They say you should engage your fans and bring them into the decision making process whenever you can, but the same they’s don’t often discuss the unpredictable results.
Last week, I came up with three possible album titles. One obviously good one (in my mind) and two obviously lesser ones. One of the lesser ones was something like “Trance Chimera” but a friend of mine mentioned that trance is too generic a word in electronica these days. If you buy a keyboard, it’s likely to have a trance button or preset right on it. So ok, I ditched the Trance title and came up with another odd choice that I knew would be equally rejected: “Fever Brain Battery.” I don’t know where it came from. I was just trying to fill the slot.
I put up all three for a vote, knowing that Vox Anodyne was surely, clearly the best title. And here were the results, with 24 votes in…
Fever Brain Battery was the runaway winner! Maybe it’s because I put it first on the list. Maybe. Or maybe it’s just better. I have to say, it does seem to wear well. I like that it could possibly mean something, but never the exact same thing each time you read it. Like a chord that never completely resolves. I like lyrics like that, too.
So the people win…and I lose? Well, they’re all my titles. I allowed people to enter titles of their own, and I only got gag responses. (A high school friend posted “My Colon’s Rally Cap” — har har, Dan!) So I guess I win, too. I was talked out of a lesser title, and I still have Vox Anodyne to kick around for maybe a song title later on.
Delirium Dog Barkings 