thanks for detailed comments! i don't think the tempos were the same. i wasn't playing to a click track. personally, i didn't think it was that important to keep them the same being that the 2 guitar parts are so different. as for the long wait for the vocals, yea, i struggled with that. when i listened to the finished track i was thinking kind of the same thing you did. i kept it the way it is for probably a lame reason: seems like the last few songs i did were all about the exact same length. by having a longer song i felt i sort of changed things up. but if it takes away from the song then it's not a good idea. thanks again. you always give very good feedback. and coming from you, someone whose music i like a lot, it means a lot. i appreciate it man.