Arcade fire Neon Bible

[recall]

I find the sibilance on this album really annoying. I don't know what it is, there are three top drawer mixers in spike stent, nick launay and markus dravs on the record yet they all sound strangely thin mixes. Is it the mastering?

Its really off putting when listenting on headphones. (and yes i have tried other headphones and stereos and the problem remains)

Anyone feel the same?

[espen askelad]

and at the same time, i find it to sound a little dead in the highs. great album nonetheless, but could definitely sound a li'l better.

[mavertron]

i agree, i think this record sounds a little thin and harsh. Not much depth.
The first album sounds great though.
Not as bad as the new killers album though.
that is so harsh it actually hurts my ears.

horrible.

can they not.

[espen askelad]

the first album was recorded at Hotel2Tango. This one was recorded on their own, in a church, primarily live. (If I recall correctly.)

[thenoiseflower]

Hotel2Tango always makes great records.

I wish more of the bands that did there breakthrough records at H2T went back for more...

I like the new record, I think the songs are great, and the presentation is right on, though, it could sound better in CERTAIN spots.


seems lately there are allot of records with great songs coming out with sightly poor sound (im not talkign about the killers not even worth getting into)
But amazing bands on the verge of breaking huge - like the dears, metric, and even yeah arcade fire (already "huge" I guess), making records with great songs and not using a real space and maybe even a fledgling engineer (im not really at liberty to know who was experienced or not). but man, imagine a metric record recorded by ryan hadlock? or a dears record with, well acctualy, another dears record done by howard and the H2t crew would satisfy me niceley

[C/G]

Originally Posted by thenoiseflower

seems lately there are allot of records with great songs coming out with sightly poor sound (im not talkign about the killers not even worth getting into)
But amazing bands on the verge of breaking huge - like the dears, metric, and even yeah arcade fire (already "huge" I guess), making records with great songs and not using a real space and maybe even a fledgling engineer (im not really at liberty to know who was experienced or not). but man, imagine a metric record recorded by ryan hadlock? or a dears record with, well acctualy, another dears record done by howard and the H2t crew would satisfy me niceley

I think the new Dears album sounds pretty good. Bloody excellent record though, overall.

Who were we talking about again?

[thenoiseflower]

Originally Posted by C/G

Bloody excellent record though, overall.

Who were we talking about again?

Its friggen awesome and and has great vibe, I love the record and I love love love the Dears. But were you not the slightest bit disapointed in the fidelity when you first pressed play? Compared to end of a hollywood bedtime story and Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique - the record sounds like it was an earlier work IMO, which is ok, just surprising.


anyway, I think we were talking about arcade fire getting mastered, or something.

BTW... anyone see the AF performance on SNL....they really did a great job.

[hurricaneE]

Originally Posted by mavertron

i agree, i think this record sounds a little thin and harsh. Not much depth.

I thought the same. I did see 'em on SNL, and thought they did a great job. -E

[lpkyer]

the new dears is great.....recorded through a neve bcm and tape.....!!!! And believe it or not, but a neumann m149 on vocals...?! sounded like a ribbon to me but oh well


Oh and I personnaly I dont like the new arcade fire much.....the first one recorded at the hotel had much more magic to it.

[Spectacle]

Originally Posted by hurricaneE

I thought the same. I did see 'em on SNL, and thought they did a great job. -E

I was actually going to mention this performance before I read your posts. I actually thought is was pretty bad sonically. They really got into it, which is great to see, but the levels were all over the place, I could barely hear the singer at all, esp over the organ in the first song.

I see this a lot with SNL performances these days -- just varying degrees of poorly done-ness -- and I was wondering, how much of this is the band, and how much of it is the in-house sound guys? Is it some cynical ploy to keep the house band seeming fantastic in comparison, or are so many of these groups as bad live as Fall Out Boy and Ashlee Simpson?

BTW, I do like what Arcade Fire is doing, generally speaking.

[hurricaneE]

Originally Posted by Spectacle

I was actually going to mention this performance before I read your posts. I actually thought is was pretty bad sonically. They really got into it, which is great to see, but the levels were all over the place, I could barely hear the singer at all, esp over the organ in the first song.

I see this a lot with SNL performances these days, and I was wondering, how much of this is the band, and how much of it is the in-house sound guys? Is it some cynical ploy to keep the house band seeming fantastic in comparison, or are so many of these groups as bad live as Fall Out Boy and Ashlee Simpson?

BTW, I do like what Arcade Fire is doing, generally speaking.

Didn't mean to imply that it was a good mix , just that I thought the band did a good job of being exciting/interesting, and the tunes were good. And, I've gott say, the less of I hear of their vocals, the better

[1979]

I've been wondering about the quality of Televised 'live broadcast' shows as well. IMO its' not the band, at least any band who has somewhat toured generally mix their levels on stage pretty well. I saw the Arcade Fire on SNL, and definitely did n't seem like the band's fault. It's likely not the fault of SNL's in house system FOH TECH, nor is likely the fault of the FOH tech who tours with the Arcade Fire. Their job is to mix for the people in the house. Somewhere further down the broadcast feed there has to be either an 'auto level type of box' replacing a person, or an engineer hitting low end gear after recieving a compromised FOH feed .

And BTW, I like Neon Bible, but I don't buy their records expecting an EQ and compression clinic. I like their energy and the emotion they bring to my speakers, sometime thats all a good record has to be.

[Spectacle]

Originally Posted by 1979

I've been wondering about the quality of Televised 'live broadcast' shows as well. IMO its' not the band, at least any band who has somewhat toured generally mix their levels on stage pretty well. I saw the Arcade Fire on SNL, and definitely did n't seem like the band's fault. It's likely not the fault of SNL's in house system FOH TECH, nor is likely the fault of the FOH tech who tours with the Arcade Fire. Their job is to mix for the people in the house. Somewhere further down the broadcast feed there has to be either an 'auto level type of box' replacing a person, or an engineer hitting low end gear after recieving a compromised FOH feed.

I'd be inclined to agree with you on this, in general, as I have seen some of the bands live that have sounded not so hot on SNL, and they sounded good in their live shows (Fall Out Boy is a MAJOR exception to this, though , but their manifold problems would constitute another thread, and have).

But if it IS some sort of "auto level type of box", why is it that the house band sounds so good in contrast?

And BTW, I like Neon Bible, but I don't buy their records expecting an EQ and compression clinic. I like their energy and the emotion they bring to my speakers, sometime thats all a good record has to be.

I totally hear you on this.

[C/G]

Originally Posted by thenoiseflower

Its friggen awesome and and has great vibe, I love the record and I love love love the Dears. But were you not the slightest bit disapointed in the fidelity when you first pressed play? Compared to end of a hollywood bedtime story and Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique - the record sounds like it was an earlier work IMO, which is ok, just surprising.


anyway, I think we were talking about arcade fire getting mastered, or something.

BTW... anyone see the AF performance on SNL....they really did a great job.

Yes, I did think No Cities Left, was a better recording. I was actually slightly disappointed with the drum sounds on gang of Losers, but after hearing how excellent the songs were, I quickly forgot about the recording quality. I am liking the reocrding more and more but I hear where your coming from.

I did know we were talking about the Arcade Fire but got side tracked with the always amazing Dears.

[Janesaid2me]

Im just gonna make this simple...this album sucks...ive listened to it like 10-15 times...i cant get into the music...think the sound is awful on it...total disappointment!

[recall]

Originally Posted by 1979

And BTW, I like Neon Bible, but I don't buy their records expecting an EQ and compression clinic. I like their energy and the emotion they bring to my speakers, sometime thats all a good record has to be.

Word. It's just that having read the credits with three top drawer engineers/mixers on the case it still sound thin. I bought it precisely because I was interested in the vibe of it being recorded in a church. I am not a massive AF fan and was expecting to have to listen to this a few times to get into it but the sound is really off putting.

[Josht]

I think it sounds fine, in fact, I think it sounds nice. But then again, I guess its just different strokes

[Bad Khan]

[quote=C/G;1236060]Yes, I did think No Cities Left, was a better recording. I was actually slightly disappointed with the drum sounds on gang of Losers, but after hearing how excellent the songs were, I quickly forgot about the recording quality. I am liking the reocrding more and more but I hear where your coming from.

I can say with absolute certainty that the drum tracks on Gang of Losers were recorded WAY better than on No Cities Left. How they ended up in the mix is up for debate and is, of course, a matter of opinion... And yes, Murray pretty much only sings into a Neumann M-149... a couple of backing tracks were done on an M-160...

[rectifier]

Originally Posted by Janesaid2me

Im just gonna make this simple...this album sucks...ive listened to it like 10-15 times...i cant get into the music...think the sound is awful on it...total disappointment!

same here.. it's actually a painful experience for me, can't wait till each song is finished! Heard a lot about them so grabbed the cd and....

but each to their own as said..

[C/G]

[QUOTE=Bad Khan;1237134]

Originally Posted by C/G

Yes, I did think No Cities Left, was a better recording. I was actually slightly disappointed with the drum sounds on gang of Losers, but after hearing how excellent the songs were, I quickly forgot about the recording quality. I am liking the reocrding more and more but I hear where your coming from.

I can say with absolute certainty that the drum tracks on Gang of Losers were recorded WAY better than on No Cities Left. How they ended up in the mix is up for debate and is, of course, a matter of opinion...

Yes, I agree and think it probably was a mix issue as well, but as I listen to that CD more and more the recording or mix quality grows on me and I don't mind it at all or have any complaints. Still, with all of that being said, Gang of Losers is a damn fine album. I love it.

Sorry, back on topic.

[Krubbadoo]

Gang of losers is one of my best albums of last year. Amazing songwriting. I think it doesn't sound that good and a little boxy but I got over this pretty quickly since the songs are so nice. Murray's melodies are pretty strong. Nice musicianship on the album too. Drummer is really good.

[thenoiseflower]

I opened the can, I think at least, so I guess I should respond...

yes the dears are awesome, yes the record is really good I personaly feel like the whole figgen thing sounds a bit amature, sounds are like they used some good gear, I just seriously question its overall fifelity. I'd like to hear it on record.

mainly I question two factors:
the Control Room acoustics durring tracking I feel like I hear phase issues (guitars in some spots, kick on a track or two, snare weirdness top/bottom. room, boxy shit the whole time, durring the whole record).

the mix itself it terribly simaler accross every song, not much love/effort for each song, like it was brought out of the box (oh and the record was x-fered BTW thats part sounds great ) for summin only and they just burned it though, I doubt thats what happened but, to me, I really would have dug in a bit on a record with such great songs, ideas, and professional implications for such a worthy band.

I dont fault anyone cause its not like my opinon means there is stuff wrong, and although I'm not the only person I've heard who doesnt like the sound, I know many others who love the overall sound, its all in opinion/taste.

I still listen, its a great record. but I find myself missing some niceties in the sonics of other dears releases. It doesnt sound bad, I just cant personaly say I feel it is a great soundng record. would yo put this on in your CR to impress a client with the sound of your CR?

My .02$

I'm glad to see quite a few dears fans on here.
I'm gonna go listen to end of a hollwood bedtime story, peace

[bsteeve@ozemail]

I think it is a really good sounding record. It has unusual things about it on the mixing side of thing, they did not always mix that much low end in it, and at time there is a few elements jumping out of the mix quite loud... but with time I'm starting to like how they mixed it and how it complement the vibe of the tracks. It is also all recorded in a church so bear in mind that there is a certain sound to this that is not always the easiest thing to deal with in mixing... everything take some much space! But it add a great vibe to the record and make it sound different in it's own ways. I don't mind the top end. I don't like bright record that much, they tend to irritate me after a while. I really like the way the male and female vocal blend together on this record. The sound can always be better, but in this case I think all those imperfections just make it perfect.

[rectifier]

Originally Posted by rectifier

same here.. it's actually a painful experience for me, can't wait till each song is finished! Heard a lot about them so grabbed the cd and....

but each to their own as said..

Damn, I'm so full of shit, I love this record now!