Looking for honest opinions on my band's potential.
 

Hey guys. I am a 17 year old in a high school band. I'm going to risk sounding like a douche in saying that we are actually very good. I know we write good catchy songs and I love playing with these guys. We just recorded a demo album. Upon doing this we began to discuss "we would all split up for college so would you guys be willing to put the whole college thing off if things were looking good for us." Now don't get me wrong, we are good and I LOVE making music, but I have a plan to attend U of O and just the thought of putting off college is a bit nerve-racking. Anywho, here is one song off of our 9 song demo. It's not my favorite, nor do I think it's the best (probably the third best in my opinion). Anywho, I'm asking you to listen to the song in it's entirety and tell me if you believe this sound is marketable and if so how marketable. Do we have record deal potential and money making potential to the point where putting off college is actually a thought. Please be honest, I can take it for I am on the fence about this leaning towards just saying forget about it. But who could pass up the thought of touring the country with your friends for even a little money.... Another thought is that our songs keep getting better and this isn't a very polished version. I appreciate everyone's help in this! Well, I am not allowed to post the link to the song so if you please would, look up Stereo Ecstasy on Facebook and it will be the link on our most recent post. I know this is going out of your way but I need this advice...Thanks!
Thanks and please let me know.
Andrew

First, read our forum rules here, then let me know whether you'll be staying or not.

So basically I can't post this for another three months?....

Contributing members are allowed the privilege of self-promotion. We aim to maintain a high quality community, and a significant portion of that is discouraging advertisement by members who have no interest in our website or how they can be a part of improving it.

I understand that. I'm sorry if this was being misconstrued as promotion....I really am just looking for an opinion on the song. Not Facebook likes or anything but would you prefer me to take this down?

AJ, we'd love to discuss your talents and have a dialogue with you in that realm. The fact is, though, this is a community-oriented website that is geared to music discussion. We get many, MANY people simply using our forum as a venue for feedback and promotion, and for many years it has been our policy to deny such a usage of this forum for solely that purpose.

It's nothing personal. It's just a standard we have. The beauty of this standard is that those who are unwilling to acknowledge and abide by it will simply reject it and not take the time and effort required to achieve the status necessary for promoting and/or requesting opinions. Those are exactly the people we are trying to weed out, because they are a great many, and do nothing but harm to the community. And such a thing makes it pretty easy for us to tell who's here for what reason.

I hope you will understand where we are coming from.

As far as taking your link down, another beauty of our website is all our worthwhile, contributing members won't give it the time of day anyway unless you've established yourself. I won't remove your post, unless you don't plan on getting to know us and letting us get to know you.

I'll leave the action up to you. You know why you're here. You make the decision. I don't think it's necessary that someone should do that for you, as you're clearly an intelligent and understanding individual.

Thank you. I appreciate you explaining this to me and I completely understand the standard you've created for the website and it's a good thing to uphold (when you mentioned that many people just use this website for promotion I immediately thought that that would be very frustrating.) Attention to this post can wait and I would love to contribute to this website! I feel that I have a lot to share and a lot to learn. I love music and discussing it. Thanks again.

Wow... a nice, understanding newbie. I like this guy. Stick around AJ.

Okay, well because of your attitude --- very mature and understanding for one so young --- I've decided to have a listen to your music. Here's what I think:

Very good but nothing exceptional, sorry. The vocalist to me seems a little too strong and at times he seems like he's singing over rather than with the music. That's not right, what do I mean... it sounds sometimes like he's there on his own and the music is kind of maybe down in the mix. One thing I do like is the guitar, especially the solos: this guy is pretty good. But the sound itself needs to be filled out I believe: have you considered adding piano/keyboard or maybe even another guitar?

I preferred the first song, "Better days" to the other one, "All I ever wanted", though in both the guitar solos make the song for me.

I'd be cautious of putting off college though. Had this been something I listened to and thought "WOW! Where can I get that music? How can I hear more?" then possibly, but to be brutally honest, you're good but there are a thousand other bands out there just as good, and while you MIGHT get lucky and be signed, there's no guarantee of that. I'd spend more time honing your style and getting a more cohesive sound and then consider your future, after college.

Of course, I could go down in history as the guy who tried to convince the biggest band of the 2000s not to take a chance on their future, but there it is. That's what I think, for what it's worth. Good music? Definitely. Good enough to throw away a college education for? No, not for me.

But of course that's your decision: this is just my opinion.
I would though be interested in hearing the rest of your demo: I run a section in my journal that showcases unsigned bands and am about to write another edition of it, and would be happy to include you if you want.

Anyhoo, don't give up the music but go to college would be my advice.