Are the released demos polished like a normal track?

I recently came across a demo for "All About Loving You" which I probably got from YT but I kinda forgot about it, and I was shocked to hear how weak Jon sounds on it. If someone told me it was a much newer demo, I would believe it.
"Postcards From The Wasteland" is from the same album, but Jon sounds better.

I'm comparing those two because they sound similar, more stripped than the other Bounce demos. On the other demos he sounds more than fine.

Postcards was released as a b-side, the AALY didn't, as far as I know.

So I'm guessing those released demos are not so raw as the name would suggest. It seems they get the same treatment as the proper tracks. Although I think I remember older demos sounding much less polished.

I understand there's different parts during the recording process and demos could get reworked several times, but I guess I was expecting the demos to sound more ... untouched...

It's amazing how the year 2000 marks the spot of a changed Jon, a musical change, and lazy vocals. Although it was / is a digression, Jon's voice carried a similar tone since '03 and his range just continues to slowly diminish.

Jon doesn't put much vocal effort into most demos and rehearsals. Some he had to to get the feel of the song but even if you go back and listen to the 1992 MTV rehearsals, you could hear Jon screeching all the way through it.

My theory is that this and Everyday's demos were early early versions. On both cases it's clearly a drum machine. Maybe it was pre-band involvement and was just what Richie did with the other song writers. The other b-side demos (Joey, Right Side of Wrong and One) sound much like full band demos.

As stated above, it's all due to which stage of the demoing process the song stems from. If Jon knew that it was only an early "to-go-from" recording, he'd settle for a guide vocal rather than going full force with his voice (remember that he always pushed himself to the limit for the album recording, at least until the mid-2000's).

The sound of the demos themselves vary because some might've been regarded to be "just a demo" and others (like Postcards from the Wasteland, Why Aren't You Dead, The Radio Saved My Life Tonight, Wedding Day etc.) migh've been considered as a possible album cut at one point or another. There is a difference in effort (also from the producer's side) when a track is getting mixed for an upcoming release. Certain effects for ambiance get mixed in, instruments might get doubled, lead singers could go in and back their own vocals (like on Blaze of Glory). That's why a demo like the ones stated above sound very good while, e.g., the published batch of NJ outtakes aren't that good. Back then the record company pulled the plug on Join going for a double-album and therefore work on some tunes was abandoned before they got to the final stage. What you hear there are basically the raw instruments and vocals mixed together, hence the more "unpolished" sound.

Thanks for the answer. That's what I understood from reading how recording works, but it's not exactly what I was asking, I'm afraid I didn't explain myself clearly. I meant polishing THE VOCALS once the demo is in the needed stage. Polishing as much as they would do with the album tracks because those demos really need that much polishing VOCALLY.

An example: "Wedding day" sounds as rough as I expect a demo to sound. I don't know about the instruments, but the vocals sound very raw to me. Thing is, they don't need to polish that song because the vocals sound perfect. It's pretty clear that it's an unfinished song, but nobody would call the cops if you blast it on your stereo, thinking that someone is dying or your cat is in serious danger of drowning, which I think would happen if they released a rough demo nowadays

Call me naive, but I didn't expect demos to be sooooo retouched vocally. The ones from the boxset of course (and judging from where they came from, they probably didn't need extensive work), but not the b-sides. Who the hell buys singles anyway?

I guess I was under the illusion that Jon's studio voice was somewhat decent until LH without a lot of retouching because I was considering the demos as the real voice. Yeah, I'm really really naive

BTW I found this thread that could explain why the Bounce demos sound (and are) so good

http://www.drycounty.com/jovitalk/bo...-demos-t68630/

Really interesting, I never heard that before.