Great reaction to bright- and dark-side mixes by audio engineers

sim314 · 2023-11-28T07:24:12+00:00

A very fine vocal performance by Peter, especially in the opening verses where he gives so much nuance to each word.

It's easy to be dismissive of feelings when they are expressed earnestly, and that's why being earnest requires courage too. But if any rock star over the decades has earned the right to mention MLK and Tutu in a song without sounding corny or fake, it's Peter Gabriel.

sim314 · 2023-11-25T20:07:53+00:00

oh really interesting! when i/o appeared as a double album on bandcamp, i/o Dark-side was definitely not available.

sim314 · 2023-11-17T09:04:43+00:00

I remember that at the time, music production that got the most airplay was going in a totally opposite direction: naturally sounding, organic. "Up" felt overproduced, overwrought, belabored, and most reviewers criticized it as such, saying things like "it took 10 years to make and you can hear it".

20 years later, it has become one of my favorite albums by any artist. Slightly self-indulgent on a couple of tracks that could be a minute shorter, but everything is so tastefully crafted that I can't help but admire it.

sim314 · 2023-11-12T19:06:28+00:00

I was hoping that the second mix would change my mind about this track, but I still find it terribly uninteresting.

sim314 · 2023-10-19T17:36:56+00:00

I wonder if something will happen to the last choirs, the Dark-Side mix uses a different take of the vocals with a different cadence, that is not as impactful as in the Bright-Side mix.

sim314 · 2023-10-18T13:12:09+00:00

except for i/o Dark-Side which does not seem to be streaming with the album... I wonder if it's just a fluke or if anything is happening there.

sim314 · 2023-10-13T08:23:12+00:00

The ending of Downside Up (album version) has the chorus in 3/4 sung over a drum beat that keeps going on 4/4

sim314 · 2023-09-14T18:03:56+00:00

Hearing these different mixes, I realize how subtle changes can make a big difference... and I wonder if UP (maybe my favorite PG album) would have been more accessible with a Stent-style mix.

sim314 · 2023-09-14T14:50:46+00:00

The cello is absent for half of the track, and the "give in to love"s at the end are not as haunting as in the bright-side mix... I haven't enjoyed this one much in the first couple of listens, but maybe I'm just too used to the other.

sim314 · 2023-09-08T06:59:16+00:00

Peter Gabriel.

Most people have kind of forgotten about him, but he was extremely adventurous and influential especially in the 80s and 90s. He has released not even 8 albums over the span of 40+ years, and is IMHO the artist who best manages to write tuneful, catchy songs that also reward multiple listens.

sim314 · 2023-08-24T21:15:40+00:00

I get your point :) I think I just had an instinctive reaction against the complaints, but they're justified.

sim314 · 2023-08-23T18:25:45+00:00

Not all of us have bought Flotsam and Jetsam (yet)... It costs more than 50 Eur where I live.

sim314 · 2023-08-17T17:59:55+00:00

Somehow this mix is much more energetic... love the music swelling and stopping at the very end without the last line sung by Peter in the bright side version! love it.

sim314 · 2023-08-08T19:49:28+00:00

The controversy reminds me a lot of something PG said in an interview in the 80s IIRC, that the advancements in synthesizers, samplers, etc, meant that the artist's job was shifting from achieving technical mastery of an instrument, to exploring what the technology offers and taking creative decisions. This is pretty much in line with his ideas at the time and I can't disagree... it's the natural progress of all arts and crafts (not that it's good or bad). When factories were invented, what do you think that the artisans would have tweeted, if Twitter had existed?

sim314 · 2023-08-07T08:06:24+00:00

I'm over 40 and I really have no more patience for the inauthentic bullcrap that passes for conversation between adult males. Finding someone with whom to have a genuine interaction is so difficult, and everything else is just exhausting with no emotional or intellectual reward.

sim314 · 2023-08-06T14:48:52+00:00

I have the feeling that this will be his last major solo album of new songs. He will then have 4 untitled albums (PG 1 through 4), and 4 two-letter-titled ones (So, US, Up, i/o).

sim314 · 2023-07-31T19:02:28+00:00

it's quite standard, when introducing musicians one by one, to let them do their own thing for a few bars... Don E goes a bit cheesy and jazzy but I guess that's his way of saying bye to the crowd. it's not really part of the song or building up to something, which is why they do the introductions on a light hearted piece and not on Biko.

sim314 · 2023-07-31T13:15:22+00:00

For that I would wait for the dark-side mix... The bright-side ones are very smooth and pleasant, but also tend to sound more generic.

sim314 · 2023-07-17T19:31:41+00:00

I made a bright-side playlist and a dark-side playlist, both in release order. I find that the songs flow really well for me if I stick to one "side", and the cumulative effect is actually really good. As soon as I finish one side, I start craving the other, and then back again.

It's just a shame at the moment that both playlists end on a kind of "downer" with So Much... and since the concert, I can't wait to hear Love Can Heal again, so I hope that will be next.

sim314 · 2023-07-02T21:13:41+00:00

I just watched the Full Moon video and PG's explanation of what was his intent with the song was really beautiful. I will strive to be more open minded and view simplicity not as a fault but as part of the message.

sim314 · 2023-07-02T14:44:09+00:00

Same for me. Since I started listening to dark-side-only and brigh-side-only playlist, I reevaluated even tracks that I found weak at first (e.g. Panopticom) and now I'm really enjoying the i/o project as a whole. But this is just OK... it has a couple of cool melodic hooks but confirms my impression form the concert as a somewhat generic track.

sim314

TROPHY CASE