Name: Not A Step Back (part I of 'A Killing Time')
Duration: 10 min 55 s
Channel: music: Steve Hall, lyrics: Iain McCowatt
Description: "Not A Step Back (part I of 'A Killing Time')" is a song by Flange McGravity. Part one of a heavy preogressive rock trilogy, entitled 'A Killing Time'.

Not A Step Back (part I of 'A Killing Time')

Flange McGravity

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Part one of a heavy preogressive rock trilogy, entitled 'A Killing Time'.

Flange McGravity

Just little ol' me - writing and recording heavy/progressive rock for the sheer fun of it!

, , and . . It's an odd choice, I know, but I've been using it for so long I'm just so damn used to it. Drum parts are worked out carefully on my kit, then painstakingly programmed in as MIDI data. Keyboards (where present) are done in a similar way. I'm not good enough at either to consider recording them direct. Bass, guitars and vocals are recorded through my TonePort straight into the PC. I use and a pile of free VSTs to knit it all together and it all sounds decent enough under the circumstances. Cheap and easy!

Song Info

Genre

Rock • Progressive Rock

Charts

#1,537 in subgenre Peak #52

Charts

Peak #902

Author

music: Steve Hall, lyrics: Iain McCowatt

Rights

2008, Steve Hall

Uploaded

February 10, 2009

Track Files

MP3

MP3 10.0 MB • 128 kbps • 10:55

Story behind the song

Music: Parts of this song actually date back to the '80s but it was first strung together into a song in '93 in Equinox. It was a mess then, but over several years I gradually rewrote and restructured it and by '98 it had evolved into the form you hear today. Quite Marillion-esque, but quite heavy in places too.

Lyrcis: Richie had words on the '93 version, but they weren't very good. I also struggled with ideas for lyrics, but an old friend popped up and offered his services. Iain wrote a fantastic set of lyrics, certainly better than I could of, and he wove the story through the music so well you'd think they were developed together. The song itself is written from the point of view of a raw recruit as he experiences the Battle of Stalingrad. 

Recording: For 10 years I'd wanted to record this song, but it wasn't until 2008 that I had the equipment and ability to make it happen. Such a complex song took a long time to record and I mixed and remixed it 3 times before I was happy with the result. Again my vocals struggle a little in places, but it's as good as I'm ever likely to get it.

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