this song, “Burnout,” and “Devil.” But then as more and more songs kept happening in a wider variety of styles, I kind of abandonded that idea. There’s a few more beginnings of songs that I might eventually go back to, but “Scarecrow,” was the most complete, and also the song I was originally ending Head Like Fire with, so I decided to end the bonus tracks portion of … Like Ashes with it.
And that about does it. Next week I’ll post the 2nd part about the remixes, and then I’ll release … Like Ashes on my Bandcamp page as a completely free album. But if you want it free and early, there’s still time to get a copy. Just check out the announcement blog.
-David
–
David Rosen is an award-winning music composer. He composes original music for films, commercials, jingles, video-games and all other kinds of media projects. He has a vast music library of original tracks available for licensing and is also available for custom compositions. Contact him on the ABOUT page for pricing and availability for your next project.