EXCESSIVE
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EXCESSIVE Music and Lyrics: Michael Foster Music Written: September, 1985. Lyrics Written: June, 2006. Copyright 2006 by Crystal Magic Music (ASCAP) Michael Foster: Guitars, Vocals, and First solo (left) Mark Easton: Guitars, and Second solo (right) Barry Easton: Drums Michael Corsini: Bass Recorded in June, 2006...at ROUGH CUT STUDIO...Eastford, Conn. Mixed in July, 2006...at GOLDEN SUN STUDIO...North Palm Beach, Fla. Arranged, Produced, and Mixed by Michael Foster Engineered by Mark Easton In late 2005, I stumbled upon a shoebox full of old cassette tapes in a closet, which consisted primarily of twenty year old plus recordings of Avalanche rehearsals. When I found this one...I realized it was from a 1985 3-piece short-lived incarnation of Avalanche that I had put together in an attempt to resurrect the band five years after the original group had broken up. At that time...I was having many problems in my life...I had gotten very "excessive" with my drug use...and I don't remember a whole lot about that time. The tape quality was terrible...but this song was on it...and even without any vocals or lyrics...it stood out as a really strong cut. I don't remember if there ever even were lyrics written for it...or what the original title of the track may have been...and just getting the tape to play at all was very difficult. When I left for Conn. for these sessions I decided to bring the cassette tape with me. Once the band heard the music...it immediately became the choice as "first song to record"....which presented a dilemma...because there were no lyrics...and no idea about a melody to go with the music. I decided that we would rehearse and record it anyway...and once that was accomplished...I took a rough mix..put in on a CD and drove around for a day...trying to find the right melody and lyrical subject. As I sat on my very successful twin brother's deck at his estate late that afternoon in the middle of the woods in Hampton, Conn... I remembered that the night before...his floodlights kept turning on and off all by themselves. I found out that motion sensors on the lights were being set off by moths flying around them...and as I looked around me...the inspiration came. Once I had the lyrics...the melody and the phrasing became a very easy task. The vocal recording was one of the easiest I have ever done...it was almost as though the song was just waiting for me to write it...and "Excessive" became the first track finished from these sessions. SongPlanet DJ Bert, who lives in Conn. actually came to the rehearsals when we were working this one up...and we had a chance to spend the day getting to know him. We all had a great day...and Bert, thanks for taking the time to hang out with us. You are one of the very few people outside of the Avalanche "family" who has actually seen the band perform "live" in over twenty years. Hopefully...that might change "down the road". This is the first of the new 2006 Avalanche recordings. It is a "balls to the wall" rocker...and so we wanted to keep it "live" sounding and raw. This year we made numerous improvements in how we record the band...from new amplifiers...to much better microphones. The band is also really starting to feel like a cohesive unit again...the chemistry has always been very magical...but this year...I was really able to feel it from everyone...for the first time since the original band broke up over twenty five years ago. It is a huge treat for me to play with these guys....and this year it felt like everyone was really feeling the same way, too. Less than twenty five studio-hours were needed to rehearse and record this song...from the time I played that very poor quality twenty year old rehearsal cassette tape for the guys for the first time. That amazes even me. When I talk about "a magical chemistry" within this group...that one fact brings it all into very clear focus. It is truly a gift...and this is the only group I have ever experienced that kind of unity and empathy in...after forty years as a professional musician...and more bands than I can count. Anyway...this is a song about mindless greed, selfish behavior at the expense of the planet...and the totally warped belief that it is acceptable. We live in a world of utter "enoughness"...and total abundance...it is only our self-centeredness and apathy towards the plight of those less fortunate than we are...that creates the faulty belief that we lack anything we need. There is more than enough of everything to go around...but not if we keep taking far more than we could ever possibly need....at the expense of others, who as a result...go without the basic essentials for survival...or at the expense of the environment and the many other species of life on this planet that have as much right to exist as we do. Only our arrogance tells us otherwise. And arrogance does seem to be the "American Way" these days. And in case anyone couldn't tell...I'm NOT a Republican. Mike (NAV) and AVALANCHE