Month: November 2020

Broadjam Artist: Phil Mitchell Band
Song: God Bless this Child

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Diana Williamson (Songwriter, Music Supervisor)

Pro General Comments: Hi there.Please note: I don't comment on quality of individual instrumentation as my expertise delves more into overall performance, marketing, melody, etc Great Start.. beautiful vocals... Striking... Percussion provides great a bg underneath vocal. The spirit of the vocal really drives the song forward. It captures that magical energy you want when you present a song. Well done.Beautiful feel for this song. The melody doesn't disappoint. You obviously also have great arrangement ideas that make this song flow from head to toe. It's bursting with life and energy. The vocals are excellent and really bring the song to life. Good instincts. Nice mix and sound and instrumentation.You might want to start without going full energy from the beginning at (:16).. Because then when at - 1:26, the momentum appears to go down a bit. A simple arrangement technique that lets you build slowly- less instrumentation at the beginning might add to the dynamics a bit more.Great instrumental work here- captivating. You might also want to bring the solo instrumentation in a little later- after a verse or two? Grab us with your story first a bit more... It does really work nicely though. Great instrumental choices.Lyrics work and flow well. Your choices are natural which you want. If you want to pitch this as an Xmas song you may want to fool around with adding a verse or two that has some more Christmas references- more than likely keeping religious type references? That's how it feels it would go.. You might keep it more universal which will help in pitching by not making it too religious though. Up to you.

Quote From Pro: God Bless this Child conjures up a really potent, magical feel.

Broadjam Artist: The Silvers
Song: The Dancer

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Joe Vitale (Producer, Songwriter, Drummer)

Pro General Comments: WOW.....Really diggin this song. Lately new music has lost a lot of what you've captured here. Great vocals....great harmonies and arrangement. I love the dynamics of the intro.... Drum fill...bam... vocal in !!! The chorus is very 'Eagle-ish' and it also has hints of the group America. You really have something here....I'm singing the chorus after the first time hearing it...That is a winner !!!!It's got mass appeal and a sing-a-long quality for days !!....That's what hits are made of. It's got all of the necessary elements for a great song but not any type of 'cookie-cutter' formula...meaning that it's really creative and well thought out !! This style has always been a great vibe and easy to listen to. OK....so let's get a little deeper into this...I love the use of the 'oohs'....If we're talkin Eagles, they need to be a little louder..They used them like an additional instrument. When I toured with them, I sang backups as much as played instruments. so...The verse and chorus oohs should come up in the mix a little. I have one thought that I kept hearing as I listened...After the first line of each chorus I found myself singing an answer line...."Up down, turn around spinning like a merry-go-round" (ANSWER)- "Up down turn around / Up down turn around" just a thought, but I trust first impressions....it's also the type of vocals the Eagles would do....GREAT for 'sing-a-long' !!! "But let my tears fall on the dance floor too"...GREAT LYRIC !!!...Might be the general theme of the song....One thing I might mention...This song would make an incredibly beautiful VIDEO !!!! Now-a-days all the media help you can muster is extremely helpful !!!As far as instruments...good choice all around...One thing is missing for me..I'd like to hear an acoustic (Eagles') type strum throughout the song...Eagles had 3 guitar players....all amazing....3 different jobs...one player (different at times) would always have an acoustic on and strumming that signature sound of theirs while the other 2 would be on electrics. It's like musical 'glue' when the acoustic is added. !!!Let's now talk about the mix...Overall pretty good. In today's musical community, bands and solo artists have the ability of recording great demos and masters at home...that being said, it raises the bar considerably !! I think you have done very good with your mix...my only suggestion would be an overall slight boost in the high end....also, if an acoustic is added as suggested, it would give a nice 'glistening' to the entire mix !!!

Quote From Pro: Great job everyone !!...It's nice to hear a brand new great song to listen to and sing-a-long with !! I believe The Silvers have hit one outta the park with "The Dancer" BRAVO !!!!

Broadjam Artist: Jon Omen
Song: Hearts Bleed Fire

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Doug Diamond (Music Supervisor, Engineer, Producer, Composer )

Pro General Comments: Hi Jon -Thanks so much for letting me know about your tune, "Hearts Bleed Fire". In short, I love it! Really, excellent and super-cool tune. I don't have too many suggestions for you on this one because it seems to me you have a really good handle on songwriting, writing good/catchy hooks and lyrics, instrumentation, song structure, arrangement, performance, and production.When listening to your tune, it reminded me of a song I loved from the early 90's by a female rocker named Jane Child, sort of a one-hit-wonder, but I sure did love her song "Don't Want To Fall In Love". Have you heard it? It has this huge beat, great hook, and massive presence, just like your song.This song sounds like a hit to me. I could easily hear it on radio.As I said, there isn't a lot for me to suggest to you on this to make it "better" because it's already really, really good. I would say the main thing that I noticed is that I do feel your great vocals get lost just a little bit in the mix during the last chorus - more so than the earlier one(s). Have a look at that perhaps. If you can boost your overall vocal tracks just a bit to give the song even more of a lift near the end, I'd say 'go for it'. I struggle to hear what you're singing just a little in that area, but it's not bad it's more subtle than anything. Let me know what you think about doing that. It's even possible to raise the vocals just slightly in a stereo mix now. I have a new service called "Miracle Mix" that allows me to do just that. But if you still have all of your original tracks, you wouldn't need something like that.Instrumentally and production-wise, I really like Synthpop anyway, so this submission was right up my alley. I think this song has good energy and is certainly anthemic as you mention. Stadiums? Perhaps. In the right, perfect situation - why not.The only other thing that comes to mind is that 3:50 might be a little too long for some sync situations, so I would suggest that you also have an alternate version of this song that creatively removes anything that you could and still keep the impact of the song as close to the original as possible. Even just shaving off 30-seconds might be good for pitching purposes - at least for my clients. Pushing 4-minutes is a little much for some circumstances, believe it or not. Again, just an idea and keep your original as-is. Just have an alternate, shorter/condensed version for pitching to film/TV/games, etc.

Quote From Pro: "Hearts Bleed Fire" is an epic-sounding, high-energy song that could work perfectly in certain sync situations like Sports TV and Video Games. It's one of the best songs I've heard on Broadjam over the years. Period.

Broadjam Artist: Jack Dennis
Song: Such Beauty

Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Tirk Wilder (Songwriter, Performer)

Pro General Comments: A couple of years ago, I took on the task of expanding my review system.I allow about an hour and a half to write a review for my songwriting clients and students. That is about what is fair for a thirty dollar review fee.That makes it about twenty bucks an hour, which, IMHO, is a fair price. That's about the amount of time I usually spend doing a Broadjam.com review.Every once in a while, I do what I call a "comprehensive" review for a couple of my more serious clients. It involves a lot more time in analyzing the structure of a song.I charge these folks $49.95 for this type of review, which can take longer than four hours (usually DOES).I got kinda carried away here, and turned it into a Comprehensive before I realized how much time had gone by.My bad. I guess that because it's a Christian song, the Holy Spirit took over. I don't know.Make NO mistake. Neither Broadjam nor I are soliciting more money from you guys. That ain't how it works. You're getting a "freebie" Comp review here. Well, not FREE, but at a serious discount. The problem arises when we realize that Broadjam software only allows for 400 words, or 1,000 characters, here in their "Comments/Feedback" section. This is roughly in line with what I do on a regular basis for this type of review. It's THEIR software, and I think it's usually more than adequate. The sticking point is that the review I have written for guys has over 2600 words. In order for you to get this comprehensive review, it will be necessary for you to send an email to twsongsport@gmail.com with the words "Broadjam review" in the subject line.You will receive the full comprehensive review by return mail.Thanks.

Quote From Pro: Jack Dennis knows who God is, and knows how to make the listener think about it.