EIMA is not a great album for the car.

[Rook]

I mean... it is a great album. but the dynamics are NOT car friendly. I was trying to listn to the beginning of Welcome to Nowhere and had to turn it up a bit. Was a bit slow in reaching for the volume knob when it kicks in hard, and nearly drove off the road.

Not a criticism mind, just an observation. I think today's music is SORELY lacking in dynamics, but I also think it might explain why I have listened to Milliontown a whole lot more. My driving time is my music time.

[D S]

I seem to recall Jem saying that EIMA was a reaction to criticisms that Milliontown was too compressed and he was deliberately trying to make the 2nd album more dynamic.  However, I think he perhaps over-compensated as I've had exactly the same experience that you've had whilst driving!  :lol:

I'm not sure that was Jem's intention but I've read that Mike Oldfield actually deliberately did that at the start of Amarok, using a very quiet intro and then a huge blast of sound, as he wanted to blow the speakers out of the A&R men's cars!  Relations between Oldfield and Virgin were not good at that time.  He also added morse code in Amarok which spells out 'F*** Off RB' (RB being Richard Branson).  Interestingly, Jem also used a hidden morse code message in EIMA - hmmm!

[Pedro]

...and JM's T-Shirt in the Toys video carries the morse link on...  

[Mooncat]

I concur with the quiet/loud "issue" especially in the car.
Hopefully Jem might take such things into consideration when remixing EIMA (or by offering the much requested stems we could produce our own versions - Ben Folds did exactly this with 'The Way To Normal' album after loads of his fans complained that the mix was too far the other way (noisy bordering on distorted) which was apparently deliberate for the MP3 generation who only listen to music on the move, and therefore need to drown out external noise

[EvilDragon]

To me EIMA is way more compressed sounding to Milliontown. Especially Wonderland and Dear Dead Days... horrid cymbals "breathing" in Wonderland and those multiplied Jems in DDD ending up in just a mushy garbled noise are kinda ruining those songs...

[Trapezium Artist]

To me EIMA is way more compressed sounding to Milliontown. Especially Wonderland and Dear Dead Days... horrid cymbals "breathing" in Wonderland and those multiplied Jems in DDD ending up in just a mushy garbled noise are kinda ruining those songs...

Provocative stuff, although I can certainly see where you're coming from.

Regardless of whether there's too much on Milliontown or EIMA, I intensely dislike the excessive compression that's ruining music more generally, cramming everything up against 11. Hurts my ear drums, all that crashing noise.

As a classical music fan, I absolutely love a wide dynamic range. One example among many is the final five minutes or so of Respighi's "Pines of Rome", as a Roman legion marches from the distance down the Via Appia Antica and triumphantly back into the city. It's breathtaking stuff, starting off very quietly, but then building relentlessly to a fabulous "everything but the kitchen sink" climax.

Decidedly dodgy nationalist political undertones, perhaps, as this was written at a time when Mussolini was coming to power and tub-thumping for all he was worth, but if you had five minutes to save the world and get the girl, this would be the perfect sound track  

[E.S.]

I like this kind of brutal compression when it's done like the silly loud bits on EIMA. It just adds to the intensity.

[Rook]

I like this kind of brutal compression when it's done like the silly loud bits on EIMA. It just adds to the intensity.

Gotta admit I'm more inclined to side with Evil Dragon on this. Love EIMA, but... Milliontown isn't the album that could do with a tweak in the mix/master department.

(ducks)

[Pedro]

Hmm...you could be onto something...Milliontown could use a few more ducks...and maybe a well-placed sheep...

[Drarok]

There's nowhere near enough thunderfrogs on Milliontown.

[jamiesoarmusic]

If you think EIMA is car unfriendly, I would avoid Elbow's Seldom Seen Kid... My god that first track nearly have me a heart attack when I first had it on

[gr8gonzo]

Agreed on EIMA. The too quiet, then suddenly too loud motif is repeated in a handful of spots on the album and it would be nice to have it mixed in a fashion that didn't require manually adjusting the volume mid-song. That, and "Pocket Sun", which was intentionally on the edge of distorted. I'd love for that one to be a little easier on the ears.

As for Milliontown, my primary complaint with that one's production is the effects-saturated lead vocals buried in the mix. I'm fairly certain Jem did this due to lack of confidence in his singing or being unhappy with his vocal performance at the time, but I happen to like Jem's vocals and would prefer them out front a bit more with less on them ("You/I" for example).

Not criticisms, mind. Just preferences.

[RacingHippo]

As for Milliontown, my primary complaint with that one's production is the effects-saturated lead vocals buried in the mix. I'm fairly certain Jem did this due to lack of confidence in his singing or being unhappy with his vocal performance at the time, but I happen to like Jem's vocals and would prefer them out front a bit more with less on them ("You/I" for example).

Right!
Let's book Jem to remaster it with new vox  :mrgreen:

[FANJACKPOT]

As an ultimate fan of EIMA's melodies and emotionnal power I listened to it 30 or 40 times. I must admit that you are right, there is a high frequency mix that I dislike (even playing the cd in my living-room HI-FI system). I explained this point of view to the band players, by mail, few weeks after purshasng EIMA. The fact that I am no the onlyone being sorry about this conforts me a bit. This is also another major reason why I can't wait to see them performing LIVE ! The drum cymbals and over-compression issues won't have their place during the show (normally).
See you at the SCALA !