tragabigzanda wrote:I don’t even think it’s the You Are drum machine effect, pretty sure it’s just a hard tremolo
I'm not listening to the song to check, but I don't think it's a straight tremolo.
I don't know if it's moving in a pattern (like You Are) but I think the rate varies a bit, which could be slowing down and speeding up via expression pedal or something.
tragabigzanda wrote:I don’t even think it’s the You Are drum machine effect, pretty sure it’s just a hard tremolo
I'm not listening to the song to check, but I don't think it's a straight tremolo.
I don't know if it's moving in a pattern (like You Are) but I think the rate varies a bit, which could be slowing down and speeding up via expression pedal or something.
Ugh fine I’ll listen again
You’ll listen and you’ll like it, mister.
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
tragabigzanda wrote:I don’t even think it’s the You Are drum machine effect, pretty sure it’s just a hard tremolo
I'm not listening to the song to check, but I don't think it's a straight tremolo.
I don't know if it's moving in a pattern (like You Are) but I think the rate varies a bit, which could be slowing down and speeding up via expression pedal or something.
stip wrote:one of the reasons the drums may not be standing out to me as problematic is the you are style electric/robotic sheen on the guitars. it does all feel of a piece. its not like the rest of the song is aiming for a naturalism that the druns get in the way off
I almost certainly would not have pegged them as a possible issue if not for the conversations here
same
I'm actually wondering if they'll sound more natural on other songs, making this one sound more purposefully "You Are" (or DOTC in terms of artificial drums) in comparison; it's interesting that acoustic drums only start to dominate in DOTC part way through, a good portion of the beginning is drum machine / samples, and yet the vast majority here don't see that as a negative; is that in part because there are different drum-mixing approaches across the album? so we can allow ourselves a little electronic as a treat?
I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if “Dark Matter” was an outlier soundwise — after Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, it seems like this is just the Andrew Watt way.
Farmer John wrote:I'm still getting caught up on this thread, but
Cage the Elephant??
I'd rather listen to these guys than Foo Fighters, Green Day or Weezer at this point, but I am also surprised by how well they've charted over the years.
stip wrote:one of the reasons the drums may not be standing out to me as problematic is the you are style electric/robotic sheen on the guitars. it does all feel of a piece. its not like the rest of the song is aiming for a naturalism that the druns get in the way off
I almost certainly would not have pegged them as a possible issue if not for the conversations here
same
I'm actually wondering if they'll sound more natural on other songs, making this one sound more purposefully "You Are" (or DOTC in terms of artificial drums) in comparison; it's interesting that acoustic drums only start to dominate in DOTC part way through, a good portion of the beginning is drum machine / samples, and yet the vast majority here don't see that as a negative; is that in part because there are different drum-mixing approaches across the album? so we can allow ourselves a little electronic as a treat?
I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if “Dark Matter” was an outlier soundwise — after Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, it seems like this is just the Andrew Watt way.
very possibly so
well, it sounds more "Pearl Jam" than Earthlings (as it should), has an aesthetic of its own, so I'll be happy enough either way
stip wrote:one of the reasons the drums may not be standing out to me as problematic is the you are style electric/robotic sheen on the guitars. it does all feel of a piece. its not like the rest of the song is aiming for a naturalism that the druns get in the way off
I almost certainly would not have pegged them as a possible issue if not for the conversations here
same
I'm actually wondering if they'll sound more natural on other songs, making this one sound more purposefully "You Are" (or DOTC in terms of artificial drums) in comparison; it's interesting that acoustic drums only start to dominate in DOTC part way through, a good portion of the beginning is drum machine / samples, and yet the vast majority here don't see that as a negative; is that in part because there are different drum-mixing approaches across the album? so we can allow ourselves a little electronic as a treat?
I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if “Dark Matter” was an outlier soundwise — after Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, it seems like this is just the Andrew Watt way.
very possibly so
well, it sounds more "Pearl Jam" than Earthlings (as it should), has an aesthetic of its own, so I'll be happy enough either way
I’ve made peace with it. I like both Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, despite not caring for the production. TBH I find most modern big-budget albums feel like variations on the Andrew Watt theme — too loud, glossy, poor dynamics, etc. — which is a style that I find increasingly demanding on my ears as I get older. When I’m interested in hearing the music anyway, I just adjust my listening environment and deal — it’s not a dealbreaker for me, not yet anyway…
Definitely relate to the Trag viewpoint too, though. If I didn’t have a pre-existing interest in PJ to push me through, the sound of the recording would compel me to give up on it a lot quicker.
stip wrote:one of the reasons the drums may not be standing out to me as problematic is the you are style electric/robotic sheen on the guitars. it does all feel of a piece. its not like the rest of the song is aiming for a naturalism that the druns get in the way off
I almost certainly would not have pegged them as a possible issue if not for the conversations here
same
I'm actually wondering if they'll sound more natural on other songs, making this one sound more purposefully "You Are" (or DOTC in terms of artificial drums) in comparison; it's interesting that acoustic drums only start to dominate in DOTC part way through, a good portion of the beginning is drum machine / samples, and yet the vast majority here don't see that as a negative; is that in part because there are different drum-mixing approaches across the album? so we can allow ourselves a little electronic as a treat?
I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if “Dark Matter” was an outlier soundwise — after Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, it seems like this is just the Andrew Watt way.
very possibly so
well, it sounds more "Pearl Jam" than Earthlings (as it should), has an aesthetic of its own, so I'll be happy enough either way
I’ve made peace with it. I like both Earthling and Hackney Diamonds, despite not caring for the production. TBH I find most modern big-budget albums feel like variations on the Andrew Watt theme — too loud, glossy, poor dynamics, etc. — which is a style that I find increasingly demanding on my ears as I get older. When I’m interested in hearing the music anyway, I just adjust my listening environment and deal — it’s not a dealbreaker for me, not yet anyway…
Definitely relate to the Trag viewpoint too, though. If I didn’t have a pre-existing interest in PJ to push me through, the sound of the recording would compel me to give up on it a lot quicker.
it definitely helps that I enjoy other things that are super glossy and engineered; it's not the ideal I had in my head for Pearl Jam a long time ago, but hey ho, there's still some life in it
tragabigzanda wrote:just listened for the first time in a week, and I'm convinced we need a 1.5 star rating. It's definitely better than Can't Deny Me or Sweet Lew... But this production is literally maybe the worst I've ever heard from a major label rock band, at least since 1991 or so. Utterly toothless, and it's making my ears ring at moderate volumes.
Difficult for the ears to deal with the lack of variation between the softness soft and the loudest loud..It does get fatiguing.
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
