New York City 3/4/93 - Ytsejam Records - Is it good?

[bobs23]

I have to say while I love the YtseJam releases, and I'm glad we've got them (more please!) if you compare them to the excellent live recordings Marillion offer via their website, all of the DT releases are disappointing sound-wise.

You have to understand the different methods of getting these recordings. Ytsejam recordings are done from the soundbord feed, which is balanced and eq'ed to the PA. The method that has now become the norm is to attach pro tools or some other multitrack parallel to the mixer and then mixed and eq'ed for CD. There is only so much that can be done to a stereo feed that was not meant to be mastered for CD.

[Setlist Scotty]

That said, I've always associated that song with Kevin for a bunch of stupid reasons with no basis in fact.

Well, it sounds a whole lot like something he'd write on his own, so whatever your reasons, they're probably not stupid.

Sounds like it to me too. 

I think Kevin knew he was leaving by that point and that was his farewell. I also think that's pretty impossible to prove at this point.   

The strangest thing was being so pumped after the show back then and then having that song come on and having an overwhelming feeling of sadness.  In a way though I think it was a great help in helping me to get over his leaving along with the music he was writing at the time. It just seemed so obvious to me after hearing his first post-Dream Theater music.

MP mentions in the Awake demos booklet that the whole last stage of Images-touring and pre-Awake period was full of Kevin demoing stuff on his own and the DT guys "appeasing his taste" by recording some of it in a band capacity, like Eve or later SDV. So by the time Eve was adapted for the show (HEAVY SPECULATION BASED ON LOGIC INCOMING) there must have been a few other things he brought up to a DT member that induced a comment such as "this is cool, I like this, it's so not Dream Theater". I've recently experienced some things, both in a professional and friendly and even romantic settings - when you get into something new, and you're becoming REALLY attached to it, and prominent figures in your life or people you work with brush it off, or aren't into it as much as you, it kind of distances you from that relationships or previous things you were doing because this new thing fits you like a glove, and you've just worn off a part of your past. I'm sure everyone can sympathize with that. So maybe, by the time Eve was finished, he was having thoughts of leaving, or maybe even a decision.

Yeah, totally, Eve makes so much sense when seen through an early Chroma Key lense. Even though I've ran into it 20 years later than you it still produces a "aaaaaah so THAT'S what it's all about".

Interesting theory there Mora, but I'm gonna have to say that it's a theory and that's it. Eve was written in the early to middle part of Images and Tour, not the last leg of the Music in Progress tour. If it were true that Kev was having thoughts of leaving DT when the band version of Eve was completed (before March of 1993), then it would have made no sense for him to have continued with the band beyond the end of the tour, let alone do another album with them before deciding to bail.

That said, it could be that Eve was one of the initial seeds that led to his exploring that style of music and his eventual leaving the band. But it certainly was not one of the final things as you're suggesting.

[MoraWintersoul]

That said, it could be that Eve was one of the initial seeds that led to his exploring that style of music and his eventual leaving the band. But it certainly was not one of the final things as you're suggesting.

That's pretty much the thing I'm inclined to think at least 70% of the time, and then at other times I think maybe it was a "fuck it - let's hang around for a little while more to see if anything changes", which influenced the writing of this post. Anything's possible, and when I think about human behaviors, I usually lean to the little less logical - more "human" - option.

[krieger]

I just received the cd...it's very good... wow! 

[krieger]

Folks, I must say this is, in fact, the best live record I have heard from DT. It's unbelievable good.

You know why? Because it has that aura... that MAGIC that got me hooked so many years ago. Listening to they playing Surrounded, Learning to Live, To Live Forever... on those days... makes me remember how fresh they sounded, how powerful were the songs, how incredible the compositions, and how great their abilities. Everything seemed to be so well mixed - technicalities and feelings, abilities and compositions, etc.

Wow.

[hefdaddy42]

Yes indeed.

[ytserush]

I have to say while I love the YtseJam releases, and I'm glad we've got them (more please!) if you compare them to the excellent live recordings Marillion offer via their website, all of the DT releases are disappointing sound-wise.

You have to understand the different methods of getting these recordings. Ytsejam recordings are done from the soundbord feed, which is balanced and eq'ed to the PA. The method that has now become the norm is to attach pro tools or some other multitrack parallel to the mixer and then mixed and eq'ed for CD. There is only so much that can be done to a stereo feed that was not meant to be mastered for CD.

Most of Marillion's fan club releases are board tapes that Bob has just described. Not much is done besides mixing and mastering with EQ.

Actually, Here's a quote I pulled from Marillion's first fan club release (FRC001)

"This recording was made as a reference for ourselves while touring - and as an archive of our live performance- it was never planned to be released. We have taken the original recording and remastered it to provide a better sonic experience. However it has not been re-touched or overdubbed in any way. This recording is provided "as is" - warts and all - for your listening pleasure, so please keep that in mind while listening!"