Author Topic: On the Backs of Angels Thread (Read 345102 times)

BlobVanDam · « **Reply #2100 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:57:56 AM »

Quote from: TL on August 09, 2011, 12:31:54 AM

Didn't A Rite of Passage have a more compressed, less dynamic mix than the rest of BC&SL? At least when it was released as a single?

While I'd love to have a less compressed version of OTBoA, I'm fine with the MP3 download.

To my ears AROP sounds noticeably more compressed than the rest of the album. But considering OTBOA isn't as compressed compared to recent albums, I wouldn't expect the rest of the album to be any different.

N4Player · « **Reply #2101 on:** August 09, 2011, 06:32:36 AM »

OTBOA is available in iTunes as a single. Sorry if this has been posted already. Glad they finally released it and I can ditch the YouTube version. Surprised no one in the band has tweeted this.

Canadian ITunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/on-the-backs-of-angels-single/id452583074

ZirconBlue · « **Reply #2102 on:** August 09, 2011, 07:08:23 AM »

Quote from: ReaPsTA on August 08, 2011, 11:58:24 PM

bass is too loud

These words appear to be in English, yet I find them utterly incomprehensible.

senecadawg2 · « **Reply #2103 on:** August 09, 2011, 07:55:30 AM »

After letting it sink in a bit I'd have to say that the highlight of the song for me are the keyboards. JR definitely seems to have had more input into this music than before. Everything else is great but the keys have just really stood out to me. Can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

bosk1 · « **Reply #2104 on:** August 09, 2011, 08:46:58 AM »

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on August 08, 2011, 06:20:05 PM

Quote from: bosk1 on August 08, 2011, 01:57:00 PM
First person I knew of who had a tatoto was this girl named Dorothy. Can't remember where she got it, but I don't think it was Kansas.
You save comments for years, just waiting for the right opportunity. Don't you?

Doesn't everybody?

ZirconBlue · « **Reply #2105 on:** August 09, 2011, 09:32:31 AM »

Quote from: bosk1 on August 09, 2011, 08:46:58 AM

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on August 08, 2011, 06:20:05 PM
Quote from: bosk1 on August 08, 2011, 01:57:00 PM
First person I knew of who had a tatoto was this girl named Dorothy. Can't remember where she got it, but I don't think it was Kansas.
You save comments for years, just waiting for the right opportunity. Don't you?

Doesn't everybody?

I know I do. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to quote Slim Shady lyrics in a formal debate, and refer to it as an argumentum ad eminem.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #2106 on:** August 09, 2011, 09:34:53 AM »

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #2107 on:** August 09, 2011, 09:50:11 AM »

Quote from: ZirconBlue on August 09, 2011, 07:08:23 AM

Quote from: ReaPsTA on August 08, 2011, 11:58:24 PM
bass is too loud

These words appear to be in English, yet I find them utterly incomprehensible.

hahahahaha

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #2108 on:** August 09, 2011, 10:31:52 AM »

I'm listening to this loud... and it sounds REALLY good, which is more than I can say for any post-FII DT album.

Zook · « **Reply #2109 on:** August 09, 2011, 10:55:12 AM »

So is Amazon's 320 at least?

Bacong · « **Reply #2110 on:** August 09, 2011, 11:23:34 AM »

The iTunes mp3 sounds way better than the YouTube version for any people worried. Drums sound fine in the mix.

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #2111 on:** August 09, 2011, 11:23:57 AM »

Quote from: Zook on August 09, 2011, 10:55:12 AM

So is Amazon's 320 at least?

256, which sounds fine.

Zook · « **Reply #2112 on:** August 09, 2011, 11:31:11 AM »

Quote from: ReaPsTA on August 09, 2011, 11:23:57 AM

Quote from: Zook on August 09, 2011, 10:55:12 AM
So is Amazon's 320 at least?

256, which sounds fine.

Yeah, I got impatient waiting for a reply, so I just bought it. Sounds good.

Zydar · « **Reply #2113 on:** August 09, 2011, 11:53:33 AM »

Is this mp3 available in Europe? I can't buy it from iTunes or Amazon.

John94 · « **Reply #2114 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:03:48 PM »

It should be. I bought it on iTunes in the UK.

Super Dude · « **Reply #2115 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:11:54 PM »

I finally figured it out, even though I think someone has already said it: OTBOA sounds like a song. It's not a hodgepodge of random and chaotic ideas thrown together in haphazard fashion (i.e. ANTR), but an actual song with a beginning, middle and end. Nothing is thrown in there; the instrumental bridges a gap, and actually serves a purpose.

BlobVanDam · « **Reply #2116 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:13:27 PM »

For it's "hodgepodge", I'd still take ANTR over OTBOA any day, and I really like OTBOA.

Super Dude · « **Reply #2117 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:14:42 PM »

Yeah I mean that's just my opinion, after all. Like if I had to choose between OTBOA and the Beautiful Agony section of ANTR by itself, the latter wins. But on the whole, I think OTBOA is a better song (imo), because I feel like there's a real, organized structure to it. I personally prefer an orderly song to one that does a buncha cool shit but leaves me a little in a tizzy.

BlobVanDam · « **Reply #2118 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:16:56 PM »

OTBOA is clearly a more concise structured song with less fat, but to me almost every section of ANTR is still amazing, despite its faults. Aside from the instrumental section onwards, I think ANTR is a perfectly constructed song, and it's still a top 10 or 20 song for me. I can forgive little things here and there if the majority of the song is still great.

ariich · « **Reply #2119 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:20:17 PM »

I don't really understand how anyone can complain about the lack of dynamics in OTBOA. The only quiet sections are the intro and the piano break, which are perfectly quiet. The rest of the song is pretty mono-level in terms of the music, so I wouldn't expect any massive dynamic variation, and indeed it would probably just sound annoying if there was.

I guess what I'm saying is, let's wait until we hear the rest of the album with the more varied stuff before we're actually to able to make a proper judgement.

jdprsaga · « **Reply #2120 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:45:16 PM »

does someone have the hi-res artwork that they posted in itunes for otboa? looks cool!

wasteland · « **Reply #2121 on:** August 09, 2011, 12:48:47 PM »

Quote from: jdprsaga on August 09, 2011, 12:45:16 PM

does someone have the hi-res artwork that they posted in itunes for otboa? looks cool!

That's what I got with the download.

ReaPsTA · « **Reply #2122 on:** August 09, 2011, 01:02:12 PM »

Quote from: ariich on August 09, 2011, 12:20:17 PM

I don't really understand how anyone can complain about the lack of dynamics in OTBOA. The only quiet sections are the intro and the piano break, which are perfectly quiet. The rest of the song is pretty mono-level in terms of the music, so I wouldn't expect any massive dynamic variation, and indeed it would probably just sound annoying if there was.

I guess what I'm saying is, let's wait until we hear the rest of the album with the more varied stuff before we're actually to able to make a proper judgement.

It's mainly the parts with the choruses that annoy me. They don't actually sound bad, but I wish they were a touch louder overall, instead of just having quieter drums to construct the illusion of bigger dynamics. I think the album was mixed very, very well, but the mastering is a somewhat scattered mix of good and bad. I'll still take it over every other Rudess-era album though in that sense. I can't turn any of them up without hurting my ears, whereas I can crank OTBOA and rock out fully.

jdprsaga · « **Reply #2123 on:** August 09, 2011, 01:07:52 PM »

Quote from: wasteland on August 09, 2011, 12:48:47 PM

Quote from: jdprsaga on August 09, 2011, 12:45:16 PM
does someone have the hi-res artwork that they posted in itunes for otboa? looks cool!

That's what I got with the download.

Thanks, looks really good!! i haven't been able to buy the song cause amazon keeps telling me that i'm outside the US altho my IP is from florida.

The Silent Cody · « **Reply #2124 on:** August 09, 2011, 01:11:15 PM »

Quote from: Zydar on August 09, 2011, 11:53:33 AM

Is this mp3 available in Europe? I can't buy it from iTunes or Amazon.

Don't worry Zydar, I have the same problem, amazon and itunes are not working in Poland...at least we get album on 9th September

nikatapi · « **Reply #2125 on:** August 09, 2011, 01:13:52 PM »

After so many listens, it still sounds fresh to my ears. And at first i thought the drums were a bit low, but now i bought the single i can say the mix is quite good. I also really enjoy JR's ideas and sounds.

Groundhog · « **Reply #2126 on:** August 09, 2011, 01:14:09 PM »

I wish I'd be as easily pleased by the sound as you guys. I've been listening to it more on my stereos now instead of laptop and headphones. It is now even more clear to me that it does sound too flat. I wish that they have compressed the single more than the rest of the album.

Yes, most of the song is mono-level in terms of the music, but it doesn't mean that there isn't variation to it. There's a lot more nuances to music than just havig acoustic part quiter than the heavy part. I'm 100% sure that they have composed the song to have the chorus sound bigger with more impact than the verses, but it doesn't sound that way. Only thing that changes during the chorus is the density. There are just more midgets stuffed in to the car. Nothing happens to the volume. The chorus has been robbed from it's impact. That is because of the lack of difference between the loudest and the softest part. There are lot more monotonous songs without any soft parts out there with more dynamics than this. Because OTBOA has silent parts and loud parts it should have even bigger difference between them. The intro sounds considerably better than the loud parts because the music has room to breath there. The drums are able to hit through (above) the rest of the music. After the intro the rest of the music builds up more than drums, because there is no space for the drums to go anymore. So the rest of the music ends up almost on the same level as the loudest drum parts. As drums can't hit louder than rest of the music they lose their punch and sound buried.

Why would it sound annoying with more variance? Does I&W or Awake sound annoying?

It seems I'm alone on this, but it could sound A LOT better and it would simply take one decision to make that happen. To not use overcompression/limiting etc to make it louder than it needs to be. That is the most frustrating part of this. It could be so easily avoided.

Only part of ANTR that really graps me is the beautiful agony part. That I think is the best part of the whole album, but the other parts bring it down for me. OTBOA doesn't have a highlight like beautiful agony, but as a whole it is alot more coherent and enjoyable. There are no bad or annoying parts to it. I always need to listen to the whole song when I play it. That doesn't happen with ANTR.

gabeh1018 · « **Reply #2127 on:** August 09, 2011, 06:17:58 PM »

i want to point out that there is a sonic difference in the official mp3 download. i purchased it just now from the canadian apple itunes store and I noticed little fills and parts that mangini is doing that i couldn't really pick up on before. So, yes the drums are louder and overall the mix sounds tighter.