One second there amigo, the mega points were for this part of the post:
"But anyway, Satellites and Astronauts is just amazing. I'd say it's a tie between that and ...As the Future Repeats Today."
Not the part about Swim. I love that song.
What is your favorite song of In flames???
- Thread starter jenmendoza143
- Start date
One second there amigo, the mega points were for this part of the post:
"But anyway, Satellites and Astronauts is just amazing. I'd say it's a tie between that and ...As the Future Repeats Today."
Not the part about Swim. I love that song.
ThePhobiac
be at ease
I recently listened to all albums from Lunar Strain through I, the Mask. My favorites on each album as of late 2021:
Lunar Strain: Everlost Pt. II
The Jester Race: Moonshield
Whoracle: Gyroscope
Colony: Colony, with Scorn a close second
Clayman: Square Nothing
Reroute to Remain: Minus
Soundtrack to Your Escape: Dead Alone
Come Clarity: Reflect the Storm
A Sense of Purpose: The Chosen Pessimist, with Disconnected a close second
Sounds of a Playground Fading: A New Dawn
Siren Charms: Filtered Truth, with the title track a close second
Battles: Before I Fall
I, the Mask: Voices
Lunar Strain: Everlost Pt. II
The Jester Race: Moonshield
Whoracle: Gyroscope
Colony: Colony, with Scorn a close second
Clayman: Square Nothing
Reroute to Remain: Minus
Soundtrack to Your Escape: Dead Alone
Come Clarity: Reflect the Storm
A Sense of Purpose: The Chosen Pessimist, with Disconnected a close second
Sounds of a Playground Fading: A New Dawn
Siren Charms: Filtered Truth, with the title track a close second
Battles: Before I Fall
I, the Mask: Voices
Well done. I'm not sure how much my list has changed from last time...
Lunar Strain: Upon an Oaken Throne
Subterranean: Stand Ablaze
The Jester Race: The Jester Race
Whoracle: Episode 666
Colony: Zombie Inc
Clayman: ...As The Future Repeats Today
Reroute to Remain: System
Soundtrack to Your Escape: Like You Better Dead
Come Clarity: Vanishing Light
The Mirror's Truth EP: Eraser
A Sense of Purpose: Condemned
Sounds of a Playground Fading: Sounds of a Playground Fading
Siren Charms: With Eyes Wide Open
Battles: Wallflower
I, the Mask: Stay With Me
As an aside, I realised whilst writing this how good most of In Flames songs are that are named after the album. I could genuinely have picked Colony, Clayman, Reroute to Remain, Come Clarity and I, the Mask as my favourites from their respective albums, having already picked The Jester Race and SOAPF.
Lunar Strain: Upon an Oaken Throne
Subterranean: Stand Ablaze
The Jester Race: The Jester Race
Whoracle: Episode 666
Colony: Zombie Inc
Clayman: ...As The Future Repeats Today
Reroute to Remain: System
Soundtrack to Your Escape: Like You Better Dead
Come Clarity: Vanishing Light
The Mirror's Truth EP: Eraser
A Sense of Purpose: Condemned
Sounds of a Playground Fading: Sounds of a Playground Fading
Siren Charms: With Eyes Wide Open
Battles: Wallflower
I, the Mask: Stay With Me
As an aside, I realised whilst writing this how good most of In Flames songs are that are named after the album. I could genuinely have picked Colony, Clayman, Reroute to Remain, Come Clarity and I, the Mask as my favourites from their respective albums, having already picked The Jester Race and SOAPF.
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LS: Everlost or 2
S: Stand Ablaze
TJR: Moonshield
W: Jotun/Episode 666
Colony: Embody the Invisible/Colony
Clayman: OFTW
R2R: System
STYE: Borders and Shading
CC: Crawl Through Knives
ASOF: Tilt
SOAPF: A New Dawn
SC:
B:
ITM: Voices/Stay with me.
S: Stand Ablaze
TJR: Moonshield
W: Jotun/Episode 666
Colony: Embody the Invisible/Colony
Clayman: OFTW
R2R: System
STYE: Borders and Shading
CC: Crawl Through Knives
ASOF: Tilt
SOAPF: A New Dawn
SC:
B:
ITM: Voices/Stay with me.
I sing that to my song every night when I put him to sleep.We all know your favourite song off Battles is Here Until Forever
I forgot about Sub, editing in along with TMT EP.
Xpyro125
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Lunar Strain: "Behind Space" (The fact that the acoustic outro was left off of the '99 version is nothing short of a crime)
Subterranean: "Dead Eternity" (Better than the TJR version imo)
The Jester Race: "Moonshield"
Black Ash Inheritance: "Acoustic Medley"
Whoracle: "Episode 666" (Really tough decision between this, "Jotun", and "The Hive")
Colony: "Zombie Inc."
Clayman: "Satellites and Astronauts" (Also a tough decision between this and "Bullet Ride")
Reroute To Remain: Can't bring myself to choose between "Transparent" and "Free Fall"
Trigger EP: "Watch Them Feed"
Soundtrack To Your Escape: "Discover Me Like Emptiness"
Come Clarity: "Dead End" (Though choosing one out of all of them is incredibly difficult)
The Mirror's Truth EP: I dunno, they're all equal in quality, and I'm not allowing myself to pick the title track.
A Sense of Purpose: "The Mirror's Truth"
Sounds of a Playground Fading: "A New Dawn"
Siren Charms: "Everything's Gone"
Battles: "Drained" or "Save Me" (There's not a lot to choose from, and most of the shit on this album fucking sucks)
I, the Mask: "Stay With Me"
Clayman 2020 EP: "Themes and Variations in D-Minor" is the only thing worth listening to in this godforsaken hellscape of an EP. It's absolutely mind-blowing, but I'd rather listen to the entirety of Battles ten times over than this whole EP. Fuck this thing.
I'm a sucker for acoustics, but In Flames and Insomnium just compose them perfectly. That being said, this was easier than I expected, but still absolutely hellish to do.
Edit: How in the fuck did I forget "The Chase" from Siren Charms? Yeah, I'm gonna change my answer to that track.
Subterranean: "Dead Eternity" (Better than the TJR version imo)
The Jester Race: "Moonshield"
Black Ash Inheritance: "Acoustic Medley"
Whoracle: "Episode 666" (Really tough decision between this, "Jotun", and "The Hive")
Colony: "Zombie Inc."
Clayman: "Satellites and Astronauts" (Also a tough decision between this and "Bullet Ride")
Reroute To Remain: Can't bring myself to choose between "Transparent" and "Free Fall"
Trigger EP: "Watch Them Feed"
Soundtrack To Your Escape: "Discover Me Like Emptiness"
Come Clarity: "Dead End" (Though choosing one out of all of them is incredibly difficult)
The Mirror's Truth EP: I dunno, they're all equal in quality, and I'm not allowing myself to pick the title track.
A Sense of Purpose: "The Mirror's Truth"
Sounds of a Playground Fading: "A New Dawn"
Siren Charms: "Everything's Gone"
Battles: "Drained" or "Save Me" (There's not a lot to choose from, and most of the shit on this album fucking sucks)
I, the Mask: "Stay With Me"
Clayman 2020 EP: "Themes and Variations in D-Minor" is the only thing worth listening to in this godforsaken hellscape of an EP. It's absolutely mind-blowing, but I'd rather listen to the entirety of Battles ten times over than this whole EP. Fuck this thing.
I'm a sucker for acoustics, but In Flames and Insomnium just compose them perfectly. That being said, this was easier than I expected, but still absolutely hellish to do.
Edit: How in the fuck did I forget "The Chase" from Siren Charms? Yeah, I'm gonna change my answer to that track.
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Yeah, In Flames are definitely the most difficult band for me to choose from when it comes to favourite songs from various albums. It's nowhere near as difficult for bands like DT or Soilwork for me.
Mirror's Truth is a weird one for me - I really like the live version, but the CD version just irritates the hell out of me. The horrible chunky guitar tone and Anders' singing just kill it for me. Imagine instead of 'wuh wuh, wuhwuhwuh wuh wuh' the guitar tone was actually crisp and sharp. That would sound cool. Drums also need to be brought much further forward in the mix, particularly at the beginning, to replicate how crushing the track sounds when played live. Anders enunciation on this track and across ASOP really bugs me as well. 'widdouuttt even tryeeggg', 'at da height of reason, we shuddent live by yuh laws, call da swarrmm, feed dem anudda false hooope' - I don't know why on this album he started enunciating like this. He didn't do that on previous albums. Just sounds like, ironically, he isn't even trying.
As for Clayman 2020, yeah, fuck that entire thing along with that godawful covers EP. Two steaming turds that should never have seen the light of day.
Anyhow, @Xpyro125 it'd be cool to see your choices for least favourite IF songs:
https://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/in-flames-song-you-dont-like.691598/page-7
For me this one is just as hard for the older albums... easier for the newer ones.
Mirror's Truth is a weird one for me - I really like the live version, but the CD version just irritates the hell out of me. The horrible chunky guitar tone and Anders' singing just kill it for me. Imagine instead of 'wuh wuh, wuhwuhwuh wuh wuh' the guitar tone was actually crisp and sharp. That would sound cool. Drums also need to be brought much further forward in the mix, particularly at the beginning, to replicate how crushing the track sounds when played live. Anders enunciation on this track and across ASOP really bugs me as well. 'widdouuttt even tryeeggg', 'at da height of reason, we shuddent live by yuh laws, call da swarrmm, feed dem anudda false hooope' - I don't know why on this album he started enunciating like this. He didn't do that on previous albums. Just sounds like, ironically, he isn't even trying.
As for Clayman 2020, yeah, fuck that entire thing along with that godawful covers EP. Two steaming turds that should never have seen the light of day.
Anyhow, @Xpyro125 it'd be cool to see your choices for least favourite IF songs:
https://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/in-flames-song-you-dont-like.691598/page-7
For me this one is just as hard for the older albums... easier for the newer ones.
How I'd personally fix Mirror's Truth:
Overall - make guitar tone less chunky and crisper, similar to how it sounded on CC.
Cut the first 14 seconds or so. It's cool in theory but the guitar and drums sound so wimpy that it doesn't really convey what it's meant to convey. Alternatively beef up the guitar tone and drums. Either works.
Entire first verse should be screamed/growled, not yelled. Drums need to be much higher in the mix, similar to how it's played live. 'The ashes settle in' should be a real scream, 'the ashes settle iiiiinnnnnnn!' - would sound epic followed up by the lead guitar melody. As far as that melody goes from 00:25 to 00:35 - turn the fucking volume up on that lead guitar! Why is the rhythm guitar chugging along louder? It robs that awesome melody of its power. Again, sounds a million times cooler live.
Second verse should again be growled/screamed, not yelled. Beef up the drums as per the first verse.
Chorus is OK but Anders should be enunciating properly. 'Explode' at the end would sound better screamed.
Cut 01:04 - 01:15 - just pointless metalcore sounding chugging. Not necessary. Third verse, growl/scream the whole thing again, and fucking enunciate like an adult. Beef up the drums as per first and second verse.
Chorus as before, but 'disappear' again should be screamed not yelled.
Solo is fine but could go on for a little longer and should be slightly higher in the mix.
Chorus as above, although Anders actually does scream 'disappear' on this final chorus.
Track would be slightly shorter based on those amendments but would propel the song in my eyes from 'should be great but doesn't sound great' to 'fucking epic opening track'.
Overall - make guitar tone less chunky and crisper, similar to how it sounded on CC.
Cut the first 14 seconds or so. It's cool in theory but the guitar and drums sound so wimpy that it doesn't really convey what it's meant to convey. Alternatively beef up the guitar tone and drums. Either works.
Entire first verse should be screamed/growled, not yelled. Drums need to be much higher in the mix, similar to how it's played live. 'The ashes settle in' should be a real scream, 'the ashes settle iiiiinnnnnnn!' - would sound epic followed up by the lead guitar melody. As far as that melody goes from 00:25 to 00:35 - turn the fucking volume up on that lead guitar! Why is the rhythm guitar chugging along louder? It robs that awesome melody of its power. Again, sounds a million times cooler live.
Second verse should again be growled/screamed, not yelled. Beef up the drums as per the first verse.
Chorus is OK but Anders should be enunciating properly. 'Explode' at the end would sound better screamed.
Cut 01:04 - 01:15 - just pointless metalcore sounding chugging. Not necessary. Third verse, growl/scream the whole thing again, and fucking enunciate like an adult. Beef up the drums as per first and second verse.
Chorus as before, but 'disappear' again should be screamed not yelled.
Solo is fine but could go on for a little longer and should be slightly higher in the mix.
Chorus as above, although Anders actually does scream 'disappear' on this final chorus.
Track would be slightly shorter based on those amendments but would propel the song in my eyes from 'should be great but doesn't sound great' to 'fucking epic opening track'.
Xpyro125
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Weirdly enough, I'm actually fine with most of the things you have issues with. I think it does live up to being a pretty good opener, even if the guitar tones are a bit scratchy. I don't like how the drums on the album lack the punchy sound of Come Clarity or SoaPF's drums, but I can get past that since it's not too bad. One thing that's a complete amateur mistake is the dogshit job they did not properly fading out the sustained note from the solo to the final chorus. It's not the end of the world to me, but come on, that's basic shit.
I suppose the vocals could stand to be harsher, the drums more forward and less compressed, and the guitars less scratchy and a bit fuller, but I think that it suffers from those problems far less than most of the other songs on the album.
I don't mind the remaster, it's inoffensive at worst, but the re-recordings should have been fucking torched by anyone and everyone who was insane enough to approve them. I can't fucking believe they were listened to by a ton of professionals and deemed good enough to put out.
I suppose the vocals could stand to be harsher, the drums more forward and less compressed, and the guitars less scratchy and a bit fuller, but I think that it suffers from those problems far less than most of the other songs on the album.
I don't mind the remaster, it's inoffensive at worst, but the re-recordings should have been fucking torched by anyone and everyone who was insane enough to approve them. I can't fucking believe they were listened to by a ton of professionals and deemed good enough to put out.
Sure, it's just my opinion on how I'd personally prefer TMT to sound - but I get that for a lot of people none of the issues I have are relevent. Drums ae definitely an unfortunate casaulty of ASOP production throughout the record. Whilst the vocals themselves would have to be rerecorded for me to enjoy them, the other instruments could all be fixed by different production and mixing choices, which is frustrating.
The actual remaster is fine, although for the most part I fail to hear any significant changes from the original sound. The biggest issue with a Clayman remaster is that it is completely unnecessary. Clayman is almost universally regarded (@Jester Slave excepted) as having almost perfect production and mixing, there is zero need to go in and change anything (except making the tracks better sounding on mobile phone speakers, obviously. Speak to our main man @galvanized about that). Reroute, STYE, ASOP? Yes, those would all potentially benefit from a proper remaster... but not Clayman.
The rerecordings however are just embarrassing for all involved. I'm not entirely sure who had input into what, but it's shameful that anybody involved in those remasters was willing to release them and put their names to them. It's literally saying 'listen to how much worse we sound now compared to 20 years ago'. Clayman was the best of a very bad bunch. Bullet Ride was pathetic. Pinball Map a joke. OFTW ruined. All I can say is thank god, thank GOD they didn't touch ...As The Future Repeats Today or Satellites and Astronauts. It may have ended me.
The actual remaster is fine, although for the most part I fail to hear any significant changes from the original sound. The biggest issue with a Clayman remaster is that it is completely unnecessary. Clayman is almost universally regarded (@Jester Slave excepted) as having almost perfect production and mixing, there is zero need to go in and change anything (except making the tracks better sounding on mobile phone speakers, obviously. Speak to our main man @galvanized about that). Reroute, STYE, ASOP? Yes, those would all potentially benefit from a proper remaster... but not Clayman.
The rerecordings however are just embarrassing for all involved. I'm not entirely sure who had input into what, but it's shameful that anybody involved in those remasters was willing to release them and put their names to them. It's literally saying 'listen to how much worse we sound now compared to 20 years ago'. Clayman was the best of a very bad bunch. Bullet Ride was pathetic. Pinball Map a joke. OFTW ruined. All I can say is thank god, thank GOD they didn't touch ...As The Future Repeats Today or Satellites and Astronauts. It may have ended me.
Xpyro125
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That's completely fair, I hope I didn't misconstrue anything there. Admittedly, I'm one of the only people on Earth who would die on the hill that is defending Anders' vocals as actually being good, but I would absolutely say that he even had a stronger performance on STYE and Siren Charms.
The remaster sounds ever so slightly sharper, and it cuts down slightly on the compression. I would absolutely agree that Clayman is one of the best produced and mixed melodeath albums, if not the best, but there's definitely a compression issue (Which is seriously present on all In Flames works after Subterranean) due to everything being so loud. The issue I have with the remaster in that regard is that instead of turning any of the individual elements down to actually reduce the compression, Ted Jansen took the easy way out and just lowered the master track slightly- At least as far as I can tell. If you ask me, I think The Jester Race is the album (If they really want to go with a classic album) that needs a remaster the most, and it's the only one with as good of a reputation with old fans as Clayman. But no, because Clayman is so well-regarded by fans both production-wise and composition-wise, the label sees moneybags and remasters that instead. It's one of the most idiotic decisions I've ever seen, but I'm sure it worked out since there are still the few fans (Who still likely number in the thousands, and thus likely rake in enough profits because there was such little effort put into anything aside from the art and producing the physical copies like the CDs and vinyls) who defended it anyways.
I despise the people who say "Oh, the originals still exist, so it's fine!". Bullshit. Sure, they exist, but it's symbolic of the kind of attitude that the label and the engineers have, and it takes advantage of the band because it's blindingly obvious that they didn't want to do it just based off of their history. I mean, shit, there's a reason they only re-recorded the songs they actually played live- They're the most popular, and the re-recordings were made just to approximate the modern live sound. But even then, the re-recordings showcase that the engineers involved don't understand a goddamn thing about the sound nor the history of melodeath. It's a fucking miracle that "State of Slow Decay" actually sounds as good as it does. Yes, the originals exist, but it's insulting to every fan of the band as well as the band themselves because it completely pisses on the band's history, compositions, and contributions to industry when it comes to the originals as products and as art. That's all. Fuck this shit.
Also, I made an edit to my favorite song post, but I'll say it here too. I'm changing my answer for Siren Charms to "The Chase". I genuinely have no idea how I forgot about it, but it's at such a high caliber compared to everything else from the album that it's not even funny.
The remaster sounds ever so slightly sharper, and it cuts down slightly on the compression. I would absolutely agree that Clayman is one of the best produced and mixed melodeath albums, if not the best, but there's definitely a compression issue (Which is seriously present on all In Flames works after Subterranean) due to everything being so loud. The issue I have with the remaster in that regard is that instead of turning any of the individual elements down to actually reduce the compression, Ted Jansen took the easy way out and just lowered the master track slightly- At least as far as I can tell. If you ask me, I think The Jester Race is the album (If they really want to go with a classic album) that needs a remaster the most, and it's the only one with as good of a reputation with old fans as Clayman. But no, because Clayman is so well-regarded by fans both production-wise and composition-wise, the label sees moneybags and remasters that instead. It's one of the most idiotic decisions I've ever seen, but I'm sure it worked out since there are still the few fans (Who still likely number in the thousands, and thus likely rake in enough profits because there was such little effort put into anything aside from the art and producing the physical copies like the CDs and vinyls) who defended it anyways.
I despise the people who say "Oh, the originals still exist, so it's fine!". Bullshit. Sure, they exist, but it's symbolic of the kind of attitude that the label and the engineers have, and it takes advantage of the band because it's blindingly obvious that they didn't want to do it just based off of their history. I mean, shit, there's a reason they only re-recorded the songs they actually played live- They're the most popular, and the re-recordings were made just to approximate the modern live sound. But even then, the re-recordings showcase that the engineers involved don't understand a goddamn thing about the sound nor the history of melodeath. It's a fucking miracle that "State of Slow Decay" actually sounds as good as it does. Yes, the originals exist, but it's insulting to every fan of the band as well as the band themselves because it completely pisses on the band's history, compositions, and contributions to industry when it comes to the originals as products and as art. That's all. Fuck this shit.
Also, I made an edit to my favorite song post, but I'll say it here too. I'm changing my answer for Siren Charms to "The Chase". I genuinely have no idea how I forgot about it, but it's at such a high caliber compared to everything else from the album that it's not even funny.
No need to worry my friend, @ciko_gfb will be 100% with you as far as Anders vocals are concerned hipster hamster could burp the alphabet as one of the tracks on the new album and Ciko would be praising it as a vocal masterpiece, dat emotion, etc. I fully concede that Anders has a very unique voice that is instantly recognisable, and there are plenty of songs from the post-Clayman era I enjoy his harsh and clean vocals on (most of CC and SOAPF, and even Reroute and STYE). He's my favourite MDM vocalist pre-Reroute. I just feel like he's gone in the wrong direction after SOAPF, giving too much love to Benson and autotune machine, trying to hit notes that are impossible for him to perform even remotely competently live, and such. I wish he'd stick to what is within his range (as he did from Reroute to SOAPF) and stop trying to be American alt-metal teeny-bop singer. State of Slow Decay was somewhat of a positive in this regard as the only cleans on that song were pretty basic and within what he's capable of. I hope the rest of the new album continues in a similar vein, but as long as Benson and crew are behind the wheel I'm sceptical to say the least.
I honestly have zero issue with production of anything IF related until Reroute. I've seen a fair few comments regarding TJR production, but it's never even bothered me in the slightest. Maybe I'm just used to the sound having listened to the album for so long (20+ years now) but I wouldn't change a thing. With that said it would be interesting to hear a remaster of the album by somebody competent at doing such things, but I wouldn't personally know what to suggest. Of all the old albums I'd only say Lunar Strain could do with a proper remaster, but seeing as it was basically just a demo I don't really think it's necessary. Behind Space '99 and Clad in Shadows '99 were fucking sick though. Still holding out hope for an Upon an Oaken Throne '22 bonus track from The Halo Effect...
Completely agree regarding the Clayman remaster/rerecording though. Nothing but a cash grab that even the band didn't seem especially interested in. I remember some interviews with Anders before it was released and he looked so fucking bored answering questions about the album and the songs on it. There was one interview where practically every answer was "I don't know" or "I don't remember". Why even fucking bother promoting the rerelease if you don't give a shit about it?
hipster hamster could burp the alphabet as one of the tracks on the new album and Ciko would be praising it as a vocal masterpiece, dat emotion, etc. I fully concede that Anders has a very unique voice that is instantly recognisable, and there are plenty of songs from the post-Clayman era I enjoy his harsh and clean vocals on (most of CC and SOAPF, and even Reroute and STYE). He's my favourite MDM vocalist pre-Reroute. I just feel like he's gone in the wrong direction after SOAPF, giving too much love to Benson and autotune machine, trying to hit notes that are impossible for him to perform even remotely competently live, and such. I wish he'd stick to what is within his range (as he did from Reroute to SOAPF) and stop trying to be American alt-metal teeny-bop singer. State of Slow Decay was somewhat of a positive in this regard as the only cleans on that song were pretty basic and within what he's capable of. I hope the rest of the new album continues in a similar vein, but as long as Benson and crew are behind the wheel I'm sceptical to say the least.I honestly have zero issue with production of anything IF related until Reroute. I've seen a fair few comments regarding TJR production, but it's never even bothered me in the slightest. Maybe I'm just used to the sound having listened to the album for so long (20+ years now) but I wouldn't change a thing. With that said it would be interesting to hear a remaster of the album by somebody competent at doing such things, but I wouldn't personally know what to suggest. Of all the old albums I'd only say Lunar Strain could do with a proper remaster, but seeing as it was basically just a demo I don't really think it's necessary. Behind Space '99 and Clad in Shadows '99 were fucking sick though. Still holding out hope for an Upon an Oaken Throne '22 bonus track from The Halo Effect...
Completely agree regarding the Clayman remaster/rerecording though. Nothing but a cash grab that even the band didn't seem especially interested in. I remember some interviews with Anders before it was released and he looked so fucking bored answering questions about the album and the songs on it. There was one interview where practically every answer was "I don't know" or "I don't remember". Why even fucking bother promoting the rerelease if you don't give a shit about it?
Xpyro125
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The day the band stops working with Benson and co. is the day we all celebrate together, and I think I can speak for fans and non-fans in that regard. Although I abhor his insistence that music needs autotune, I feel like Battles would actually sound worse without it. It just needed to be toned down a bit, at least if that whole album wasn't going in the fucking bin. I actually really like that "State of Slow Decay" has a more understated chorus. It's a rare thing for In Flames, as a soaring melodic chorus is usually emphasized, even in the older material. It sounds damn good too, so props where they're due.
Honestly, I can totally get over the compression issue on their albums, and I'd even say that it helps Come Clarity feel even more like an adrenaline rush than it would otherwise. My main issues with TJR production-wise is just that the drums sound weak as fuck and that the bass (From what I remember, which admittedly, I wasn't quite as good at listening in on years ago) wasn't as audible as I'd like. Then again, I grew up on fucking Korn, so cheers. I think Lunar Strain particularly needs a volume increase (On everything but the violins, anyways), but not all too much else from what I can remember. Then again, I don't remember the actual sound completely, so I could totally be wrong. And speaking of THE, that reminds me, the outro from their concert (Which is apparently just being used for the documentary, so agony.) is a sort of reinterpretation of the acoustic medley from Black Ash Inheritance. I fucking love that little detail, man.
I think they only promoted it because they were contractually obligated to. It fucking sucks because it's clear that that just wasn't where the band's passion was. I mean, it doesn't excuse just how awful quality the re-recordings were, but I feel bad for them about everything outside of those songs. If you legally don't have a choice in the matter, it doesn't really matter whether you want to or not, unfortunately. It's speculation, of course, but I would be way more surprised if it all wasn't label-forced and contractually obligated.
Honestly, I can totally get over the compression issue on their albums, and I'd even say that it helps Come Clarity feel even more like an adrenaline rush than it would otherwise. My main issues with TJR production-wise is just that the drums sound weak as fuck and that the bass (From what I remember, which admittedly, I wasn't quite as good at listening in on years ago) wasn't as audible as I'd like. Then again, I grew up on fucking Korn, so cheers. I think Lunar Strain particularly needs a volume increase (On everything but the violins, anyways), but not all too much else from what I can remember. Then again, I don't remember the actual sound completely, so I could totally be wrong. And speaking of THE, that reminds me, the outro from their concert (Which is apparently just being used for the documentary, so agony.) is a sort of reinterpretation of the acoustic medley from Black Ash Inheritance. I fucking love that little detail, man.
I think they only promoted it because they were contractually obligated to. It fucking sucks because it's clear that that just wasn't where the band's passion was. I mean, it doesn't excuse just how awful quality the re-recordings were, but I feel bad for them about everything outside of those songs. If you legally don't have a choice in the matter, it doesn't really matter whether you want to or not, unfortunately. It's speculation, of course, but I would be way more surprised if it all wasn't label-forced and contractually obligated.
Benson is a producer for a certain type of band, and it sucks that Anders and Bjorn consider In Flames in that category to be honest. It kind of proves the so-called 'haters' right though, who were saying all along that they were trying to push the band to a more commercial sphere, away from anything remotely legit. I'm not sure how else you explain them teaming up with this bellend. There were a lot of undeserved cries of 'sell out' over the years, but Battles was the first time in my view that the term 100% applied to them. A total sell out album devoid of any integrity or meaning. ITM was a step in the right direction and SoSD is perhaps a reaction to the overwhelming positivity engendered by The Halo Effect's emergence, but it pisses me off that they are still working with him. We will indeed celebrate when they finally ditch this guy and move on.
As I say, I think because I grew up with TJR sounding the way it does and loving it just as it is, I don't find any fault with it. I guess it's kinda similar to how you don't really have any issue with TMT, but I'd change a ton of stuff on the track. We all have our own perceptions about how we would prefer things to sound. We can agree regardless that TJR is a killer album Lunar Strain's production is pretty basic, but the only thing about it that's a bit jarring to me is the vocals. I very much enjoy Stanne on the DT stuff from around this period, but think he doesn't sound anywhere near as fitting on Lunar Strain. I think the vocals could have done with being mixed a little better. Minor gripe though really.
I'm not sure if the band were contractually obligated to do the Clayman 2020 project, but I do think it was the label's idea, and they went along with it for whatever reason - whether that be for legal reasons or just because they wanted to participate in the cash grab opportunity as well. It really does go against everything they've said previously about not looking back and not wanting to change their works. Anders has repeated in multiple interviews that their albums are 'a snapshot of who we were back then' and that he has no desire to go back and change any of it. Clayman 2020 is a total contradiction of that and massively disappointing not just for the output, which was garbage, but also the lack of general integrity. Anyhow, ultimately the whole thing is best forgotten and consigned to the history books as a massive fucking mistake which they will hopefully never repeat.
As I say, I think because I grew up with TJR sounding the way it does and loving it just as it is, I don't find any fault with it. I guess it's kinda similar to how you don't really have any issue with TMT, but I'd change a ton of stuff on the track. We all have our own perceptions about how we would prefer things to sound. We can agree regardless that TJR is a killer album
Lunar Strain's production is pretty basic, but the only thing about it that's a bit jarring to me is the vocals. I very much enjoy Stanne on the DT stuff from around this period, but think he doesn't sound anywhere near as fitting on Lunar Strain. I think the vocals could have done with being mixed a little better. Minor gripe though really.I'm not sure if the band were contractually obligated to do the Clayman 2020 project, but I do think it was the label's idea, and they went along with it for whatever reason - whether that be for legal reasons or just because they wanted to participate in the cash grab opportunity as well. It really does go against everything they've said previously about not looking back and not wanting to change their works. Anders has repeated in multiple interviews that their albums are 'a snapshot of who we were back then' and that he has no desire to go back and change any of it. Clayman 2020 is a total contradiction of that and massively disappointing not just for the output, which was garbage, but also the lack of general integrity. Anyhow, ultimately the whole thing is best forgotten and consigned to the history books as a massive fucking mistake which they will hopefully never repeat.
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