Post by radiohogweedPost by Mark RaePost by SlubberdegullionDoesnt the SEBTP mix sound fabulous?
Yes it does, unless you're a die-hard Mellotron fan...
Woah, hold on there. I'm a die-hard mellotron fan who's about to plop
down the dosh for this box set. What did they do?
Approximately half the Mellotron on boxes 1 and 2 has been dropped way down
in the mix.
Some places like Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats or the Watcher intro are
absolutely glorious because there's little or nothing else but Mellotron
anyway, but in other places e.g. the end of Grand Parade, the brass in
Willow Farm, the Lamia etc it's almost inaudible... The first time I heard
Fly on a Windshield it nearly knocked me over when it kicks in ("windshield
on the freeway.....") until I realised that the Tron strings had been almost
totally swamped by the Hammond...
This mix has allowed virtually *everything* else to be enhanced and
brightened. If you are very familiar with the original recordings, you'll
hear stuff that you've never heard before, specifically Hackett's and
Collins' parts. A great example of this is in Harold the Barrell,
specifically in the right-hand side of the stereo. In some places, it sounds
like they have used alternate takes e.g. the Reverend in TBOEF ("man of
repu-uu-uu-te").
Similar mixing can be heard on box 2 e.g. the verses of Dance on a Volcano
("Holy mother of God") where the Tron choir is almost gone...
According to the accompanying interviews, Tony was present at every remixing
session with Nick Davis, so I can only think that this is on Tony's explicit
instructions...