Post by Jules on Feb 2, 2022 20:23:06 GMT
I finally got around to actually listening to Steven Wilson's remix of the album on the blu-ray! Unfortunately, I could only experience it on two speakers connected to my old laptop, but with TrueTheater Surround mode and eyes closed it was almost like actually being immersed in it, and the clarity and possibility to follow a lot of the elements in the sonic picture very well makes it fascinating even for someone who knows this album as well as I do. No doubt it will be even more impressive with a real surround system. Note: I listened to the DTS-HD stream.
The most impressive track, mix-wise, was "Standing on the Corner of the Third World". I felt very drawn in by this one - everything was pretty much perfect. "Year of the Knife" was a close second. The power was palpable. I also enjoyed "Woman in Chains" a lot. "Badman's Song" seemed a little too dry for me, but that emphasized its jam nature (there were also bits were I felt the organ was lacking presence, but that may have been due to me just having two speakers...). "Advice for the Young at Heart" was wonderfully immersive but seemed to lack a bit of power - I must admit I agree with Curt that the LP mix sounds too soft (I've come to prefer Bob Clearmountain's mix on the 7") and Steven seems to have softened it out even more. "Swords and Knives" had some thrilling moments but similar to the remixes on SFTBC, I think it exposed the programmed drums a bit too much. Still great, though.
I don't have any fully formed opinions on "Famous Last Words", probably because I was so overwhelmed from "Year of the Knife".
The worst, by far, was unfortunately "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (and I think others have made this point before). There were good moments like Curt's vocals. But there are two main problems with it. One is that Roland's vocal is mostly a different take, and an inferior one at that, with lots of breathing (that I wish Steven would've cut out, or at least lowered in the mix), rushed delivery, Roland singing "bring back the jams"(!), the long note ("love power") breaking off prematurely leaving a hole at that point - it's almost like a live version. The other is exemplified by how the band showed the song to Bob Clearmountain and he was confused. Couldn't mix it, there was just too much going on in it. Neither Clearmountain nor SW are slouches, in fact they are grade A mixing engineers, but that song has something special. I guess the only people who could've made a decent surround mix of that are Roland and David Bascombe... and I understand they both had some input into the remix but you know, that's not the same thing as actually doing it yourself.
But that is the only misstep on the disc. Granted, it's on one of my absolute favourite songs ever, so I can't totally overlook it. Nevertheless, I'm thankful that this mix got done and released. And hearing it also solidified my decision to buy the upcoming Tipping Point 5.1 disc. Even if I can't listen to it in ideal settings, I'm sure I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. And considering that this was done directly after the stereo mix, that will not have the problem of missing original recordings that plagued Seeds to a degree - though all of them are pretty much close to unnoticeable aside from the "Sowing the Seeds" vocal.
The most impressive track, mix-wise, was "Standing on the Corner of the Third World". I felt very drawn in by this one - everything was pretty much perfect. "Year of the Knife" was a close second. The power was palpable. I also enjoyed "Woman in Chains" a lot. "Badman's Song" seemed a little too dry for me, but that emphasized its jam nature (there were also bits were I felt the organ was lacking presence, but that may have been due to me just having two speakers...). "Advice for the Young at Heart" was wonderfully immersive but seemed to lack a bit of power - I must admit I agree with Curt that the LP mix sounds too soft (I've come to prefer Bob Clearmountain's mix on the 7") and Steven seems to have softened it out even more. "Swords and Knives" had some thrilling moments but similar to the remixes on SFTBC, I think it exposed the programmed drums a bit too much. Still great, though.
I don't have any fully formed opinions on "Famous Last Words", probably because I was so overwhelmed from "Year of the Knife".
The worst, by far, was unfortunately "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (and I think others have made this point before). There were good moments like Curt's vocals. But there are two main problems with it. One is that Roland's vocal is mostly a different take, and an inferior one at that, with lots of breathing (that I wish Steven would've cut out, or at least lowered in the mix), rushed delivery, Roland singing "bring back the jams"(!), the long note ("love power") breaking off prematurely leaving a hole at that point - it's almost like a live version. The other is exemplified by how the band showed the song to Bob Clearmountain and he was confused. Couldn't mix it, there was just too much going on in it. Neither Clearmountain nor SW are slouches, in fact they are grade A mixing engineers, but that song has something special. I guess the only people who could've made a decent surround mix of that are Roland and David Bascombe... and I understand they both had some input into the remix but you know, that's not the same thing as actually doing it yourself.
But that is the only misstep on the disc. Granted, it's on one of my absolute favourite songs ever, so I can't totally overlook it. Nevertheless, I'm thankful that this mix got done and released. And hearing it also solidified my decision to buy the upcoming Tipping Point 5.1 disc. Even if I can't listen to it in ideal settings, I'm sure I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. And considering that this was done directly after the stereo mix, that will not have the problem of missing original recordings that plagued Seeds to a degree - though all of them are pretty much close to unnoticeable aside from the "Sowing the Seeds" vocal.