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PO NOW: Letlive - If I'm the Devil... (Out in June 10th)


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If I remember correctly they addressed it briefly in an interview saying something along the lines of the quality of the production reflected the rough edges letlive. has.

Something like that.

I think every band says this to make an excuse when the recording is dogshit. I think thursday said the same thing for City by the light, that was the worst recording I have ever heard, made it unlistenable. 

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Song is on Spotify and accompanying video on

. Decent enough. Production is back to normal, thank God.

As for the pre-order, I refuse to give Epitaph any money until I know if this pressing is any better than the travesty that was The Blackest Beautiful. Worst pressing I own.

I've never heard it on vinyl, but I'll never understand why people say the production is so bad. It's hardly produced at all, and sounds live and raw. I guess it's cool when the Chariot does it, but no one else.
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I've never heard it on vinyl, but I'll never understand why people say the production is so bad. It's hardly produced at all, and sounds live and raw. I guess it's cool when the Chariot does it, but no one else.

Well the main issue with the vinyl is it's paper thin and just horribly cut. Add to that that the production doesn't lend itself to quality and it is basically unlistenable.

 

My main problems with the production/mixing/mastering is the overall lack of clarity, distortion on pretty much anything on the higher end, strong presence of bass guitar/bass drums that are more just a flood of low-end rather than being smooth or punchy, back layering of the rest of the drums with notable distortion, and the fact that the guitars get lost in the mix so often and almost always sound like they've been digitally compressed.

 

When I say distortion, I mean downstream distortion, not upstream. The Chariot works because their sound is lo-fi, but their production is usually solid. I love The Fiancee but their are moments that do seem like they were post-distorted and those bum me out. Their newer albums were fantastic because they had native distortion but were recorded, edited and mastered with care.

 

To me, The Blackest Beautiful doesn't sound raw and live, it sounds like a claustrophobic 64 kbps mp3.

 

But again, stoked because the new single sounds like a more sensible split between TBB and FH production-wise. Just holding out to see if Epitaph cheaps out on the wax again.

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Well the main issue with the vinyl is it's paper thin and just horribly cut. Add to that that the production doesn't lend itself to quality and it is basically unlistenable.

My main problems with the production/mixing/mastering is the overall lack of clarity, distortion on pretty much anything on the higher end, strong presence of bass guitar/bass drums that are more just a flood of low-end rather than being smooth or punchy, back layering of the rest of the drums with notable distortion, and the fact that the guitars get lost in the mix so often and almost always sound like they've been digitally compressed.

When I say distortion, I mean downstream distortion, not upstream. The Chariot works because their sound is lo-fi, but their production is usually solid. I love The Fiancee but their are moments that do seem like they were post-distorted and those bum me out. Their newer albums were fantastic because they had native distortion but were recorded, edited and mastered with care.

To me, The Blackest Beautiful doesn't sound raw and live, it sounds like a claustrophobic 64 kbps mp3.

But again, stoked because the new single sounds like a more sensible split between TBB and FH production-wise. Just holding out to see if Epitaph cheaps out on the wax again.

I'd only ever heard Renegade '86 before seeing them live, so when I bought TBB immediately after their set, it kind've just put me back in the crowd, being blown away every time I listen to it. That's just me though.
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Ordered the EU variant after already putting in an order through the US site, hopefully my cancellation will go through quickly. I wonder if the EU KOTR store has the digital download too for the full album or if it'll include a card, found it weird that it didn't have a download link for the new single like I received for the US store order in addition to the box verifying the digital album download.

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They briefly addressed it shortly after release, if I remember correctly, saying something about a boombox aesthetic. Closest we got to a reissue was the really excellent Renditions series of alternate versions with guest vocalists and slightly more traditional production.

,
, and
for those who missed it. Was really hoping for the whole album and a digital release, though.

 

I always thought my LP copy sounded wayyy better than the CD master. Still not great.

 

Regarding the quality, this studio apparently had a decently dynamic master of The Blackest Beautiful that got canned for some reason. There's still some samples on the site. I kind of have a feeling it has to do more with masking the hardcore Melodyne action rather than a "boombox aesthetic". 

 

http://electrowerksmusic.com/

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Regarding the quality, this studio apparently had a decently dynamic master of The Blackest Beautiful that got canned for some reason. There's still some samples on the site. I kind of have a feeling it has to do more with masking the hardcore Melodyne action rather than a "boombox aesthetic". 

 

http://electrowerksmusic.com/

Super, super interesting, thanks for that link. You can hear so much more of the nuances in the guitar work.

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