01-11-2018, 04:40 PM
Like I said in another thread, I believe the basic sonic problem with this album is that the bass-end is buried in the mix. Any production team that does not play up GS's contributions needs its head examined, yet that is what happens here, to great cost. And Gord's thinning voice is pushed up in the mix in a way that is also unfortunate. Whether IVL sounds better on vinyl, I don't know (or care, since I'm not about to invest in a hi-fi system).
'Throwing Off Glass' has a lot going for it - it's very well sung - but it's also a very fragile lyrical construction; unlike many rock songs, it's unforgiving of weak lines or dubious word choices. In this context, the word 'barbarous' (as in 'barbarous threats') always bothered me. I don't see this as a phrase apt to surface in the conversation it documents - it's much too contrived and 'writerly' - and so becomes a sort of 'author intrusion,' diminishing the verisimilitude of the exchange. And a certain preciousness creeps in when a song is filled with 'barabarous threats,' 'stub-toe effects,' 'irridescent,' 'exquisite.' The redundancy of 'barbarous' magnifies this danger needlessly. Had he just sung 'it has its...threats' it would have been much more effective. Sure, it's a small point, but the flaw really compromises my enjoyment of the song. GD was still in recovery from the precocious, 'thesaurus writing' mode of M@W and unfortunately it resurfaces in this case.
But hey, I don't mind the tune as a whole, and voted against 'Use It Up' on this round. As Neil Young says in a different context, it's a piece! of! crap! :mrgreen:
'Throwing Off Glass' has a lot going for it - it's very well sung - but it's also a very fragile lyrical construction; unlike many rock songs, it's unforgiving of weak lines or dubious word choices. In this context, the word 'barbarous' (as in 'barbarous threats') always bothered me. I don't see this as a phrase apt to surface in the conversation it documents - it's much too contrived and 'writerly' - and so becomes a sort of 'author intrusion,' diminishing the verisimilitude of the exchange. And a certain preciousness creeps in when a song is filled with 'barabarous threats,' 'stub-toe effects,' 'irridescent,' 'exquisite.' The redundancy of 'barbarous' magnifies this danger needlessly. Had he just sung 'it has its...threats' it would have been much more effective. Sure, it's a small point, but the flaw really compromises my enjoyment of the song. GD was still in recovery from the precocious, 'thesaurus writing' mode of M@W and unfortunately it resurfaces in this case.
But hey, I don't mind the tune as a whole, and voted against 'Use It Up' on this round. As Neil Young says in a different context, it's a piece! of! crap! :mrgreen: