Has anyone bought or listened to The Perfect Element 2020 remix?
Yup. It’s fine. Few noticeable changes. Little better mix. Nothing massive.
I checked it out on streaming at Qobuz and it sounded good. It's a lot more subtle than the Remedy Lane remix. I did enjoy the live tracks that were on the 2nd disc.
I've been digging into their entire discography lately and am almost done with all albums.
I still feel the same about Entropia and One Hour by Concrete Lake. They have some great tracks but the production on both sounds weird, I like Concrete more than Entropia. I can't stand the keyboard sound on Entropia and even the playing is just blah, not having Fredrick on that is one of the biggest reasons I'm guessing. From then on the keys are great though Concrete at times does have that tone that I'm not fond of.
I think I like about half the tracks on Entropia and it's mostly due to them being on 12:5.
Concrete is a great precursor to The Perfect Element, has a lot of groundwork and elements leading to TPE, catchy tracks, and great drum and guitar work. Still not an amazing album but much better than Entropia.
I always go back and forth on which is my fav PoS record and I think I can say for sure TPE is it. Listening to TPE and Remedy Lane back to back, it's still a very tight race and the title track of TPE seals the deal. Remedy Lane as a whole has more of the favorite melodic tracks and the remix is a solid listening experience.
Didn't think TPE or RL needed remixes but I don't mind them either, the live tracks are definitely a nice bonus.
12:5 is a really fun album, I had heard this before listening to any tracks on Entropia which is probably why I prefer these acoustic version to the album ones.
I hadn't heard BE Live in ages, I always listen to the studio release more than the live one. If I'm not mistaken the live performances were recorded before the studio release of the album. At the time of release I remember it creating a big divide among the fandom at MP.com, I was 50/50 towards it then. Now though I really enjoy it and include it as that amazing stretch of releases of TPE, RL, 12:5 and BE.
The highlight of the album for me is Fredrik's playing throughout. Love his piano tone and arrangements overall, it's such a key part of why this album is amazing for me.
I just got done with Scarsick and I can't put my finger on it but there is something off about the album for my liking. It has great production, playing and the tracks should be something I should enjoy but it's just kinda meh overall.
Next up are the Road Salt albums and I don't have any particularly fond recollections of them apart from the title track.
I had taken a sabbatical from the band after those albums and until recently hadn't heard the last two. I like Passing day a little more than Panther and both are really good return to form for me.
It should be fund re-listening to those albums and getting more familiar with them.
The one aspect of PoS I tend to always ignore is the lyrics and conceptual themes their albums have. It's the one thing I don't care to analyze or dive deep into. It's the same for any band really, I never pay attention to lyrics and themes and all that jazz. I get that Daniel is cut from the same cloth as Steven Wilson, both multi-instrumentalists and highly talented and just really full of themselves. I try not to get too deep into their perspectives on things just to be able to enjoy their music that more.