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Better Than Drugs, 2015

Released 2014/2015

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Deluxe Edition Track Listing:

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Dog In Heat 

No Fun Carla (Bonus Track)

Burmese Python (Bonus Track)

Fortunes & Glory

Young Lust*

Filling The Void (Bonus Track)

Blues For Sallie Mae

Live Free Or Die (Extended Version)

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Marty Connolly: bass; Brian Swed: lead guitar; Ryan Milliron: drums

Alexander Sands: keyboards, slide guitar (Track 5), vocals, harmonica & sax

Engineered and Mastered by Nate Campisi @ Mr. Small's Northside Studio, Pittsburgh, PA.

 

*Young Lust written by Pink Floyd.

 

Struggling through lineup changes and previous material (Dog In Heat/Fortunes & Glory) from the Rich Stanley (lead guitar) era, a shorter version of this album was an Online-Only release in 2014 in an effort to bridge the gap between the old and new Coronado.  Released as a Single, 'Live Free or Die' was originally intended as a song for Sands' earlier band The Airplane Graveyard and was reconstructed using the original slide guitar recordings from 2008, with the members of Coronado adding their overdubs. The subsequent recording was a hybrid of tracks completed nearly 6 years apart with two separate bands in two separate studios.  'Live Free or Die' was never played live by the band because of the extra equipment and down-tuned electric guitar that was necessary (Sands was on keyboards). 

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The band recorded more material that year and was pushed to a 2015 release.  Drummer Ryan Milliron suffered a severe concussion in early 2015, and sidelined the band as well as the album.  The group would eventually break-up in the summer of 2015 before the final (now bonus) tracks could be released. 

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In the winter of 2015, Sands returned to the studio alone to redo "Filling The Void" with a grand piano.  

 

The band performed Fortunes & Glory on the 102.5 WDVE FM Pittsburgh Morning Show, and 'Live Free Or Die' was played in rotation on 105.9 The X FM, Pittsburgh during this time period.  

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Sands with Brian Swed (left), and Marty Connolly, Mr. Small's Studio

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Drummer Ryan Milliron

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Outside of Studio with the "Jus' Pas'n Thru' band van

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Unreleased  alternate band photo: Milliron, Connolly, Swed, and Sands

© All Rights Reserved, Alexander Sands. ASCAP

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