Strat wrote:Man. THis band was a monster during this period. Unbelievable how much great material there is.
True! It seems that whenever they are not working with BOB they have loads and loads of stuff. There are lots of Ten outtakes. Also on the Binaural <> S/T stretch there are so many gems. The S/T leaks of the past months have proved that, and I have a feeling that there is more stuff from the RA era, see also: http://www.pearljamonline.it/rs.htm
Man alive th Blake mixes are so much better. BOB really nuetured the songs a bit. Light years sounds so big and beautiful. Can really feel all the instruments and the spaces between. Matts drums also sound better. Is that a little ghost roll on the snare in the intro? Beautiful.
On the very surface the difference between Blake's and O'Brien's mix of Insignificance reminds me of the difference between listening to a concert from the outside and the inside of a venue.
Didn't Brett mix the Lost Dogs Binaural outtakes? Even they improve on the mixes on the record, although they definitely follow the "Eddie out in front to the detriment of everything else" policy.
McParadigm wrote:Didn't Brett mix the Lost Dogs Binaural outtakes? Even they improve on the mixes on the record, although they definitely follow the "Eddie out in front to the detriment of everything else" policy.
It seems to depend on the song and everything is more upfront not just Eddie in the Lost Dogs mix of Sad for example. Interestingly he's less upfront in O'Brien's mix of Insignificance than in Tchad's.
McParadigm wrote:Didn't Brett mix the Lost Dogs Binaural outtakes? Even they improve on the mixes on the record, although they definitely follow the "Eddie out in front to the detriment of everything else" policy.
It seems to depend on the song and everything is more upfront not just Eddie in the Lost Dogs mix of Sad for example. Interestingly he's less upfront in O'Brien's mix of Insignificance than in Tchad's.
I think BoB's entire approach to mixing Binaural appears to have been "What is this crap?!"
As much as tracks like Sad on Lost Dogs are mixed better than those songs, the band is still way too pushed back. When that track clicks into the chorus, it feels like it expects to be going somewhere, but there's no real dynamic involved. The Tchad mixes have that dynamic.
Absolutely and it's not an issue that started with Binaural either. A lot of, especially Ed's songs, beg for a very dynamic (and wide) mix but they tend to prefer the compressed claustrophobic sound. Hell even the recent Unthought Known and Lightning Bolt seem to be written to be very dynamic but didn't really end up being.
I mentioned Insignificance there because the vocal drowns so much at certain points it sounds like an error on the part of the engineer, especially considering Eddie was going for a restrained approach to his vocals at the time.
I hear 2 big issues with the LD version of Sad, 1st it's very compressed, which to my ears tends to benefit the middle of the sound scape ie. the vocals over the sides and 2nd there's a weird reverb on the vocal that makes it sound detached/delayed from the rest of the music.
i've always hated that LD recording of Sad. It sounds like you're listening to it with hands cupped over your ears. I haven't heard any other versions.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who took the time to write back via PM and say thanks for sharing this. I couldn't possibly PM you all back individually but I wanted you all to know that I appreciate it in this smash-and-grab age of online music sharing
If you missed it in the Live forum, here's a link to my latest compilation:
Great job as always. The tracklist really flowed nicely the way you dropped those Lost Dogs into the original tracklist. I've been listening to Binaural over the past few years with the original tracklist and the Lost Dogs just tacked on at the end. I'd have gone with Parting Ways as the closer instead of Education though. I was always surprised by the leaked original tracklist that Education was initially going to be the closer. Parting Ways seemed so obviously perfect for the spot. Nice touch throwing "Writers Block" on after Education though. Didn't expect it with the altered tracklist.
Ledbetterman10 wrote:Great job as always. The tracklist really flowed nicely the way you dropped those Lost Dogs into the original tracklist. I've been listening to Binaural over the past few years with the original tracklist and the Lost Dogs just tacked on at the end. I'd have gone with Parting Ways as the closer instead of Education though. I was always surprised by the leaked original tracklist that Education was initially going to be the closer. Parting Ways seemed so obviously perfect for the spot. Nice touch throwing "Writers Block" on after Education though. Didn't expect it with the altered tracklist.
Cheers
I still consider Parting Ways to be the closer, with Education a kind of coda or 'listed hidden track' a la Immortality / Stupid Mop. Education really has a hidden track vibe to it, perhaps it was planned that way when the original tracklist was put together...
Listened to disc 2 (first today). What an amazing collection of recordings. With the exception of the LD versions of Strangest Tribe/Drifting. I'll never accept those. I've heard a couple of these Blake mixes over the years, but putting them together really puts them in proper context. I'll have to pair them with the Blake mixes that made the album next listen.
I'm pretty sure I like this a lot more than the real version.