Alkaline Trio - Blood, Hair and Eyeballs (January 26, 2024) • Page 15

Production. The production on TSL's Anyways EP never bothers me. So, yeah, I guess I kind of like "shitty" production. Probably because I had a cool older brother who got me hooked on 70s punk and 80s college radio bands when I was a kid.

 

I couldn't disagree more with that last sentence.

The songs sound so small. Someone commented that they sound like a song downloaded from Limewire is right on.

I listened to Demon and Divisions and Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs back to back just now. And its such a noticeable difference in sound.

Again, I am no sound engineer so I have no idea what is going on or why. I just know that one sounds full and one doesn't.

 

I'd also like to start this post by saying i have no idea what is going on or why when it comes to production, but alkaline trio production seems to be an exception for me. I kind of like the muddy/distorted sound. To me it doesn't sound flat/small, it just suits their sound/style.

Now, Gaslight... the production on that new album completely ruined any shot of my enjoying it. Same goes for the new the sleeping album. Both heartbreakers.

 

I completely disagree about Demon and Division, it sounds so empty

 

Now, could the mix be better ? Absolutely, but I love the rawness just like with the Fire from Senses Fail. If the tunes are good I’m good

 

For awhile, like for instance coming from the new blink album which is probably one of the loudest albums I've heard, new Trio felt quiet. But my ears also adjusted quickly to it. Each individual aspect of the recording sounds fine to me. It's nowhere close to something like the Canyon where the production just overall kills the album. And I find The Fire kind of a tough listen, everything kinda blends together on that album to me

 

I think lots of people assume the production and the way an album sounds wasn't actively chosen by the producer/ band. You can not be a fan but not liking production choices doesn't always equal bad production.

 

I just listened to Bad Time, BH&E, D&D, and the title track from ITTC. I'm not a sound engineer either, but I don't agree with the Limewire comment. To me, that goes to the fidelity of the recordings which on these new songs is just fine. I can clearly hear the vocals, guitar, bass, and drums each separately and they don't get all jumbled and muddy, but they also still feel like part of the same sonic landscape.

Compared to the ITTC tracks, there's definitely a "beefier", bigger guitar and bass tone on ITTC, which gives it a fuller sound, but I don't think that makes the production on the BH&E tracks bad. That bigger sound, to my ears, tends to swallow up other parts of the song. I also don't like the way the vocals on the ITTC tracks (see when Matt first comes in on D&D) sound detached from the rest of the song like they're just floating in the same space but not a part of the same cohesive whole, if that makes any sense.

I'm not a huge fan of that thinner guitar sound on BH&E, but it works for me here because it calls back to the band's earlier work, which I think was intentional. I also don't tend to equate things like guitar tone with "production", to me they're more like an aesthetic/sonic choice made by the band, but I guess I should.

 

not listening to anymore singles before this is released despite reeeeeeeally really wanting to.

i admit the production kinda bugged me when Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs first dropped (didn’t hate it, didn’t love it), but i spin both that and Bad Time almost daily and i don’t even really notice it anymore, just love these songs

 

Didn't get to listen to the whole song earlier, man the bridge is some peak Trio

 

Versions Of Me is just so different for the Trio and I love it

 

*To continue the caveat trend, it is entirely possible I am using improper terminology here. So, my apologies to anyone who actually knows this shit if I offend lol. Just to clarify, I am using the word "production" as a general term to describe the overall sound of a recording. I don't know if my issues are with "production" or like mixing or whatever.*

Honestly, reading this I think we are pretty much in agreement on the differences that I am hearing between the two albums and we just disagree on how we are subjectively reacting to those changes lol.

For instance, I prefer the vocals on D&D so much more than this. I prefer how...prominent and clear...they are. And by contrast, I hate how buried the "oh whoa's" are in BH,E.

And perhaps I should make it explicit: I make no claim that ITTC sounds objectively better than these new songs or that ITTC was more competently made. I am merely saying that the choices made here (and obviously these were conscious choices because I think the same team that recorded ITTC did this record) don't work for me and my subjective preferences.

EDIT: That said, the songs themselves (at least the two I've heard) I like just fine. I bet they will rip live.

 

Don’t love the new one.

 

I was thinking today how I actually like the way the background vocals are buried on BH&E. It just works for me on that song

 

YEah I said it when it came out I think but I love the subtle little background vocals we hear in BH&E that you can tell are there but can't quite make out the woahs. Feels like it adds to the mood of the song

 

This bass line fucking rules.

 

It’s actively hurting how much I enjoy the songs and I’m assuming quite a bit of people feel the same ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Versions is out and yeah it sounds better than the compressed leak (it’s the best mixed song released so far).. but I can’t say the same for the previous two singles. I heard no difference between the leak on Reddit of the title track and the official release. Out of the three singles, that title track sounds ROUGH.. no idea how the band or Rise approved it.

Also; I said KaZaa not Limewire! lol

 

That was me and yeah completely agree with everything you said! Demon sounds sooooooo much better than any of the three singles from a purely mixing/production standpoint.

Had these singles been as well produced? I would have preordered the record. I’m passing on it solely because this sounds like a shitty rip on YouTube lol

 

Off topic but I watched that interview Matt did with Stryker and he mentioned that Pat Smear of Nirvana played bass on him and Atom’s side project The Hell.

Mind. Blown.
That’s awesome!

 

Perfect song no notes

 

Huge Coheed vibes in the guitar playing on Versions of You. I love to see it.

 

Love the new song. Happy to be excited for a Trio album. Always loved the band but everything post Crimson has always been less excitement and more wait and see for me lol.

 

This is great.

It probably says more about me (never been into Coheed), but my instant reaction hearing the riff was 'cool Van Halen vibes'.

 

They probably listened to it and had the same reaction as me: “wow sounds pretty damn good!”

These songs seriously sound fine, just not a big in-your-face modern rock production!