I finally received my limited edition book today from
Fetch a Disc (Please, please don't do business with them - it took way over a month to arrive) and jumped into the record as soon as I could. This is no review, just a bit of this and that from an old Pumpkinhead.
There are two words that I think describe this album best: Sloppy and loose. Especially the vocals are too imprecise, there's none of that anal precision Billy always used to strive for. You'd nearly think he's gone soft - the mixes, too, are just plain sloppy. Why does this album sound like home recordings (though, I would say its mixing compares unfavourably even with
MACHINA II)? And where's MACHINA /
the machines of God's amazing treble sector and depth of sound?
Well, it's not here; As for Billy's usual calling card, the guitars, I can only describe the sounds as too thick and round. Fat maybe? This applies to the whole record, which is muddy in the middle: Jimmy's snare and toms, especially, suffer from compression and the usual sharpness and clarity is lost. I must ask, but please don't answer: Why are the drums and vocals so high up in the mix?
I guess I need more listens to get the gis(h/t) of this... for a nitpick like me (earlier, the Pumpkins were only for the nitpicks!), it would seem to be the worst album of Billy's career. The poor overall sound of the album motivates one to position this album next to Pisces Iscariot (the b-sides collection - one that I never listen to in its entirety, personally) quality-wise.
Still, the fault is not with the songs themselves: There are plenty of goods (the entire second half of the album, especially, is very strong and surprised me greatly), and most if not all of the songs are probably good in a live context. Shame about being drowned out and about on the album.
In the end, the last song (
Pomp and Circumstances) really put a big dino smile on my face. That's really all you can ask for and more!
