sp- zeitgeist

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

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record-olotta
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sp- zeitgeist

Post by record-olotta » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:39 pm

i have to say this is some of the worst mixing i have ever heard. i can't listen to it.

i'm hoping that they "leaked" a really bad mix to make people buy the album which i planned on doing but if this is the way its going to sound i don't think i can bring myself to listen to it.

joe

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James B
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Post by James B » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:30 pm

I've been avoiding it as I've assumed that it'll be either another Billy Corgan solo album in a different guise or it'll be a middle aged version of their 'classic' sound. Neither of which sound too appealing to me.

But yeah, that's what the general feedback seems to have been so far, really poor sounding, which seems surprising considering there was probably a pretty hefty budget behind it all. And corgan doesn't usually strike me as a fan of lo-fi sounding stuff, I'd have imagined he'd want it to be pretty lavish stadium rock stuff...

Maybe there is more to it, I wouldn't put it past them to try some stunt like deliberately leaking some half finished version. Although I could see backfiring massively as this version is probably the only version lots will hear, and they could end up being judged by it.

I don't think I'm being all that coherent, it's been a long day.

rushofblood
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Post by rushofblood » Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:26 pm

the vocals sound like they were done on a 58 into a laptop in his bedroom

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Smitty
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Post by Smitty » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:41 pm

well, the video that's out for Tarantula looks like it was made with the trial version of Final Cut Pro by a struggling video tech student at 3am the night before it was due. which, given some of the rather amazing videos in their past, is a damn shame.

the Pumpkins were the first band that made me look beyond the single song and really get into music in a deep way, and i'll always love them for it.... but yeah. i'm worried too, and not just about how it's mixed.

of course, i'll be buying it anyways... and going to the show when they tour... and re-living my adolescence juuuust a bit. :D
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Post by Regular Guy » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:43 pm

Corgan has no taste. Embarrassing.

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Jeff White
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Post by Jeff White » Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:00 am

Most of the stuff that they did up through 1994 was decent to really good. Most of everything that they did post 1994 was crap in my honest opinion.

I'll give the new record a listen, but I'm sure that it will be forgettable.

Jeff

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Post by foodforthemoon » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:29 am

ipressrecord wrote:Most of the stuff that they did up through 1994 was decent to really good. Most of everything that they did post 1994 was crap in my honest opinion.

I'll give the new record a listen, but I'm sure that it will be forgettable.

Jeff
Here here. For me, the state of the art as far as rock guitar arrangements is Siamese Dream. Well, that and the Beaster EP by Sugar....

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Post by Rolsen » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:51 pm

foodforthemoon wrote:
ipressrecord wrote:Most of the stuff that they did up through 1994 was decent to really good. Most of everything that they did post 1994 was crap in my honest opinion.

I'll give the new record a listen, but I'm sure that it will be forgettable.

Jeff
Here here. For me, the state of the art as far as rock guitar arrangements is Siamese Dream. Well, that and the Beaster EP by Sugar....
Really? Damn, I can think of a ton of 'alt-rock' that has pretty wicked and original guitar compositions. Failure, Hum, Shiner...

BTW, big Sugar fan right here!

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Post by Shane Michael Rose » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:57 pm

i have only listened to it once, through someone elses crappy computer speakers (which is what i like to reference mixes on anyway)

i heard a bunch of vocal parts that were jumping out in weird ways. there were backing vocals that sounded like ten dB too loud and stuff.

but he often does mix stuff that is sort of strange, as in the 2 mix distortion all over Mary Star Of The Sea.

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Post by theBaldfather » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:34 pm

I got this record as soon as it was out and I have to agree with statement about the vocals jumping out randomly. There are some cool guitar tones, but it might take me a few listens to decide what I think of it as a whole. I'm always left wanting a bit in the melody department. Just never seems to take the song anywhere. I really want to like this record though....
@studioquotes "producer: turn the gain up just a tad" "guitarist: is that the same as volume?" "Producer: actually the last take was great!"

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Post by Ryan Ferris » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:02 pm

While the sound quality isn't great (brittle sounding vox and cymbols IMHO), I'd have to say that it sounds better than anything he's put out in last 10 years. The Machina stuff sounded really fuzzy (in a bad way, maybe fizzy is a better description) and overly busy to me. The Zwan record was also distorted beyond the point of pleasant listening. Now the songs on the other hand... so far I like a few of them but I think maybe the Zwan record had better tunes.

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Post by MegaMutt » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:56 pm

I find it very fatiguing to listen to. It's very brittle and it's too loud (not in the good sense.) To me, it seems like everything was pumped up/compressed/limited/whatever... to the point that it makes it hard to listen to. After about 3 songs and 15min on the way home, I had to turn it off. It's a shame because I think it's his best effort (musically) in a while.


-rich

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Post by jizza » Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:24 am

yeah, terrible mixing on this one. even the drums sound terrible, which must be hard to do with a drummer of that quality.
I guess they mixed it themselves, big mistake.

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Sharp Machine
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Post by Sharp Machine » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:49 pm

I agree that the album was mixed strange. It bothered me at first, but I'm not gunna let that stop me from enjoying the songs. I think there are some bad ass songs on that album. (Doomsday Clock is sick). If you guys are not gunna listen to good music just because it's not mixed the way you would mix it or whatever, then you're forgetting why you got into this biz, for the love of music.
Gotta go, gotta rock.

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jammybastard
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Post by jammybastard » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:44 pm

It's funny how the drums, IMHO the most important element in SP songs, sound as bad as they do. I've done some ITB SP-ish drum tracks with dfh and they sound better, and more 'live" than these tracks.

BTW - I liked Machina, but not the power rock songs.
"Stand Inside Your Love" is still one of my top five SP tracks, and the drums on that sound so warm and resonant.

Having heard the debacle that was the Zwan cd(sound, not songwriting per se), and the all of the SP cds over the years I was disappointed that Corgan got away from the warm but powerful Butch Vig sound opting instead for the brittle modern rawk sound.
Another casualty of the loudness wars.

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