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Thanks. As we already knew, Ghost is about Richie. I thought the best commentary was on God Bless This Mess. Very honest. Crappy audio though. Is that an upload issue or how it was recorded? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
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Considering sound: I finally gave the CD a listen (previously only MP3s), and this has got to be the first album which actually sounds *way* better on a physical CD to me than in MP3 form (even 320 kbit/s). It's much clearer, got more punch, etc.
I know MP3 is a lossy compressed format, and terrible at let's say 128 kbit/s and below, but I never noticed such a big difference before. I believe it's due to the amount of bass going on in the songs, that's gotta take up a lot of the available frequency range/space... To make a long story short: if you haven't listened to the CD yet, do it, you will be pleasantly surprised! |
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It's funny because I've seen many people think that Living With The Ghost is about a relationship (which it is, not that kind of relationship) and dislike it for that reason so I don't think everybody has figured it out :p The videos are ok, a little bit short though. The best part is the emphasis on how much effort they put into making the best possible songs out of what they had. It makes a HUGE difference, that's what TC and specially WAN lacked, polishing those good ideas (yeah, even WAN had a few) and spending time reworking them until they couldn't get anything better. I think it's clear when a song has reached its potential, even if you don't like the song. I've always thought that Born Again Tomorrow has pretty decent lyrics for the type of song it is and now I know why. Glad they took the time to sit down and work on the songs. Must have been exhausting after all those years :rolleyes: |
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Okay so after all this time I finally write some words about the new album.
The first point which is already mentioned numerous times, and something which really pisses me off, is the sound. Seriously. Listen to an average song from the BOX SET. Take "Crazy Love" for example. You can hear a band playing some music. You can hear every instrument, there are dynamics, there are variations/perturbations in the playing, there are here and there several little additions to the orchestration, that are more or less inspired. It is alive!! Sorry for making such a strong metaphor, but there is a certain morbidity to a song that has an utterly compressed sound, indistinguishable instruments & sounds, totally repetitive and inelastic orchestration, particularly when we are talking about a pop song. This kind of morbidity I started to sense when I listened to some songs of Have A Nice Day, but became stronger around "The Circle" era. Don't get me wrong, I am all for new sounds and modern shit. Indeed I find Born Again Tomorrow to be a clear highlight of this album! I like it much, they totally succeeded in what they wanted to do there. It is very electronic yes, but it is meant to be like that, it makes total sense, it has a very interesting guitar input (the licks and the obscure solo! ), it still has the Bon Jovi element on top, it is perfect :-D (Yeah I started with the fifth song.. ) But Ghost, NYD, GBTM are totally ruined by the sound. I mean the drums are sounding so damn . . distorted/weak or fake. The guitar solos are highly uninspired, almost robotic. But the songs have not taken the full path to be electronic, as BAT, and in the end they sound just bad. Listen to A Little Bit Of Soul. It is a band playing music. SOUL. I mean, ok, let's not go so far back, in the album LH, the compression is rather much, but in songs like Any Other Day, or even We Got It Going On, you have a much more clear, vibrant orchestration and performance and.. sound. I mean, even most songs in the BB album sound rather good in comparison to THINFS. The Devil's In The Temple: ok it is rock. But I can't enjoy it as much as other songs of the album. I suppose that this is also because I (also here) don't like the sound. I mean a rock song has to sound grand. This sounds distorted. Just put "If I was your mother" next to it (adjusting the volume accordingly, as the latter is not supercompressed) and compare. Even Scars on this guitar, lacks the natural sound it needs. I mean I liked how Not Running Anymore sounds. Even a shiny TLFR production would be better for Scars. Ok after all this complaining, here is what I liked: I agree this is from a songwriting perspective the best effort since.. .. the nineties. But that's also why I am pissed at this production. I like BAT, Reunion, Real Love and Drive you Home as they are. I mean they are all inspired and interesting. I like much LWTG, GBTM and NYD as compositions, but I hate their guitar parts and the overall sounding. Rollercoaster is sooo poor. The main single is just uber-generic. Knockout is funny, I ve gotten used to it, but it could be elevated with a different production. All Hail The King is ok. LOL needs a solo and a backing vocal, sounds ok though. Come on up to our house and Goodnight new york, except of cheesy (gosh, it is really contradictory to use the word cheesy when you are a BJ fan - thank you for always about loving my bed of roses * ) are also boring. Touch of Grey although heavily avrilavignish, is entertaining. Color me in also, though it seems a bit unfinished. The both together could be named "Touch of Marvin Gaye" :-) It is also clear that they were recorded at least 2 years earlier than the rest. And they sound fine. To conclude, I don't give a damn if Jon's voice is doctored and computerized or distorted, I also don't care if he sings only super low key. I just want to hear a real band playing, some real melodies, some real musical sound, be it rock or pop or country or whatever. Unless we want to go to EDM. Then ok, do it. Be born again tomorrow, and go as far as went with Born Again Tomorrow and even further and kick some ass. I know, Shanks could be key to the sound, but Jon is there as well. I don't understand how he can't hear the loss from this compression, or the absence of musical versatility in the arrangements... whatever. Let's see what's next. Let's see how this live album sounds. (coz it will be edited/mastered surely) Cheers guys! *(I really love BOR and Always of course) |
This House Is Not For Sale (2016) - Post Album Release Discussion
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I agree with you regarding the production/mixing side of things. It's clearly the direction JBJ wants to go. I can't believe he's oblivious to it, so it must be that he is happy with it. So many post 2000 songs have been hindered by this. I (generally) don't think it's a songwriting decline more the "presenting" of the song that's the problem. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
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Jon liking this style? I don't know why. Why does anyone like anything?!! I've not (knowingly) listened to any other artist that Shanks has produced for. Is this his style with everyone? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
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