Remix or Re-recorded - you decide!

OK, listened to both "Strutter" and "Love Gun" and they are almost certainly remixes as stated on the CD. There are some odd sonic touches and EQ choices on both and Peter's drums are totally neutered, especially on "Strutter" where I can't make out his hi hat like you can on the original. And the gated snare sound is ridiculous. Both mixes are too dry, bottom end is hard to make out, and Paul is mixed too high. And the solo section on "Love Gun" is a mess with the added touches (I guess the additional keys in there do it).

Listened to "Rock And Roll All Night" once and yeah, that's a totally different bassline. As for the others I need to focus a bit more. Considering when this was released, I somewhat understand what they were trying to do by making the older stuff sound more modern but as a long time fan I prefer the originals by far. But hey, it's an interesting curio.

 

I just dug this out after seeing this thread. I like a lot of the remixes, with a few exceptions (I Love It Loud is the worst). Its not like the ZZ Top Six Pack, where the attempt to give old songs the 80s sound completely ruins them for me.

 

I think Paul's voice on "Let Me Know" sounds vintage, so I am inclined to believe the track dates from '75, and Gene recorded a new vocal. Sounds very similar to the 1975 King Biscuit Flower Hour recording (not saying it's the same performance, though it may be). It's definitely a 1996 vocal from Gene.

I agree with most the rest -- Tokyo '77 for "Take Me", with a new Paul vocal..."Room Service" and "Two Timer" most likely all new -- though I would not be totally surprised to find there were ringers in for Ace (Tommy Thayer) and Peter (Kevin Valentine).

Crazy that they thought fans wouldn't know the difference between their 1975 and 1996 voices, as they changed so much over the years. They stuck to their guns and have continually insisted that those tracks were 100% vintage.

 

You can tell Let Me Know isn't vintage because you can find the King Biscuit Flower Hour show it was supposed to have come from and it doesn't match. I think it's just Paul imitating his younger self...it sounds like he ran around a bit and is slightly out of breath, but it's his older tone for sure.

 

I always thought Room Service was from '96 because the tempo drags.

 

Fantastic blog about Smashes, Thrashes & Hits including sound samples for comparison.

GET UP! and get your remix OUTTA here!

 

I had no idea this thread had been started!

And since I'm the one who has claimed they are 100% "re-records", and since this is a KISS thread, I look forward to reading about how wrong I am.

It's late where I am, so I can't get into it now.....but as soon as I have time, I will read through everyone's opinions on h0w I should be marched to the electric chair at a KISS convention.

And though your ears should be the final judge, I will re-post the REASONS why KISS NEEDED to fully re-record these songs.

Their financial well-being depended on it.

.......and hey man....next time you throw a KISS party......don't forget to invite me!........Kinda hurt my feelings!

 

I tagged you...that is as close as you can get to an invite.

 

deeluxdx7 has eight sock accounts so far?

 

I have to admit the thought did cross my mind...

 

I sent a Tweet to Gene, Paul and Bruce...let's see if they respond.

 

Yeah, it's been stated in a few different places (and it's obvious in some cases if you listen to it) that some elements on the Smashes, Thrashes and Hits versions are from alternate takes of particular instruments or vocals--stuff that was still on the tape but that had been muted in the original mix (which if you're not familiar with recording is a very common thing to do if you've got the open tracks for it--you'll do multiple takes of a particular instrumental part on different tracks and then decide which parts of which takes you want to keep later; usually you don't erase the stuff you didn't put in the final mix if you don't have to, you just mute it).