brendan O'brien remixes Pearl Jam

[roscoenyc]

[

This, from someone who was in the building when it happened:

Well, as I am fond of saying, I was there, and they let us in to proudly show us what they were doing. They were not in a hurry. They seemed really pleased that they were going to bring the full potential of the LPs out in the bold new age of the Compact Disk!

So, that's my impression of that scene.

I completely agree that this is the benchmark of bad remixes.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Is the italics you talking Chris?

Over the years on several occaisions around the Ardent coffee machine, doughnut in hand, I'd never heard a good word spoken about the ZZ Top 6 pack project.

[JGriffin]

At least one of those will probably be thrown out as a "dated" effect, sadly.

if they're looking for things to throw out i say start with mike mccready's solos. that guy's going toe to toe with kirk hammett in the 'extremely lucky to still have a job' category.

Dude never met a blues scale he didn't like.

[cgarges]

Is the italics you talking Chris?

Nope, but again, that's my impression of the scene from someone who was there when it happened. At some point, you have to put trust in something someone tells you. From what the Six Pack discs sound like, that story makes perfect sense to me.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[rwc]

Is the limiting and distortion on Death Magnetic lame? Was it mixed/mastered that way to serve the songs, or as a byproduct of some cultural phenomenon? It sold a shitload of records, and despite the tempest-in-a-teapot backlash, it's been very successful. So, since it was successful, does that make even any discussion or consideration of how it could be better, lame? What if they re-released it, in response to the criticism, with a more tasteful mix bus treatment? Would that be lame? Or, would everyone here hail that as a victory?

This is a good point.

I think it really has to do with taste.

there are more people willing to defend the mix topology of ten than the act of turning a decent mix into full distortion. just like more people in the US would be willing to defend chocolate than people who'd defend broccoli.

everyone's bitched about loudness but that's the first commercially released record I've ever heard to blatantly crackle like a blown speaker when tom hits come in.

[vvv]

Personally, I wouldn't mind a great remix of the entire Hendrix catalog. Probably wouldn't mind a Talking Heads redo, either.

They did.

And my fave Life During Wartime, is very good.

[GoatKnuckles]

no amount of remixing will ever make Pearl Jam good.

[Rolsen]

no amount of remixing will ever make Pearl Jam good.

Really? I'm not a fanboy, and I can see why one would've recoiled circa 1992 when you just couldn't get away from them (I felt that way), but have you listened to their last few records? They are so straight up rock 'n roll it isn't even funny! In terms of artistic merit, I think some bands are good but not for everyone, and some bands are just bad. You really think they suck that bad?

[Electricide]

I didn't read all 8 pages, so I'll just say I'd love to hear some 60's stuff remixed just for clarity. Like some of those first 5 or 6 Moody Blues records, there's a lot going on that's *barely* there. Drums, bass..acoustic guitar. I'd love to hear it all sorted out.

Of course, if the stuff was all submixed down to 4 or 8 tracks, there's only so much you can do.

[JGriffin]

Ah. See, I'd give the Moody Blues records the same treatment as the ELP: replace all the tracks with entirely different music played by entirely different people.


* hands Chris a copy of The Soft Bulletin: "here, see, I remixed Days of Future Passed and made it much better!" *

[mertmo]

wow, long discussion here. Ahhh, pearl jam. Big fan for a while. No Code and Binaural are genius IMO. Great stuff on many of the other records too. I can't stand listening to Ten, however. Equal parts mix and music. Neither really does much for me. Maybe they felt lukewarm about the mix at the time. Maybe now that they can get away with mixing it again, they feel "less" than lukewarm about it. Maybe they have been talking about redoing it for years and now they are finally getting to it. Who cares? Let them have their fun. Only people like us will even notice that it got redone, hell their fan base really isn't that big anymore. And most of their current fans probably don't care too much for Ten, I would predict. So what's the big deal? It's not like you can undo the first one, it's still there to be enjoyed.

FWIW, the "VS" record doesn't sound that stylistically different to me than Ten...
Same late 80's shiny chorus and reverb thing IMO.

I agree, the ZZ Top remixes are beyond atrocious.

HOWEVER, I must point out one remix project that in and of itself made me realize the brilliance of an album that I had previously not cared about...

Let It Be Naked. Sorry, but that mix ...DESTROYS... the original in every possible way. Hugely superior version of that album IMO.

Cool topic ----

[Slider]

I listened to Eddie Vedder's advance CD of this way before it came out.
Other than the radio I haven't heard it since.
EV certainly didn't seem embarrassed of it back then.

I was later told by Brian Malouf (who did the recut singles) that they purposely used those recut tracks because the record versions were lacking.

The next time I saw Eddie he had slogans written down his arms and he had a fucking army helmet on. lol

[Recycled_Brains]

Just got this on Saturday, and I have to say...

I'm thoroughly blown away by the new mixes. I know in earlier posts I took a "leave it alone" stance, but what Brendan did (and un-did) sounds amazing, and I'm so happy that he (they) did this. This was one of the first 3 CD's I ever owned, and has had a big impact on my musical tastes/playing. It's sonic character is thoroughly ingrained in my mind.


The footprint of the (over)production in the original is gone. It sounds so much more raw and rocks so much harder. It sounds like Pearl Jam.

The guitars are more forward, the drums more pumping and saturated. The big reverb is gone, leaving a much more tasteful use of space. The drums sound like Brendan made more use of the room mics, rather than adding tons of artificial ambience. There's more hard panning of the guitar parts (more common on their later releases).

I'm hearing the bass for the first time (mixed way louder), and there are guitar layers and parts that I've never heard before, and I've heard this album a fucking shitload of times (expletives for emphasis).

The vocals sound like Eddie Vedder, and not some super human version of him. So raw. You can actually hear the ends of his phrases, because the huge artificial reverb and delay tails are gone. They're not totally dry, and there is some really obvious echo happening in parts, but it's better use of those effects.

It's honestly like hearing the songs for the first time. Even the played out radio hits sound fresh and new and exciting again. The hair on my neck was at full attention for most of it.

If you're into PJ and don't already have this, I highly recommend getting it. I love this album again.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

well after that heartfelt post i hate to be negative nancy but...

my brother's a pearl jam completist so naturally he picked this up and i just spent awhile checking it out. i like what brendan did with the vocals, and he managed to make shithouse mccready sound somewhat more palatable, but man all the compression just kills it for me. it's somewhat bearable on the rockers but the chill songs like 'garden' and 'release'....egads. the verses on 'release' were seriously making me squirm.

so besides the remix cd there's also a remaster of the original, and it's interesting because sir bob ludwig did all three. i loaded them all into wavelab, level matched them (new ones are like 4-5db louder) and switched around. i gotta say that the original just sounded leagues better than either of the new ones. switching between the original and the remaster was depressing, all the high end and clarity is just gone on the remaster. brendans version sounds like a frying pan, the remaster sounds like a telephone under a blanket, the original sounds like a good rock record.

i can see where the band had issues with the original, but i really don't think it sounds that bad at all. yeah there's too much reverb but its mostly relatively tastefully deployed. yeah the drums are kinda wacky in places, but overall i'll take the original sound over the super smashed new one. and yeah the guitars aren't loud enough in spots, but i would say that the rhythm section are generally doing more interesting things than the guitars so i can see why tim palmer (i think?) would've chosen to feature them over the guitars.

blah blah the end.

oh wait i almost forgot, this is a post about pearl jam. i am required to once again mention DAVE KRUSEN. if only all drummers played with that kinda spirit.

[fossiltooth]

At least one of those will probably be thrown out as a "dated" effect, sadly.

if they're looking for things to throw out i say start with mike mccready's solos. that guy's going toe to toe with kirk hammett in the 'extremely lucky to still have a job' category.

Dude never met a blues scale he didn't like.

Any McCready bashing is A-OK with me.

On another note, I have have a secret fantasy of remixing the 3 first Wipers records, but for the sake of history, they should probably be preserved just as they are regardless of all the shortcomings in the mixes.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i would bet that any of us on here (ok, except ampguy. and jeff.) can play guitar better than mike mccready.

that said, as a direct result of last nights 'research' i have had the solo section from 'alive' playing over and over in my head since i woke up this morning. 7 hours ago.

*considers suicide*