Good point, Jamie! So many things can and do go into the mix of why an artist falls or zooms! Production is but one. I had to remind myself who produced "We've Come"--how on earth did Felix Pappalardi get the nod? He produced Cream and was in the kings of thud-rock, Mountain! And, we're surprised he didn't get the mission? Really?!
Good point, Jamie! So many things can and do go into the mix of why an artist falls or zooms! Production is but one. I had to remind myself who produced "We've Come"--how on earth did Felix Pappalardi get the nod? He produced Cream and was in the kings of thud-rock, Mountain! And, we're surprised he didn't get the mission? Really?!
It's well-known that sessions stopped as the DBs became convinced Felix just didn't get them. WHO THOUGHT HE WOULD IN THE FIRST PLACE? I'm sure that's documented somewhere, and I hope it wasn't Seymour. I think the lads appreciated what Ravan did for them on "Young," and I fully get if her schedule might not have aligned with Album #2.
The apparently-suggested James Williamson (to take over from Felix) sounds inspired on paper, but why did the search end there when JW became unavailable? ....and, to the point of leading them to breaking up? Hell, call ME! I'd have loved to at least have had the opportunity to have them be my first production credit!!
Your last sentence: Great dissection. That would make them the American Sex Pistols, the actual epitome of "punk planned obsolescence." They might even, ultimately, have appreciated that notion, proudly wearing that button! They also may have loved to have kept going. *sigh*
JW might have made those guitars really icy. That's one thing I get from Felix's mix, like a version of that approach—making the snarl of Young, Loud...a bit colder sounding (although it was really about bringing Stiv up in the mix), but JW might have been able to do it in a way that didn't compromise their fury. I never knew that about James Williamson and good lord that could've been amazing. Or all wrong, who knows?
You're right about the sound, but if I grok the Boys' actual concern/complaint about Felix's contributions, it had to do mainly with their charges that he didn't "get" what they were trying to do (in the first place or ultimately), resultant sound notwithstanding.
There's no one on the planet who wouldn't have drooled at the mere mention of the prospect of bringing a former Stooge on to a DB project! Again, somebody (the Boys, Seymour....even Felix....did HE even think he "got" their vision enough to sign on?) had to see the unlikeliness of a "happy marriage" of sound and execution in the studio.
But, good on ya, Jamie, for giving Felix mad props...I'm still hung up on, not so much the sound, but how Felix (with all due respect) came to the project in the first place, especially with the 20-20 hindsight of knowing how the Boys disliked the results, which seems like the thing that hastened their implosion shortly thereafter. Ah, "the land of what might've been"!
Good point, Jamie! So many things can and do go into the mix of why an artist falls or zooms! Production is but one. I had to remind myself who produced "We've Come"--how on earth did Felix Pappalardi get the nod? He produced Cream and was in the kings of thud-rock, Mountain! And, we're surprised he didn't get the mission? Really?!
It's well-known that sessions stopped as the DBs became convinced Felix just didn't get them. WHO THOUGHT HE WOULD IN THE FIRST PLACE? I'm sure that's documented somewhere, and I hope it wasn't Seymour. I think the lads appreciated what Ravan did for them on "Young," and I fully get if her schedule might not have aligned with Album #2.
The apparently-suggested James Williamson (to take over from Felix) sounds inspired on paper, but why did the search end there when JW became unavailable? ....and, to the point of leading them to breaking up? Hell, call ME! I'd have loved to at least have had the opportunity to have them be my first production credit!!
Your last sentence: Great dissection. That would make them the American Sex Pistols, the actual epitome of "punk planned obsolescence." They might even, ultimately, have appreciated that notion, proudly wearing that button! They also may have loved to have kept going. *sigh*
JW might have made those guitars really icy. That's one thing I get from Felix's mix, like a version of that approach—making the snarl of Young, Loud...a bit colder sounding (although it was really about bringing Stiv up in the mix), but JW might have been able to do it in a way that didn't compromise their fury. I never knew that about James Williamson and good lord that could've been amazing. Or all wrong, who knows?
You're right about the sound, but if I grok the Boys' actual concern/complaint about Felix's contributions, it had to do mainly with their charges that he didn't "get" what they were trying to do (in the first place or ultimately), resultant sound notwithstanding.
There's no one on the planet who wouldn't have drooled at the mere mention of the prospect of bringing a former Stooge on to a DB project! Again, somebody (the Boys, Seymour....even Felix....did HE even think he "got" their vision enough to sign on?) had to see the unlikeliness of a "happy marriage" of sound and execution in the studio.
But, good on ya, Jamie, for giving Felix mad props...I'm still hung up on, not so much the sound, but how Felix (with all due respect) came to the project in the first place, especially with the 20-20 hindsight of knowing how the Boys disliked the results, which seems like the thing that hastened their implosion shortly thereafter. Ah, "the land of what might've been"!