Reflection - Track by Track

Hey guys! My newest album 'Reflection' will be released on Monday. I thought I'd give you a little bit more information about the album. Firstly, I decided to call it Reflection because of the contrasts of the album. Half of the songs were written when I had quit (The Perfect Dream, In the Drink, Too Late, Not Coming Back and Gotta Get Out) and half after I had returned to making videos (Anthem of TRTS, Decisions, Taking Back Toontown, Safe from the CFO and My Name's Wise Man). Half of the album, I was sad, and half I was happy. So, because of this reflection of sorts, that's where the album got it's name. When I'd wrote the 5 depressing songs, I listened and thought "no-one will be able to listen to this album without thinking about suicide" - that's how depressing the album would have been. So, I made it my mission to continue writing fun, quirky pop songs. This led to songs like "Taking Back Toontown" and "Anthem of TRTS", the album's two best songs. Here is a breakdown of the songs for anyone who is interested...

"The Perfect Dream"
Ah, the first song on the album, as well as the first song written for the album. I knew I wanted to write a song about the channel I'd left behind, and my vision for this 'perfect dream' where I was as big as Coach Zucchini. However 'a single message' would be all it took to start the downfall of my channel. The single message refers to the contact I had with JessicailyX, especially during her hacking stage. Coincidentally, that's also when I wrote the song 'Sad Hacker'. I sent her a link to Sad Hacker telling her to listen to it, wanting to express myself. I then went on to publicly announce in a bulletin that 'ThePuffle101 is an idiot', another thing which I regret. Anyway, this song is all about how my vision of a great channel fell apart.

"Too Late"
A song about wanting to return to what I once had, however realising that it's too late, and most people will have either forgotten I existed, or will be angry at me for quitting then returning. It's all about figuring out what is the next step. It's also about growing up, and how my age depends on what I enjoy doing, and predicting the outcome of my dreams. A deeply sorrowful song masked as a fast acoustic burst. The song ends with "do I go back or is it too late?" repeated several times, a cliffhanger as to what my final decision would be.

"Anthem of TRTS"
A song was born to lift the spirits of the toons who had either became so bored, or emotionally depressed via listening to the first two songs. This song is about uniting all of the toons of TRTS, and letting them know how special they are. "You say you're a waste, I think you're the best" Don't get yourself down, you're great the way you are! I called it an 'anthem' because it felt like an anthem at the time of writing.

"Master Toon"
A very fun song about becoming the best toon and rising above all obstacles to become "the best of the best". I wrote this a few hours before the album was due to be released, so understandably, it may seem a bit rushed in places. I was still overjoyed with the outcome however. I love this song.

"Not Coming Back"
One of the better songs on the album. The final song I wrote before I came back. At this time, I was still very much angry with the toons, for no apparent reason. "making me feel guilty won't change the fact (I'm not coming back) and I can't believe you aren't willing to recieve that fact". Toons were constantly saying it was my fault and I was stupid for closing (which I was, but denied at the time). So, this song was my complaint to them, telling them to stop making me feel guilty. I guess allowing all of these emotions free allowed me to see what I had done wrong, and no longer felt the need to hide my own mistake behind the toons, so I came back.

"Decisions"
Probably one of my best songs ever in terms of lyrics. This song was just so beautiful to write to and sing to. I had originally made a version where I sang with Cool Candy, however lost the file somewhere. Perhaps I will make it again one day and upload it. The song was actually about Cool Candy, and our great friendship, however still to remember the fact that I am growing up, and we will grow apart - yet we will always be friends. Aww

"Gotta Get Out"
The most painstaking song to edit and produce for a number of reasons, but let's start with the basics first. The lyrics were certainly different from previous songs, as the instrumental was just something completely different, yet so good. I got the image of a nightclub with monsters and weird lights, and mere me, trapped in the middle of it all. The monsters were metaphorical for my channel, and I've 'Gotta Get Out' of it all before they (or it) gets to me. This is perhaps my favourite song on the album, although 3 different pitches were used. The main verses were sung in the usual +3 semitones (the pitch I use for episodes), yet the chorus was increased by +1.5 semitones, as to not sound too high-pitched and be stupid to listen to, and the backing vocals in the chorus were not changed, and remained at +0 semitones (my normal voice). These backing vocals are one of the best features of the song in my opinion, and add a sense of interest and depth to the otherwise repetitive chorus.

"Max My Laff"
An indie pop tune about a toon who managed to get 137 laff points by defeating his final CEO and upgrading his suit to a level 50 Big Cheese. He makes it very clear that he is the first of his friends to achieve this. I kind of... like... epically loved this song, and got a bit too carried away when singing and just belted out the lyrics as loudly and powerfully as I could... still sounds good though

"Taking Back Toontown"
The best song I've ever made... without fail. As soon as I heard the backing music I just knew this was going to be a great song. When that chorus kicks in, you can really here the true love for Toontown, and the greatness of it all. That's why I chose to release this as the first single from the album, because there was very little wrong with it. It's also not a difficult song to sing, meaning it didn't take long to record - it kind of suited my vocal ability. I like to think of this as the official rock record of Toontown.

"Safe from the CFO"
This... hmm. Also another interesting song. When writing, I'd seen this as one of the great songs on the album as well, but like 'My Name's Wise Man', it just never lived up to it's expectations. The lyrics were great, as was the tune, but the first verse let's this song down, and it didn't really suit my vocal ability, and there are clearly a few parts where I struggled, as well as lots of parts which sounded bland, and I just decided to add vocal layering over it to add depth (worked in Gotta Get Out, but not here sadly...) Overall though, not a bad song, especially to end the album.

So, that was Reflection. Feel free to leave your interpretations of any of these songs when the album is released, I'd love to hear them. Hope you enjoy all the hours of blood, sweat and tears that went into this album

this album will be simply AMAZING!with a mixture of sad fun great songs it will be hit!!!

This makes me so much more excited for the album! It's nice to see you're not mindlessly spewing random crap just to make money, and that you're actually putting thought into it. Even if it were as good as I know it's going to be, but you didn't actually care, I wouldn't like it as much... It kind of takes away from it, somehow. Anyway, can't wait!!