Red Mosquito

tragabigzanda wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:Said differently, the original thread shows 9% of voters scoring it at 3 stars or lower. But the re-rank puts that at more like 32%, as of right now.

I was one who went from a 4 to a 3, but the 4 was coming from a place of listening regularly while the 3 comes from a place of not having listened for a while. So maybe the takeaway for me is that it's an album that creates an experience more than it leaves an impression.

The last few PJ albums have been weird. It's reasonable to expect some of that first-wave enthusiasm to fade, but you hope that that is where some of that "deeper connection" stuff takes over -- that point at which passion gives way to "getting to know each other well enough to spend a life together." I haven't felt that with a PJ album in a while, probably not since S/T. Maybe it's just a stage-of-life thing.

I don’t think it is just a stage of life thing, at least for me.

That deeper connection to the material of a rock band is largely informed by the band members’ personalities, and the extent to which those personalities are reflected in the music. It’s what leads to thrilling micro dynamics of interplay — little moments where the guys veer off-script of the macro composition and into unplanned territory.

There’s virtually none of that on the last three albums, with a few specific exceptions. You remove Eddie’s voice from the proceedings, and there’s little going on that couldn’t be reasonably ascribed to any number of studio musicians. In contrast, the last RHCP albums are filled with these moments, and it rewards repeated listens towards deeper discovery or enjoyment of those moments.

Dark Matter and LB are extreme examples of the problem, because the production obliterates the microdynamics of band interplay. But even on Gigaton, there’s a “places, parts everybody!” element to the compositions that undermines some of the more interesting numbers like Alright or SBWM.

Looseness and improvisation are so important in rock music. The band has really lost touch with those aspects.

coptheriotact wrote:still a 1 for me, cant make it through the whole album

some songs were decent live though

Monkey_Driven wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I wish 3.5 was an option. With this scale I'd bump it up on the strength of the live performances, but down if it's just the studio album itself.

This thread is about the album, and not the tour cycle

I'd say it's a strong 3.49 then. I like most of the songs, but there's something missing here. The production robs it of a certain kind of character that defines the group's strongest albums.

Kevin Davis wrote:3 stars.

Most of the songs are pretty good, but I really dislike the way it sounds and don't find myself revisiting it very often as a result (in fact I'm not sure I've played it at all since last summer). Last time I ranked the albums I had it second from the bottom, ahead of only Lightning Bolt.

lvc wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:3 stars.

Most of the songs are pretty good, but I really dislike the way it sounds and don't find myself revisiting it very often as a result (in fact I'm not sure I've played it at all since last summer). Last time I ranked the albums I had it second from the bottom, ahead of only Lightning Bolt.

This is pretty much my opinion as well. I like the writing and I like the playing but the way it's mixed is just baffling in the way that nothing is audible. All that sound and I barely hear anything. It makes me sad.

tragabigzanda wrote:There’s virtually none of that on the last three albums, with a few specific exceptions. You remove Eddie’s voice from the proceedings, and there’s little going on that couldn’t be reasonably ascribed to any number of studio musicians.

Kevin Davis wrote:In the Watt/Ghenea vice grip, Eddie's "Earthlings" band and Pearl Jam sound virtually identical, reducible to three discernible elements -- Eddie's voice, overly processed drums, and a sort of generalized "loud rock music noise" in the middle.

ridleybradout wrote:Ok, I was holding out posting this in respect for trag's upcoming Dark Matter remix (which I still hope gets completed one day as it will be a totally different beast anyway) but it's been almost a year now, so here it is.

This is a stereo mixdown of the 7.1 Dolby Atmos bluray version of Dark Matter (converted using Logic) that I found posted in a comment on redacted.sh last year. Some of you may have come across it there or elsewhere too.

It is light years ahead of the 'regular' stereo mix - better separation, more dynamic, and with some of the Wattish sheen taken off (though the drums still don't sound as good as they should).

Between this version and the Apple Dolby Atmos mix, I don't think I've actually listened to the 'original stereo' mix since it first came out. I just went back to it after reading the above comments and it hurt my ears - it sounds like a 90's MP3 downloaded from Napster

So enough is enough - download this version and never look back

tragabigzanda wrote:There’s virtually none of that on the last three albums, with a few specific exceptions. You remove Eddie’s voice from the proceedings, and there’s little going on that couldn’t be reasonably ascribed to any number of studio musicians.

Kevin Davis wrote:Eddie's "Earthlings" band and Pearl Jam sound virtually identical, reducible to three discernible elements -- Eddie's voice, overly processed drums, and a sort of generalized "loud rock music noise" in the middle.