Orchestral arrangements don't usually work with rock bands, but the track listing is intriguing - lots of great album cuts! (other than Goodbye for Good, one of the filler tracks off last year's album).

I realize as I write this that it's not that orchestras don't work as a concept with rock bands, but that it's usually not conceived well. All too often, the song loses what made it work in the first place and becomes unrecognizable (in a bad way).

So I'm not holding out much hope for this, but it does work on rare occasion (e.g., Byan Adams's reworking of I'm Ready for the Unplugged, which was basically orchestral).

The secret is to not take too much away from the song, I think. This band is kind of off-topic, but take Wang Chung's Orchesography from 2019. I was skeptical that a track like "Dance Hall Days" could work, figuring they'd replace the dance groove with a symphonic gimmick. But the fusion worked because instead of subtracting anything, they perched a new layer of instrumental flourishes atop the musical Jenga tower - pop guitars, beats, new wave electronics - and nothing collapsed. And it sounds punchier than the somewhat dated original track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUWPctuaXzA

P.S. Just heard Animal. Doesn't work, really. It's not an abomination or anything, just kind of pointless and boring. I think some of the other tracks will be better suited for this kind of treatment, so here's hoping...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2023 04:30AM by JMac.