There are quite a few songs on this album that were written in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Spotlight is NOT one of them. This song was written as the album was finished and songs were chosen. There was another ballad that had a spot on Mach II and this pretty much took its place. That ballad, however, will likely be on the next SteelCity album.
Usually, when writing a song, I have all kinds of inspiration and I can tell you what bands influenced the making of said musical piece. For Spotlight, I can’t tell you that. The riff for the chorus came to my head first, followed by the verse. When writing the verse, there was a feeling that this song could be special. We might be over 2000 miles from each other but when Roy got the demo, he knew exactly what I was going for on this one and just nailed it. The way he sings those verses just bring the whole thing to life. The “I want you!” moments in the pre-chorus were there, as was the “Shine on” lines in the chorus. Here’s where Erik Johnson just kind of molded those again, ever so slightly. Instead of a prolonged “Shiiiiiiiiiine On” in the chorus, he evolved the melody into what you hear now. It completely changed the song and elevated it a few thousand steps.
Musically, this song is driven by the bass. The rhythm section of Jason and BJ really hold down the fort on this one and give it a simplistic but sexy vibe. I do believe the guitars have a bit more of a 70s feel on this one and Tony made sure we kept that vibe going with the Hammond. This is another song where we questioned if we needed keys but Tony spiced things up just perfectly here. Not too much, not too little! Ty was able to sit the keys just perfectly in the mix to convey that, as well. The lead on this song is not a long one as the song doesn’t really call for it. This song, again, is all about the vibe and if there’s one song that really just shows how the puzzle pieces can fit together, I think this one’s it.
As I said, I can’t recall the influences on this one, so I’ll ask: whom does this song remind you of? Anyone?
Thanks again, peeps, for taking a few moments to read this. And since restrictions are loosening up around the world, “Welcome Back.” Peace.