Billy Joel - "The Stranger" SACD question

Why did they use a different vocal take for "She's Always A Woman?"

 

never heard the sacd, so you're asking the wrong billy joel fan. and to think all this time i thought the song was about the hot blonde he married (christie) but it was about his wife/manager "whatever her name was". anyways her brother allegedly took millions from mr. joel.

sorry to ruin your awesome thread aka, i have been drinking.

 

I've had that SACD since I first got my SACD player and I have never noticed that it was a different vocal take. Is that so for both mixes, or just the multichannel mix?

 

I have all three Billy Joel Sony SACD's in the first release 2 channel. I cannot say that I ever noticed anything different, but I have not gone back and compared to my albums.

 

AKA, I think you may be listening to the MCh mix in a different way, but I've heard both mixes and I don't remember rubber knecking when I heard either mix. I did notice all the songs on the Stranger SACD were mixed all differently. Vocal is NOT always front-ctr.

 

To my knowledge, the 2 ch layer on the SACD is the original stereo mix.

Several mch discs have used alternate takes on the mch layer because they couldn't locate the original tracks. Some examples that come to mind are Paradise by the Dashboard Light on the Bat Out of Hell SACD (Ellen Foley's vocal), and Save Me on the DVD-A of Queen's The Game (alternate vocal).

Maybe something like this happened with The Stranger. I'll have to give it another listen tonight.

 

Guys,

I just listened to it again, and it's definitely a different take. Check it out when you get a chance.

GoldenBoy,

I'm not sure about the 2-channel yet. I've only listened to the multi (I just got my SACD player and I haven't figured out how to go from one layer to the other yet).

 

AKA,

There should be a button on your player and/or your remote control that is labeled 'Multi/2ch' or something to that effect. That should enable you to switch back and forth between the 2 mixes. And for future reference, the stereo mix and multichannel mix both reside on the same 'layer', so really you're only switching between mixes, not layers. Normally, when one refers to switching between layers, one is referring to going between the Redbook layer and the SACD layer on a hybrid disc. I don't know what sort of player you have, but you should also be able to set which mix the player defaults to when playing a stereo/multichannel disc. I hope this helps.

 

I can tell you for sure the Stereo Mix is not a different take

 

I'll listen again to the MCH tonight. I don't recall it being differnt...

 

Thanks, GoldenBoy. I'll definitely try it when I get home tonight.

Work kind of drags a little longer when you have a new toy at home you're eager to play with.

 

I know what you mean.

 

Bump!

 

One more bump and I'll drop the issue. For now.

 

Is this a hybrid disc by any chance?

 

Unfortunately, it isn't.

 

Although I've never heard the complete album in 5.1 I did notice there were some different vocals throughout the disc. It was just a line or two here and there but they are different. I also remember hearing some grunts and clearing of throats during solo breaks. Can't recall which songs though. It was probably Get It Right The First Time or Italian Restaurant. I was just listening to the center channel and heard a bunch of interesting things.

The 2 channel mixes are the original mixes.

 

Thank you, Jamie. I knew I wasn't going crazy.

 

Just bought "The Stranger" SACD....

Don't have a multichannel set up, but just had a quick listen to "She's Always A Woman" on the 5.1 setting and from the first word you can tell it's a different vocal take! Maybe my ears are just sensitve to this kind of thing.

Is it just sloppiness?

Did Joel record two vocal tracks and decide which one to use at the last minute?

Do remixers never listen to the original source?

Imagine the outcry if EMI used the wrong vocal track on a Beatles 5.1?

Hang on, that makes a huge assumption! Sorry!

Did Joel approve the multi channel mix?

Am I going to go multi channel - even though Elton's out in October?

No!

I've yet to master this 2 chanel stuff first


P.S. Stereo layer on "The Stranger" does sound good.

 

IIRC, the same thing happened on Benny The Bouncer from ELP's Brain Salad Surgery......could it be that some of the multitrack tapes were missing?
Also with Bat Out Of Hell, Rundgren's studio had a fire and a bunch of stuff got lost....so there's stuff missing from the SACD....and alternate takes of Ellen Foley's vocals had to be used.

 

AKA,

Interesting information. Thanks for starting this thread. I've listened to the stereo track on The Stranger the vast majority of the time, but I'll have to go back and give the multi-channel track a listen.


Tyler said:

I'm not sure that Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley were acquaintances back then. The Stranger was released in 1977.

 

There were probably several takes of his vocals on several tracks (as many as were open on the 24 track) and they probably did a comp track or just switched from track to track on the original mixes to save that generation loss.

Yes.

We can all decipher the differences. Why couldn't they put a little effort into figuring out which were the right vocals?

I read about a Barbara Streisand project where they were re-mixing her older records and they actually brought fans in to figure out which were the correct vocals. I bet they got it right.

This won't happen. They were working on four tracks (for the most part) so there are no extra tracks for alternate vocals.

Probably wasn't even involved. I'm not even sure if Phil Ramone was involved.

 

Phil Ramone produced the 5.1 remix and it was mixed by Frank Filipetti.

 

52nd street was and I assume the same for The Stranger but I don't see any credits for the 5.1.

 

If anyone has any old Sound And Vision mags lying around...I think they talked about it in their hi rez reviews section.