A remarkable claim, I guess a definition of 'fuzzy' is required. To me, Hot Space is absolutely NOT 'fuzzy'. If anything it is too clinical/polished/clean... whatever the opposite of 'fuzzy' is.
Sebastian · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]
To me, Hot Space is absolutely NOT 'fuzzy'. If anything it is too clinical/polished/clean... whatever the opposite of 'fuzzy' is.[/QUOTE]
I agree, but I really don't have a problem with that.
[QUOTE] [b]dudeofqueen wrote:[/b]
Perhaps all would have been well if they'd recorded the material with a much more stripped down arrangement.
[/QUOTE]
I don't think that'd necessarily be 'stripped down', as the amount of instruments used would be more or less the same. The difference, though, would be a human bass rather than a synth one, a real drum kit instead of a drum computer, some chords on piano and acoustic rather than synth pads, and so on.
[QUOTE] [b]dudeofqueen wrote:[/b]
The real issue though, for me, is the lack of that essential Queen backing.[/QUOTE]
That's indeed a massive issue I've got with this album (as well as the three succeeding ones).
[QUOTE] [b]dudeofqueen wrote:[/b]
It was also missing on The Works and AKOM, but it has to be borne in mind that they were under strict instruction to provide material that would be chart-friendly in the climate of the day.
[/QUOTE]
The climate of the day still included songs which didn't rely so much on synths and drum machines:
- 'Uptown Girl' (No 1 hit while 'The Works' was being finished): Real drums, real bass, nice percussive piano, wonderful harmonies, no synths. Largely outsold 'Ga Ga', 'Magic' and 'Break Free' and was, ironically, closer to classic Queen than any of those tracks.
- 'Pipes of Peace' (also No 1 hit while they were finishing 'The Works'): Real bass (marvellously played, by the way), really nice piano, synths are mostly an ornament. Now, drums are indeed largely (but perhaps not entirely) computer-generated, or at least based on loops (a la 'Dragon Attack' or 'Rock It'), but they still sound alright. I do get annoyed at the synth pad in the end but, well, at least the track had some influence from the trends of the time without necessarily being based around them.
- 'I Know Him So Well': Real drums, real bass, synths are additional ornaments but they don't dominate.
- 'Absolute Beginners': Real bass, amazing (if a bit subdued) piano, drums do seem to be at least partly machines.
Just like Queen didn't need to copy what other people did in 1975 to come up with 'Bo Rhap', they didn't need to blend in with what most (but not all) successful artists were doing.
dudeofqueen · Member since
Sebastian, re:
>I don't think that'd necessarily be 'stripped down', as the amount of instruments used would be more or less the same. The difference, though, would be a human bass rather >than a synth one, a real drum kit instead of a drum computer, some chords on piano and acoustic rather than synth pads, and so on.
I kind of over-complicated what I meant to say, but it was essentially meant to come out as it would have all benefitted from a SIMPLER backing as opposed to programming and arsing about with (and trying to understand, futilely) machines.
Sebastian · Member since
Yeah, we're on the same page on that.
While I'm not a fan of 'Ga Ga' or 'Break Free', I like how Extreme managed to play both of them without synths and they sounded quite alright. Now, imagine Rog instead of Paul, Fred instead of Gary and John instead of Pat. Wow!
CPL593h · Member since
When they did "Made in Heaven" in 1995, the surviving members took tracks from Mr. Bad Guy and from The Cross because, well, nobody except hardcore fans had ever heard those tracks, so they would be heard as new tracks. They just added a Queen layer to these tracks and instant Queen hits, with Freddie, happened as a result.
I sometimes hope (I know I'm delusional) that while the three of them are still alive, they'd take Hot Space, keep just Freddie's voice and some of Brian's guitar work, add real bass/real drums/real piano to it, cut unrecoverable minutes and make a real Queen album out of it. Just add the two good non-reworked tracks from Mr. Bad Guy (Mr. Bad Guy, the track, and Living On My Own) to it to make it a full 45 min album.
Now, I'm not sure we have to multitracks for Hot Space, but I'd love to hear it redone, even by skilled musicians that are not (former members of) Queen, since it's probably impossible to get the three of them again in the studio for such a project.
It would certainly be more interesting than the last time they thought they should clean Freddie's work (I mean Barcelona 2012, that we know Freddie would have disagreed with). And I'm pretty certain that with a bit of work, there's something really enjoyable buried under these awful synths (and horns BTW... horns have NO place on a Queen album).
brENsKi · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]CPL593h wrote:[/b] And I'm pretty certain that with a bit of work, there's something really enjoyable buried under these awful synths (and horns BTW... horns have NO place on a Queen album).[/QUOTE]
well you'll be sorely disappointed then...because underneath there's just......MORE SHIT
Chief Mouse · Member since
By the way, anyone familiar with C_Matt's Revisions on Fan Mixes side of the forum? Here's Put Out The Fire and Dancer. See if they sound any better.
No.. its the same song using a bit of EQ and out of phase stereo. Nothing to see here.....
Chief Mouse · Member since
Obviously. Did you expect a different song? To me, these versions sound a lot more natural and less plastic. EQ it may be but the way it's applied must have taken ages and lots of layers, how he does it I have no idea. But at the end, these revisions are basically how 2011 remasters should have sounded.
'Put Out the Fire':
General:
-Cleaner sound.
-Inverted channels, so it sounds more like a Queen album, with the hi-hat by the right.
-Eliminated some percussion "ghosts" (ex: the very start before the other channel guitar starts)
-Corrected the end, sounds more like shoots now.
-Enhanced some explosions (ex: 0:34).
Drums:
-Restored shines.
-The hi-hat has now More hit, and doesn't sound like a mattress weak hi-hat.
-More natural sound to the general drums.
-Enhanced shakers.
-Stronger machine shoot snare.
-Replaced the choruses snare.
-Not so spilled drums.
-Restored a lot of missing kick hits at the 2:18 part.
-Cleaner hi-hat.
-Not so cheap sound, especially at the machine hi-hat or when the ride bell is played.
-Restored some missing fills (ex: 1:30 or 2:52...).
Vocals:
-Extended backing vocals.
-Balanced various volume issues (ex: at 0:23 "I HAAAD TO make him pay").
-Stereo expanded Brian's backing vocals (ex: the 0:28 part and similar parts).
-Cleaner backing vocals and different priority (more audible Roger and Brian's voice).
-Balanced backing vocals stereo volume and EQ.
-Eliminated a "Bab!" which sounds at 0:50, like if Freddie were sing "Baby!".
-More natural vocals, less old radio effect.
-Enhanced the "fire" effect at the second chorus.
-Eliminated a strange noise at 2:50.
Guitar:
-Raised up guitar shine.
-Made more audible some guitar fills, like at the 0:49 "Put out the fire!".
-Not so annoying and ear driller solo guitar sound.
-Eliminated some strange noises at the silenced channel when the guitar starts.
-Added some demo eliminated guitar bits after the known guitar solo.
Bass:
-Enhanced the bass at some key places.
mooghead · Member since
My brain has just exploded... far too much there to pick at.... you cannot polish a turd no matter how hard you try... lets just agree it was a low point.....
Chief Mouse · Member since
We'll agree on that.
brENsKi · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]
My brain has just exploded... far too much there to pick at.... you cannot polish a turd no matter how hard you try... .[/QUOTE]
yes you can. CMatt has managed it....and now what there is - is a very shiny Turd
mooghead · Member since
On the strength of this thread I have actually listened to the whole album for the first time in maybe 15 years. First.. I think the whole thing may have been perceived differently if Staying Power was not the first song, if the first thing people heard were real instruments (Calling all Girls would have been a good opening song) then they may have taken to it better, although I do like the way the bass drum kicks me in the chest. Second.. Freddie talking Brian into using the horrendous synth bass on Dancer (it could only have been Freddie) was maybe the best example of Mr. Perfection Brian May being pussy whipped into doing something he didn't want to by the higher force (there is a quiet, strange voice at the end of Dancer, anyone know who/what it is?). Third.. Body Language is just fucking atrocious, there are absolutely no redeeming features about it, I skipped it after about 40 seconds. The bass track of Put Out the Fire is great. Life is Real.. I consider myself to be quite an articulate/literate person but the words are just fucked up nonsense. Cool Cat isn't worthy to be on any Queen album. Las Palabras is a hidden gem. The artwork is horrible.
High points.. guitars in Dancer. Synths actually enhancing Las Palabras de Amor, the double tracked vocal in the 2nd verse makes it sound like Freddie is all around. That's about it really.
Sebastian · Member since
I think the woman at the end of 'Dancer' is a Munich Hilton employee.
mooghead · Member since
Not that, right at the fade out, about 3.43, someone shouting 'yeah' in the background?
