|
|
Possessor
Inspiration & History
This song also goes back a long way. The nitty gritty basics of the intro and main riff go back to about 1995. My friend Fern, a drummer I had met just before graduating high school (with a fondness for Dream Theater nearly equal to my own) Ryan Chaffey, and myself used to get together and jam. It usually was just that, jamming, no structure. We only ever had 2 songs, and one of them was very similar to this. It was more progressive then, and a little more "thrashy", I kind of streamlined it a bit for this. The intro was identical, which is why I recorded the intro with my Gibson, with the tuning I used to use and that I wrote it with (dropped-D, down a step and a half resulting in a low B). This was way before my 7-string days, and my friend Fern had a 6 string bass, so since we used to jam a lot, I wanted a guitar with the low range to match him. It also made it possible for me to jam along with the (then) new Dream Theater songs with the low range as well =^)
But the inspiration to revitalize the song came about at the same time as Speechless and Reinvention. The time that Dawn and I got together. Dawn was still married, and her husband was, well, words cannot describe. To keep it short, sweet, and in perspective, let's just say he was going to sue me for "trespassing" because Dawn was his "property". Not even kidding (wish I was).
So needless to say, putting up with how he was treating Dawn, how it filtered to me, and what I saw, made me very angry, upset, unhappy, etc. It's pretty obvious where the song's title comes from. The evil-ish type riffing seemed appropriate. The intro is really used as a contrast, as it sets you up to go to a happier place, thus making the evilness seem even more so.
Technical Info
There is a track kicking around somewhere of my initial recording of this that was done pre-4 track with the Aiwa recording method (see Watching You Fall, Speechless, & Reinvention). It is something of evil. Assuredly bad production and the associated noise. However, it was recorded with my Rickenbacker through my old Korg G1 distortion processor.....TRIPLE TRACKED!!! It sounded absolutely evil and crazy, and very markedly NOT like a Rickenbacker should ever sound. Leave it to me! When that gets tracked down, I promise it will also get posted.
But the version on CD, was recorded 12-06-99. It was done in a rather straightforward fashion. I used the "secret" cab recording method for the guitars. The bass is the Steinberger tuned down a 5th to B. The solos were recorded a bit later on if I remember correctly, and they were totally improvised, which is why they're as slop as they are. I was just recording random punch in and punch out solos, and I was doing it over and over in alternate channels, and I just happen to stumble across two alternate takes that just fit each other great, in the dueling guitar solo fashion I was after.....even if I did screw up a few times in them!
Clean Intro Guitar:
Gibson SG Special (tuned B-F#-B-E-G#-C#) through Korg A4 Bass direct.
Heavy Rhythm & Lead Guitar:
Ibanez UV777BK through Mesa/Boogie Mark III with Rocktron Intellifex in effects loop through 4" 1981 Toyota Corolla speaker (see "Secret" cab in the music section) ultra close miked with with Radio Shack 33-3002 mic, wrapped in a blanket.
Bass:
Steinberger through Korg A4 Bass direct.
Drums:
Yamaha RY-10 through Rocktron Intellifex & Peavey AEQ 2800
Recording:
Recorded and mixed onto Yamaha MT120S 4-track. Mixed to Sony MDS-JE320 for final mix. Transferred to PC and mixed and finalized with GoldWave.
-={E-Mail Jake}=-
|
