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Signing up for notifications can often lead to unwanted spammage and nine times out of ten, you end up forgetting about the notification that you signed up for, and in the case of the recent Lindemann movie premiere, miss the entire thing. With the case of the new single from Myles Kennedy, one little Facebook post, casually mentioning that if you signed up to his mailing list, you would be able to listen to the title track from the upcoming solo album before anyone else, was too good to resist. Fast forward some 18 hours or so and with the refresh button worn out, the email finally arrives with the subject matter: Myles Kennedy – New Video – “The Ides of March”, and Boom! that was all they needed to say.
At 7:39 minutes in length, ‘The Ides of March’ is the longest track on the forthcoming album due May 14th via Napalm Records. Tracks of this length are usually described as “epic”, and while that is certainly one word to describe ‘The Ides of March’, a better option might be to go with “varied”, “diverse”, or “progressive”.
Once the vinyl is carefully taken out from its sleeve and the needle drops, the song opens in a soft manner with Kennedy delivering a foreboding spoken-word vocal which is kind of similar to the way that Bruce Dickinson introduces ‘Fear of The Dark’ when Maiden play it live. There’s a brief Rush-esque blast of music, which grows with a light jazzy feel…and that’s all in the first 90 seconds or so. The song begins to build at its own pace and never feels forced, more progressive touches here and there, with the band really stretching out on this one. Kennedy is clearly having a blast playing his guitar, and his work is at times stunning; especially during a brief tip-of-the-hat to the Rolling Stones classic ‘Paint It Black’ around the 4:10 mark which seeps into a beautiful Santana-like guitar solo which runs for a minute or so. From here the song takes on a Zeppelin-ish feel musically, and the dreamy vocal melodies in places take on a Beatles-esque vibe. It’s Kennedy’s guitar playing that really stands out though. A handful of incredible, lengthy solo’s form the foundations of this beautiful, well-crafted piece of art, and if the rest of the album lives up to the promise shown by this and previous single ‘In Stride’, then Myles Kennedy will have a monster of his hands.
The Ides Of March is available for pre-order in various configurations. These include a Digital Album, Jewelcase CD (available worldwide), and CD Digipack (Napalm mailorder, limited to 500 worldwide). It will also be available in various vinyl configurations including 2 LP Gatefold Black Vinyl (available worldwide), 2 LP Gatefold Gray Vinyl (available worldwide), and 2 LP Gatefold Bottle Green Transparent Vinyl (Napalm mailorder, limited to 400 worldwide) and lastly a Deluxe Box: Glow In The Dark Vinyl + Cover Artprint + 7” Glow In The Dark “A Thousand Words” Vinyl Demo Single + Pendant + Slipmat (Napalm mailorder, limited to 700 worldwide). Other editions are already sold out. Fans that pre-order The Ides Of March digitally will receive instant downloads of “The Ides Of March” and the current single “In Stride.” All versions of The Ides Of March can be ordered HERE.
[Photo Credit: Chuck Brueckmann]
