Comment of the Moment: Sound Mix of Albums "TOAST" & "Are You Passionate?" by Neil Young

"TOAST" & "Are You Passionate?" 

 

The Comment of the Moment is from Concert Film "Noise & Flowers" by Neil Young + Promise of the Real | Hearse Theater | NYA by  the "intrepid, inconsolable, & inflammable" Scotsman:

(Off topic – sorry.)

Do we know when Toast (the released version) was mixed?

Because if you listen to the Are You Passionate mix of Goin' Home, you can instantly hear why Crazy Horse (from the other side of the mixing control room) weren't totally impressed by these recording sessions back in 2001.

The mix is limp and grey and flat sounding (what I call the "wet cardboard" effect). The vocal is tentative — it struggles to find the melody, and is submerged by the guitars. The lead guitar hits a series of bum notes that kill the mood.

The bass has no real depth or presence. The overdubs might as well not be there. Poncho's masterful second-guitar performance is buried.

And in the end, Neil just aborts the performance.

The feeling is: "this isn't quite working". Which is frustrating. For the musicians and producer and the listener.

But the mix on Toast is the opposite of all that. And it's the *same* take — the same version! Neil and John Hanlon knew there was something special in this performance, and they went in and brought it to the surface.

This is an album where the production, the overdubs and the mixing all play a huge part in the success of the music.

That's not a criticism! The production is part of the art.

Similarly, many people wear makeup to accentuate their natural beauty. Nothing wrong with that, and it's the same principle.

In the music world, an audible sense of production only becomes a problem when a) it detracts from the music's natural beauty and b) when the production covers up a lack of substance.

(Much of Le Noise, in my opinion, is an example of the latter. The production is impressive, but the effect is a hollow one.)

On Toast, extensive work has gone into making Goin' Home sound as good as humanly possible. The bum notes have been chopped (as minimally as possible), the vocal has been heavily compressed to even it out and add some heft, there's a 3D sense of vocal echo, the abrupt ending is faded out...

It sounds magical. And, unlike the Are You Passionate attempt, it's been mixed with both gutsy horsepower and real colour. This is the spirit of David Briggs in the mixing room.

The Are You Passionate mix of Goin' Home is like a documentary. We might imagine it's Neil telling us "this is why I re-recorded this album".

Whereas the Toast mix is designed to take this rough diamond of a performance and present it to the world in the best light possible.

PS: the mixes of Goin' Home are different enough that some listeners have imagined them to be two different takes. Understandable!

But there are some extra overdubs on the Toast mix — so the two aren't musically identical.

E.g notice the twinkling piano (and what sounds like the church organ) rising out of the mix just before the final guitar solo — helping propel it into a higher gear.

I think these are inspired touches, instantly reminding of the overdubs we hear on Drive Back from Zuma. Another power-chord-based song that somehow feels entirely different to its 2001 cousin.

Scotsman.

No worries on off topic.

Sometimes off topic leads back to focus on what truly matters. And never stop being your  "intrepid, inconsolable, & inflammable" self Mr. Scotsman.

"TOAST":  Neil Young Unreleased 2001 Album w/ Crazy Horse (Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking  this link . Thank you!!!)

 

More on "Dream PlayList" of "TOAST" & "Are You Passionate?" by Neil Young.

Back to topic ... 

Neil Young + Promise of the Real's "Noise & Flowers" 

 image via Rusted Moon  

 (See The Story behind the Cover of  "Noise & Flowers" )

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