Quote:
Originally Posted by ElijahSoRight72
First bolded: I definitely believe you, I want to make that clear. And that would answer a lot of long lingering questions about this album process. I just have a question about what would Flohr/the label realistically do to change the outcome of how this album charts or sells? Especially based on the songs themselves? I feel like at this point in the band's career, whoever is going to buy the DMB album will buy it, and whoever won't, won't. I would understand if we saw them try to market Come Tomorrow in any way, but they really didn't. None of the CT songs were in movies, tv shows, commercials, Spotify playlists, or any of the other ways labels market their stuff in the streaming era. This became long winded but I'm just curious about the role the label would play in a DMB album in 2022.
Secondly, did Dave and Co. ask Ballard to produce the next album after Everyday? I know you've mentioned the second Ballard sessions with him and Dave, but was Ballard officially the guy they wanted for the next one?
|
It would be easy for me to say " I don't know" and agree with your points but that's not the answer you want. So, my opinion is that perhaps people like Bruce Flohr (whom may or may not even have much say in things anymore) might be more apt to encourage Dave to keep looking through old tracks, keep writing, in order to find that "where are you going" type of hit. I think ego probably plays a huge role for all parties and I'm sure someone wants a hit. I think that if they were interested in shitting out commercially unsuccessful records they'd do it more often. I think there might be hesitancy after records like Come Tomorrow & AFTW didn't have the success that Big Whiskey did. But I don't know if RCA or Flohr still weigh heavily on decisions at all, it's just that I tend to think there is more to it than Dave apparently wanting to perfect something. It might be more important for Dave to believe it's his choice to improve his next album than for that to be the truth.
So, might Dave want to keep recording in hopes of finding another hit? Perhaps. Or perhaps he was encouraged to do so? Or, maybe he was politely told that he needed to add something more to the record before a label was excited about distributing it? Maybe. I think it would be tough to get very direct answers on those kinds of questions, so I cannot say for certain.
If I'm paying to distribute the new album, paying to promote it, paying for it to have the level of success that I want it to have, I'm not concerned with the fans who will buy my record no matter what. I'm concerned with the random people that I can rope in with a radio/viral hits. So I need those hits, simple as that.
As for the Ballard question, I think that if you asked Glen Ballard if he was asked to produce the follow up to Everyday he would say yes. And he'd probably say that he decided that it was best not too, because he knew how much the fans disliked him. I'm not sure if he'd go on record with those answers. I'd also guess that he didn't like the negative attention he got from the Lillywhite leak fallout. And I'm definitely not sure what Flohr would say, though he would know exactly who he considered and in what order. My guess is that Harris wasn't the first choice.