Take the Long Way

[PHATJ]

The last minute or so of this song is so beautifully perfect. I love it. This might end up being my favorite song on this album. Every single time it ends I want to immediately play it again.

[stip]

this may drop below retrograde for me.

[Release_Me]

This is one of the top songs on the album for me, one I keep coming back to A LOT. A bit surprised it didn't get the almost universal praise a few other tracks did because to me, this is every bit an equal to songs like Quick Escape, DoTC, CTG, Seven O'clock, WES, Alright.

[stip]

It feels just a bit too metal to me, in a postury kind of way. That's almost certainly not fair, but I can't escape it.

it's the lyrics for me, in particular.

And again, I like it fine. No bad songs here. But I don't love it.

I can see it being a monster live

[Jaeti]

It feels just a bit too metal to me, in a postury kind of way. That's almost certainly not fair, but I can't escape it.

it's the lyrics for me, in particular.

And again, I like it fine. No bad songs here. But I don't love it.

I can see it being a monster live

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

That said, I continue liking it a little bit more each time through.

[blueviper]

This one is kinda clicking for me today.

[Habitman]

I know its been discussed but the lack of bass in this song is so odd. I am not well versed in the metal genre but I know thin/high treble songs are a feature of some metal music (metallica comes to mind). Maybe this is what the band was going for? Anyway, I think it deflates the song a bit. Still a good song but too thin sounding for my taste.

[evenslow]

It feels just a bit too metal to me, in a postury kind of way. That's almost certainly not fair, but I can't escape it.

it's the lyrics for me, in particular.

And again, I like it fine. No bad songs here. But I don't love it.

I can see it being a monster live

this is about where i'm at though the bridge really elevates it to riot act territory. look forward to that part every time.

[Ms Harmless]

I know its been discussed but the lack of bass in this song is so odd. I am not well versed in the metal genre but I know thin/high treble songs are a feature of some metal music (metallica comes to mind). Maybe this is what the band was going for? Anyway, I think it deflates the song a bit. Still a good song but too thin sounding for my taste.

I always associated metal with high low-end / bass, high top-end / treble, and little to no middle; the most "metal" they've ever been is in songs like "Go", "Blood" or "Leash", and especially when Dave A played drums (he was so into his hard bass and very tight snare, and so am I); so yes I do think the high treble in this song is quite metal, but the lack of bass also bothers me; the only way it's grown on me is to imagine this "thin" sound as quite 80s speed metal / thrash, or even (as I've said more than once) retro video game music; it has a certain charm that fits with the album's aesthetic, but depending on what mood I'm in, I can't help wondering what Jeff would have done on it

[Release_Me]

I have no concerns whatsoever with this song. I'll take it as is and play it on repeat. The ending is sublime.

[Kevin Davis]

I have no concerns whatsoever with this song. I'll take it as is and play it on repeat. The ending is sublime.

Agreed, this is one of the top tracks on this album for me.

[evenslow]

I know its been discussed but the lack of bass in this song is so odd. I am not well versed in the metal genre but I know thin/high treble songs are a feature of some metal music (metallica comes to mind). Maybe this is what the band was going for? Anyway, I think it deflates the song a bit. Still a good song but too thin sounding for my taste.

I always associated metal with high low-end / bass, high top-end / treble, and little to no middle; the most "metal" they've ever been is in songs like "Go", "Blood" or "Leash", and especially when Dave A played drums (he was so into his hard bass and very tight snare, and so am I); so yes I do think the high treble in this song is quite metal, but the lack of bass also bothers me; the only way it's grown on me is to imagine this "thin" sound as quite 80s speed metal / thrash, or even (as I've said more than once) retro video game music; it has a certain charm that fits with the album's aesthetic, but depending on what mood I'm in, I can't help wondering what Jeff would have done on it

has anyone come up with a good explanation yet for why there is literally no bass on this thing?

[Ms Harmless]

it's a great song and when the dust settles I think the weird mixing will be just part of its charm; that's the difference between a generally very well-produced album, and late-career BoB

[Ms Harmless]

I know its been discussed but the lack of bass in this song is so odd. I am not well versed in the metal genre but I know thin/high treble songs are a feature of some metal music (metallica comes to mind). Maybe this is what the band was going for? Anyway, I think it deflates the song a bit. Still a good song but too thin sounding for my taste.

I always associated metal with high low-end / bass, high top-end / treble, and little to no middle; the most "metal" they've ever been is in songs like "Go", "Blood" or "Leash", and especially when Dave A played drums (he was so into his hard bass and very tight snare, and so am I); so yes I do think the high treble in this song is quite metal, but the lack of bass also bothers me; the only way it's grown on me is to imagine this "thin" sound as quite 80s speed metal / thrash, or even (as I've said more than once) retro video game music; it has a certain charm that fits with the album's aesthetic, but depending on what mood I'm in, I can't help wondering what Jeff would have done on it

has anyone come up with a good explanation yet for why there is literally no bass on this thing?

literally no; I was hoping that someone would ask about it in the Reddit q+a thing

[Habitman]

I know its been discussed but the lack of bass in this song is so odd. I am not well versed in the metal genre but I know thin/high treble songs are a feature of some metal music (metallica comes to mind). Maybe this is what the band was going for? Anyway, I think it deflates the song a bit. Still a good song but too thin sounding for my taste.

I always associated metal with high low-end / bass, high top-end / treble, and little to no middle; the most "metal" they've ever been is in songs like "Go", "Blood" or "Leash", and especially when Dave A played drums (he was so into his hard bass and very tight snare, and so am I); so yes I do think the high treble in this song is quite metal, but the lack of bass also bothers me; the only way it's grown on me is to imagine this "thin" sound as quite 80s speed metal / thrash, or even (as I've said more than once) retro video game music; it has a certain charm that fits with the album's aesthetic, but depending on what mood I'm in, I can't help wondering what Jeff would have done on it

Thanks for responding... The past songs you mentioned had influences of Metal but still maintained the funk/blues sound that was a staple of their first two records. Take the Long Way is the most overt metal attempt right down to the thin/high treble sound. I guess I just want the song to be more of a banger but clearly they were intending to produce a different sounding song.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[evenslow]

I genuinely believe they had the bass buss muted or the fader was low when they printed the mix, and no one noticed.

You can hear it faintly in the background, which makes me think it was send to an FX channel, and we're getting a bit of that in the mix, but that the main bass channel was low or muted.

that's just crazy enough to be true.

it's No - JA come to life in song.

[evenslow]

so when they play this live does Jeff just go backstage and fiddle with his kalimba?

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[evenslow]

do we have any board players that feel like adding a bass track to this? could be a fun RM project!