'Novocaine' - What is it?

Need to get my feelings out on this one. It's bothering me.

I really think this could be one of their best songs. Lyrically, it's brilliant. There seems to be a brilliant amount of passion and fire behind it and overall it's one of only a few bright spots on an atrocious album (just my opinion).

However, the thing that bothers me, is the actual sound. Why is it so...electric-effected? I can't word it, but the music has this horrid electric tinge to it and it's really offputting.

Someone can help me out here, hopefully?

It's only on the backing vocals that it really bothers me.

But apart from that, top song.

Do you mean sound quality or the actual arrangement?

I think it sounds great. In fact the guitar on the verses almost made me buy a £200+ guitar pedal just so I could get the same sound

I'm listening to it just now and I'm still not sure what you're talking about.

The backing vocals sound like they have a bit of chorus on them or some other sort of phasing.

Jon's vocals are pretty dry as are the harmony backing vocals (not the group backing vocals) that Richie does.

The snare drum is REALLY hot. I'd never actually noticed it to be honest.

The solo guitar sounds a bit weird as if it's miced off axis or something but it might also just be the EQing because it sounds like they've boosted the mids big time.

The guitars have a tonne of gain on them too

The guitar at the verses has some chorus and phaser or flange on it.

In fact listening to some more tunes from the record there's a lot of processing on the guitars, much more than normal for Richie imo so maybe you're ears are just telling you that there's something different but can't place what it is...


Personally I think it sounds great.

It might be both. I'm not very educated on music as a whole to be honest, but the sound of the guitars/keyboards etc. mix badly to give a very electric sound which bothers me.

Oli - I agree. Great song and apart from sound, the backing vocals being stre-eee-tcccc-hhh-edddd out do get on my nervers a bit.

I think it could have been recorded and produced better, but it's a great song in my eyes. Full of feeling and emotion. When the band have something real to write about it tends to bring the best out of them.

Having a bit of know how about recording and mixing etc... can be a bit of a curse in disguise as it can make you over analyse songs or notice bad points of songs that you wouldn't otherwise notice. i can't remember which tune but there was a Pink tune from a couple of years ago (I think it's don't let me get me) that I loved until I listened a bit more carefully to the guitars and realised they'd put a ridiculously harsh noise gate on the guitars that sounds totally unnatural and to this day it's the only thing I notice whenever I hear that song.

But as I said, there's probably something in there that's a bit different to the rest of the album (though I've listened to a bunch of other tunes a few times too and the guitars are mixed to have a lot more bass than Richie usually does so the album's at least got continuity in that sense) and your ears are telling you that something doesn't quite fit.

I still think it sounds great.

KeepTheFaith2211, just as I am a little curious, what do you think about the live version ? Better or worse from a sound perspective ?

Anyway, intresting discussion

I think they've deliberatley tried to make it not an out-and-out rock song. If it had Hey God instrumentation it would sound Hey God angry, and while there is some anger in the song, it's more about vulnerability.

I like the electric tinge on Novocaine.