First thing I noticed obviously, was Roger's very, very dry vocal on "Pigs On The Wing Part 1". I'm so used to the original 'wetter' sound that it was a bit surprising. I guess it's a great idea to grab your attention straight away.
Is anyone in the UK still waiting on vinyl being despatched?? I’m getting worried there is an issue with my order. It’s frustrating reading all these impressions without my copy being processed. I’m refusing to go down the Spotify route until my record arrives. The only thing that I will say is that it will be better than my ‘77 Greek pressing that was listened to death in my youth!
This is incorrect. The surround channels on "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" are often quite different from the fronts. It's a wonderful mix.
TBH the surround effects are sufficient. It's not double stereo, but it's also not a Steven Wilson mix. I'm happy with the extra bass and clearer instruments, and the surround mix is a great cherry on top. It could have been much worse.
After the first few hundred listens , my verdict is that I prefer the new Pigs on the Wing 1 remix. Not just for Roger's dry vocal, but also for the way his acoustic guitar sounds and the better stereo image overall. Makes me realise that I can do without the tape saturation, after all those years. Part 2, however, is a different story. I wish James didn't include 2 seconds of animal noises trailing from Sheep. Is the track index the same in the 5.1 mix as in the stereo? So, my playlist: Animals (two different ones) contains: PoTW1 2018 remix PoTW2 original (2011 remaster, or 2016, or ...)
Funny, there's a fresh SW video out (endorsing Audeze headphones) where he describes his remixing process. I think it's relevant to what we're discussing re: Guthrie & the Animals remix. particularly from 3'30" onwards:
Mixed (no pun) bag for me. Dogs I liked but Pigs Three I did not. I hear the sentiments in @brew ziggins `s post above and echo them. The breast enhancement analogy may have been unnecessary, but the point is finely accurate.
Okay what I am confused about it says 2018 remix. On discogs I do not see a 2018 vinyl release. I do see a 2018 cd. Is this the remix he did for cd? Also I get confused easily. Also thanks.
PF have insisted on making sure everyone knows this is a remix from 2018 despite not being released until now in 2022. You'll see that on all the new release configurations for this remix.
Echoing what @BeatleJWOL just said, this remix (in any and all formats) was first released just over a week ago, despite the actual remix being completed in 2018.
It was mixed in 2018 but not released until now, apparently due to disagreements between Gilmour and Waters.
Great video, thanks for sharing. I think there is a lot of relevant information here for Guthrie's mixing of Pink Floyd, particularly in terms of why the 5.1 mixes for DSOTM and WYWH sound the way they do, why Animals is different, and also what we might expect from the Wall. The DSOTM stereo mix is sacrosanct, and I think Guthrie took Steven Wilson's approach of trying to match every sound for the 5.1 mix. When the quad mix was made, Alan Parsons wasn't under the same constraints which explains the general feeling that the 5.1 mix of DSOTM was too safe compared to the quad mix. Same for WYWH. Someone shared an interesting video where a keyboard part was added on the final mix of WYWH and they had to bring Rick Wright in to re-create it for the 5.1. For Animals, the band was not completely satisfied with the mix and gave Guthrie freedom to mix it how he wanted. Cues were likely taken from the original mix, but he was not beholden to it. It'd be interesting to know Guthrie's process, but taking the Steven Wilson example, he may have made the new stereo mix sound just as he wanted and then expanded to 5.1. For the Wall, the stereo mix is also sacrosanct, but the production of the Wall is so complicated a 5.1 mix may sound slightly different. Guthrie explained in an interview that part of the reason the Wall took so long to mix into 5.1 was that locating and matching every single sound effect was very time consuming. TL;DR: I'd guess that Animals will probably be the only stereo remix we see for "the Middle Years."
Does anyone know why they didn't include the 8-track version of "Pigs On The Wing" with Snowy White's guitar solo? It's not like they didn't have room. I was thinking I might get a legitimate digital version of this someday but I guess that was too much to hope for.
We don't really know, I don't think it's been officially addressed. I speculate that they didn't intend to make this project an album+extras and outtakes thing, but rather a complete re-presentation of the album with the remixes. For that purpose, tacking on the 8-track version of POTW wouldn't have made sense.
