For sharing thoughts and ratings on the song.
Inertia
none
4.0
1
The intro / the first verse is one of the very best moments on the whole album, if not even the best. It’s beautiful, brittle and emotional, the lyrics obviously being about the band’s Sarajevo experience. The very first line “these are the pictures, these are the feelings from the frontline”, emerging out of nowhere with no separate intro, is powerful as hell.
The sudden explosion to the chorus is shocking, and, I don’t like it too much. Bruce’s vocals in the chorus are spot on, but in my opinion the chorus in all does not live up to the rest of the song – because everything else in the song is brilliant.
The second verse is breathtaking stuff. The lyrics and the intensity with which Bruce delivers them, the lead vocals being a combination of two separate takes, panned left/right, which is a very interesting and rarely used way to do it. Like you had two Bruces singing together, none of them being the actual “lead” singer. It sounds different, a bit strange, and I love it. I think the decision of mixing the vocals like this adds a lot to the moment; maybe it makes you listen more carefully, pay more attention to what is being said. At least I always stop whatever I’m doing when getting to this point in the song.
The guitar solo is simple but no more is needed. Alex manages to put a lot of emotion into it, and the long vibrato note towards the end of the solo is so delicious I could eat it, even if it’s almost 30 years old by now. Funnily enough, the whole solo also consists of two separate takes, one in the left channel the other in the right! I wonder if this has some hidden meaning or if it’s just a reference to the verse… of if it just sounded cool (yup, it does).
Nice little outro as well. Great song.