''The Last Hero'' is the fifth studio album by the American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Cr ...
, released on October 7, 2016, by
Napalm Records
Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...
worldwide except in North America, where it was released on the band's own
vanity label
A vanity label (see related topic on vanity press) is an informal name sometimes given to a record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, ...
. It was produced by longtime collaborator
Michael "Elvis" Baskette. The album's first single, "
Show Me a Leader", was released digitally and to rock radio on July 26, 2016.
On September 8, 2016, "
My Champion" was released as the album's second single.
The album's third single, "Poison In Your Veins", was released on June 12, 2017.
Background
''The Last Hero'' was written during the winter of 2015, while both singer
Myles Kennedy
Myles Richard Bass (born November 27, 1969), known professionally as Myles Kennedy, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge and the lead vocalist in guitarist S ...
and guitarist
Mark Tremonti
Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an American guitarist and singer, best known for his tenures with the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over ...
were on tour with their respective projects (
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators and
Tremonti), with the recording process being finished during the spring of 2016. Regarding the sound of the album, Tremonti stated it to be similar to ''
Fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
'' and ''
Blackbird'' but they were planning on a darker sound. The album name comes from the subject of being a hero in society and people's feelings of disillusionment with their current leaders. It also marks a departure from the band's previous visual style, with the
grungy aesthetic of previous albums replaced with a more streamlined logo.
Reception
''The Last Hero'' has received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its lyrical themes and the band members' musicianship, though some criticized
Michael Baskette
Michael "Elvis" Baskette is an American music producer who has worked with artists such as Sevendust, Alter Bridge, Projected, Tremonti, Chevelle, Falling in Reverse, Coldrain, The Classic Crime, Temple Agents, Clint Lowery and Slash
Slash ...
's production and the album's long length. It has a score of 74 out of 100 on ''
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
'', indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Dom Lawson from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the album a mixed review with a rating of three out of five stars. He praised the album's heavy sound, but said he felt that nearly "every last second of ''The Last Hero'' is purposefully, relentlessly bombastic" and that listening to the album from start to finish is an "exhausting" exercise. He concluded by saying that he felt the band was "trying too hard".
Timothy Monger from
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
felt that the album stays within the band's "tried and true" sound and does not stray far from what listeners will expect, but overall liked the album, praising Tremonti's guitar playing and Kennedy's vocal performance. He gave it three-and-a-half stars out of five.
TeamRock's Grant Moon gave the album four stars out of five and highly praised its lyrical themes, but lambasted Baskette's production, saying he "produces this all to within an inch of its life". He concluded by calling the album "a bold, bombastic rock album that really chimes with our troubled times".
In a review of the band's performance with Parallax Orchestra in October 2017, writer Dom Lawson referred to ''The Last Hero'' as "stodgy and overproduced".
Track listing
Personnel
; Alter Bridge
*
Myles Kennedy
Myles Richard Bass (born November 27, 1969), known professionally as Myles Kennedy, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge and the lead vocalist in guitarist S ...
– lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
*
Mark Tremonti
Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an American guitarist and singer, best known for his tenures with the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over ...
– lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*
Brian Marshall
Brian Aubrey Marshall (born April 24, 1973) is an American musician and songwriter best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge.
Early life
Brian Aubrey Marshall was born April 24, 1973, in Jackson, Missi ...
– bass guitar
*
Scott Phillips – drums, percussion
;Production
*
Michael "Elvis" Baskette – production, mixing, string arrangements, keyboards
*Jef Moll – engineering, digital editing
*
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''.
Biography
Ted ...
– mastering
*Daniel Tremonti – cover art
*
Ben Grosse
Ben Grosse is an American record producer and mixer, known for his signature sound involving metal and hard rock music. Grosse has mixed and produced numerous albums for popular artists such as Dream Theater, Marilyn Manson, Sevendust, Disturbe ...
– production, mixing on "Breathe"
*Tom Baker – mastering on "Breathe"
Charts
References
External links
Official band website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Hero
2016 albums
Alter Bridge albums
Napalm Records albums
Albums produced by Michael Baskette