08-01-2016, 10:31 AM
Further to this, I did want to throw a couple more thoughts out there.
Re: the production, I've grumbled about it fairly consistently. But thinking about it further, the production is actually a strong *asset* on most of the record. It's sonically rich and interesting. Production is only really a problem on two songs, 'In Sarnia' and 'Here In the Dark.' In both cases, they decide to treat Gord's vocal in a way that accentuates its harshness. The former track is seriously compromised as a result of all the fiddling; the latter track overcomes it (perhaps because the treatment is not so extreme). I do think 'Here In the Dark' is not all that it could be, though; it has an indecisiveness about it that is probably explained by the battle of producers that Rob Baker talked about. The song sags in the instrumental break before the final chorus (I always hear background vocals chanting the song title in that break - it seems obvious that that should be there), and the vocals in the spectacular coda are sadly underplayed in the mix. The impact of these production errors is enhanced by sequencing the songs back to back.
Other than that, though, the production is actually *nailed* on this record. The weird vibe of 'Man,' the crisp brightness of 'Possessed' and 'What Blue,' the warm mix of 'Tired as Fuck,' the ominous tones of 'Hot Mic,' the eerie distortion of 'Ocean Next,' the hand-claps of 'Machine' - it's all gold. It's too bad they couldn't nail those other two songs or maybe we really would have had a masterpiece on our hands.
The other thing I wanted to say - and I might develop this in another post - is how 'Tired as Fuck' has quietly moved up to become one of my very favourite moments on the record. An under-rated gem, that one is.
Re: the production, I've grumbled about it fairly consistently. But thinking about it further, the production is actually a strong *asset* on most of the record. It's sonically rich and interesting. Production is only really a problem on two songs, 'In Sarnia' and 'Here In the Dark.' In both cases, they decide to treat Gord's vocal in a way that accentuates its harshness. The former track is seriously compromised as a result of all the fiddling; the latter track overcomes it (perhaps because the treatment is not so extreme). I do think 'Here In the Dark' is not all that it could be, though; it has an indecisiveness about it that is probably explained by the battle of producers that Rob Baker talked about. The song sags in the instrumental break before the final chorus (I always hear background vocals chanting the song title in that break - it seems obvious that that should be there), and the vocals in the spectacular coda are sadly underplayed in the mix. The impact of these production errors is enhanced by sequencing the songs back to back.
Other than that, though, the production is actually *nailed* on this record. The weird vibe of 'Man,' the crisp brightness of 'Possessed' and 'What Blue,' the warm mix of 'Tired as Fuck,' the ominous tones of 'Hot Mic,' the eerie distortion of 'Ocean Next,' the hand-claps of 'Machine' - it's all gold. It's too bad they couldn't nail those other two songs or maybe we really would have had a masterpiece on our hands.
The other thing I wanted to say - and I might develop this in another post - is how 'Tired as Fuck' has quietly moved up to become one of my very favourite moments on the record. An under-rated gem, that one is.