Jeff
2013-11-08 02:15:47 UTC
You know how sometimes you buy the remastered/remixed versions of an old musical friend, and you wonder why you dropped the extra coin for something that sounds indistinguishable from the original?
This is NOT one of those times.
Sluggo! is a desert island album for me. I've listened to it dozens of times, if not hundreds. I love, love, love this album. The only issue I've ever had with it has been the mix; some parts that really feel like they want to be front-and-center instead come from far away (the Frozen Beef guitar solo in particular). On the other hand, the guitar solo in TRANQUILLADO is right there, so I've always wondered if the overall mix was by design.
The answer, after first listen, appears to be "No! Here, try this instead!" Potato and Why Am I Your Guy almost sound like different songs; the clarity and separation of parts is a bit startling, after hearing these songs another way for so long. Sections that were lost in the depths of the mix are now popping out.
The Frozen Beef solo is now right where it should be, tumescent and boisterous. And it turns out Beller's bass work on the song is equally boisterous; who knew?
Whoa, where did that harmony part come from in Chatfield Manor? There's that lovely fade out, no more tweaking the volume to hear it! Ahhhh, this is great.
And it just keeps coming. Listen to that guitar texture on Voyage to Manhood underneath the vocals. Are you sure these aren't new parts? Is that an organ doubling the guitar line? Listen to Beller on Egg Zooming...so much stuff going on in this track that came across before as an indiscriminate wash of sound, and now you can pick all of it out, and hear some parts that you might swear are new.
Interestingly, some of the Leslie in Own has been traded off for crisp punch, and the vocals are more forward. Again, clarity and separation in spades. And here comes the solo, oh my, so crisp. To my ears, the new mixes are an improvement over the old ones almost across the board; the only exception might be What Am I Your Guy. I'm so used to that song being a wash of loud guitar that the new mix really does sound very different to me, and I'm not sure that I didn't like the old wash-of-sound better for that track. But we'll see if the new mix grows on me.
I'm Afraid: listen to how clear the intro is. I had to stop and start the track again. And that touch harmonic after "galaxy far far away" is killing me. I know MK talked about growth in his vocal delivery circa Dancing, but I'm not sure it hadn't already begun during this album, based on how this track now sounds. And the same now applies to Cardboard Dog. Three and a half minutes in, the song used to kind of just go sit down in the corner for a couple of minutes. It doesn't do that anymore. And there, at 4:50...and 6:45...
I thought Wing Beat Fantastic and You Must Be This Tall were new milestones for MK as far as mix quality and clarity, but the new mix of Sluggo might just surpass them. Clearly a huge amount of work into this remix, and it shows. Rediscovering an old friend in this very new light is a special treat.
OK, I have to go listen to that again now. Whee!
This is NOT one of those times.
Sluggo! is a desert island album for me. I've listened to it dozens of times, if not hundreds. I love, love, love this album. The only issue I've ever had with it has been the mix; some parts that really feel like they want to be front-and-center instead come from far away (the Frozen Beef guitar solo in particular). On the other hand, the guitar solo in TRANQUILLADO is right there, so I've always wondered if the overall mix was by design.
The answer, after first listen, appears to be "No! Here, try this instead!" Potato and Why Am I Your Guy almost sound like different songs; the clarity and separation of parts is a bit startling, after hearing these songs another way for so long. Sections that were lost in the depths of the mix are now popping out.
The Frozen Beef solo is now right where it should be, tumescent and boisterous. And it turns out Beller's bass work on the song is equally boisterous; who knew?
Whoa, where did that harmony part come from in Chatfield Manor? There's that lovely fade out, no more tweaking the volume to hear it! Ahhhh, this is great.
And it just keeps coming. Listen to that guitar texture on Voyage to Manhood underneath the vocals. Are you sure these aren't new parts? Is that an organ doubling the guitar line? Listen to Beller on Egg Zooming...so much stuff going on in this track that came across before as an indiscriminate wash of sound, and now you can pick all of it out, and hear some parts that you might swear are new.
Interestingly, some of the Leslie in Own has been traded off for crisp punch, and the vocals are more forward. Again, clarity and separation in spades. And here comes the solo, oh my, so crisp. To my ears, the new mixes are an improvement over the old ones almost across the board; the only exception might be What Am I Your Guy. I'm so used to that song being a wash of loud guitar that the new mix really does sound very different to me, and I'm not sure that I didn't like the old wash-of-sound better for that track. But we'll see if the new mix grows on me.
I'm Afraid: listen to how clear the intro is. I had to stop and start the track again. And that touch harmonic after "galaxy far far away" is killing me. I know MK talked about growth in his vocal delivery circa Dancing, but I'm not sure it hadn't already begun during this album, based on how this track now sounds. And the same now applies to Cardboard Dog. Three and a half minutes in, the song used to kind of just go sit down in the corner for a couple of minutes. It doesn't do that anymore. And there, at 4:50...and 6:45...
I thought Wing Beat Fantastic and You Must Be This Tall were new milestones for MK as far as mix quality and clarity, but the new mix of Sluggo might just surpass them. Clearly a huge amount of work into this remix, and it shows. Rediscovering an old friend in this very new light is a special treat.
OK, I have to go listen to that again now. Whee!