Anberlin feat. Matty Mullins Re-Record Classic Album

What I said after my first skim of these songs:

All the life has been stripped out of these and replaced with vocals that have had every inch of personality mechanically pulled from them. Anberlin's a top 20 most played band for me and I'm glad they can continue making money I guess, but I really kinda just hate everything about this one? Like ... stand on your new music? Between this and the deleting or replying to fans with rude comments on Instagram has really soured me on this era of the band.

 

The Cities live in NY album on streaming services exemplifies the life in Stephen’s vocals. I typically don’t like live albums but love his vocals on that one. Definitely check it out if you haven’t.

 

Listening to it now, and I agree. The songs are still good, but other than the vocals it doesn't sound very different. The whole thing just generally just feels unnecessary. I don't know why I would choose put this on over the original.

 

Call me crazy but I don't hate it, I kind of even like it. For sure not better then the original, Stephen is iconic, but if he doesn't want to sing/tour anymore, then let the dudes do their thing. I will say I am more excited to see them live now that I have heard the full record.

 

I think this is pretty interesting overall and I will be watching how this affects the band. Sure, the initial reaction from the long-time fans is surely not going to be the best. However, I think this does something a bit different. Consider how most people consume music now and and also how a very large amount of people "find" music. I think this is a calculated bet and strategy to make up ground the band may have lost over the last few years. Sure, Vega as a whole and even Lowborn weren't bad at all. But you can't make up the years out of the eye/spotlight. Out of sight, out of mind.

I think this re-recording with Matty aims to kill two birds with one stone. Grab a much newer fan base by way of "new releases you might like" on all the streaming platforms and also to possibly get some of the youthful energy back into the band from the older fans. Matty is the guy now and I can see Stephen being on retainer for shows here and there that are very much to the schedule he desired but it probably won't happen much.

As a musician, the saying goes is that you can never go home. Who you were 2-5-10 years ago is long gone even though your technical prowess likely became better. The energy that oozed out of NTFP in the beginning might be long gone but revisiting it in this way may spark something close to it that sort of re-energizes the fun the band had at the time but now. And, as I mentioned fan base.

 

This is my issue with it. It's not even Matty doing his own thing, which I may not like in execution but would at least feel authentic and presumably have some life, it's just him doing a bad imitation of Stephen which comes off as both listless and lifeless.

 

I was looking at this more through the lens of something like Thrice's AITA rerecord, which felt more interesting as an exercise in that it A) addressed the production/mix issues the band has with the original and B) as a result, was interesting to listen to because there were enough differences with the original to compare and contrast. This Anberlin re-record doesn't hit in that regard.

I see where you're coming from, though, and it makes a lot of sense. Catering to the algorithm is probably the best explanation for why this exists, though I personally have doubts about how much of a new audience this band (or any band of this era) can really capture.

And if it gave Matty some extra practice for their live show, fair enough. I never got a chance to see them with Stephen, and I am still very much looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks.

 

The precedent was set when they rerecorded The Feel Good Drag for New Surrender.

 

I stopped after the first song. Don’t get it but good for them for marching on I guess.

 

100% spot on with the YouTube comparison, that’s exactly what I thought as well. I just feel like, who is this for? Not even in like a shit-talky way, I genuinely wonder who this is made for. If they had gone in and reimagined the songs and rebuilt them from the ground up with Matty into something unique and original? Completely different situation. But to do a straight up re-record that, musically, sounds pretty much identical, is genuinely puzzling. Because it’s not like, say, Thrice’s re-recording of Artist In The Ambulance, where that is an objectively higher quality update of a sub-par recording (yes I realize the absurdity of saying that about something Andy Wallace mixed) with *Dustin* singing. Or even MxPx’s Life In General. NTFP is a great sounding recording, so basically re-releasing that, but just CTRL-Xing Stephen’s vocals is just…weird. I also feel weird about bands doing specific album anniversary tours (and records) with different singers. I have no problem at all with bands getting new singers. But to honor a specific album and play it front to back when that singer didn’t sing it, just feels a bit wrong. Am I crazy?

EDIT: Somehow missed someone making the identical point about Thrice a mere two comments above mine lol *facepalm*

 

The mix is so good. Sounds like a million bucks. If you try it against the original the 2005 version just sounds so thin and muddy. Regardless of "life in the vocals" or whatever, Stephen is such a corny dude. Matty comes with his own corn but it's less. So it's Anberlin but 78% less corny. I have personally moved on from these types of jams but Matty at least for this one is a perfect fit

 

I agree as well. I am blessed with a very good audio setup which would allow the separation of sounds and such to really come through but the only thing that I noticed is how ungodly hot everything is STILL mixed (first). The overall "tone" sounds a lot better in a few regards - drums, bass, some of the guitars. The vocals are certainly more forward than I was expecting. However, after seeing some interviews with Joey and such, their notes of redoing these songs to capture differences in how they have played these songs over time didn't seem to translate so much. I wasn't expecting to be smacked upside the head with new sounds, but i was expecting a little more than what we seem to have received. All in all, even with completely new production, the songwriting still stands well. That's a testament to the writing which, for this album specifically speaking, was very good for the time period (still is).

At the end of the day - I welcome the newer production as it allows the record to stand out a bit more especially in a mix, on radio, against other songs that may have had better production at the time. Unfortunately, the new production is here to stay unless analog tape comes back into fashion in a big way. Then we can really dive into fidelity and the like.

 

Nobody wanted this

 

the amount of these bands who delete negative comments on social media / YouTube is genuinely nuts.

 

I was warned about making negative comments on this website or I would be banned. Not sure I see a difference!

 

Can't believe I even gave this the time of day. Matty's vocals are so boring.

 

Exactly what I was thinking about all this. Stephen’s vocals sounded so different than anything else out there and Matty just sounds so generic.

 

Genuinely surprised at the hate. They rushed the original NTFP recording, which is also why there are so few harmonies on the record compared to the update. This mix is more muscular, has tighter musicianship, and primes folks for what they can expect the songs to sound like when Matty’s filling in. I think it’s a solid take on the album and otherwise inoffensive. I’m now curious how many folks would legitimately prefer the band to pack it in entirely than continue with Stephen only part-timing it.

 

I don’t think anyone here has made the argument that they should pack it up because Stephen isn’t touring with them.

Reading through the comments on this post, it seems like people agree with you that the final product here is precisely so “inoffensive” compared to the original as to not warrant a real reason to listen to it. The only real difference is the vocals, which no one seems to prefer.

I don’t hate it, I am just more perplexed. I’m certainly not mad about it or anything.

 

The dedicated Anberlin thread that Jason linked to seemed extremely negative on a quick skim (rather than indifferent), which bummed me out. I’m not convinced there was/is anything Matty can do to please the stalwarts, and the fact that everyone seems geared up to pile on more hate going forward makes me distrustful of the current fanbase as stewards of the band’s longevity. I think a lot of us have loved the band for so long that we forget Stephen’s froggy vocals are actually an acquired taste for many, and Matty’s “plain” takes may actually go down smoother for others and broaden the audience. Maybe their moment has passed and it doesn’t matter either way. I’m just sad to see so many fans, for whatever reason, unable to find anything to enjoy in the latest effort.

 

I'm not against what you are saying but being a fan of a band doesn't mean you need to be on board with every decision they make. People can say they don't like the direction the band is going and its a fair statement. If you like the new iteration of the band, who cares what other people are saying, just enjoy it.

 

Oh, nobody has to be “on board” for anything if it doesn’t resonate with them. I’m just surprised at how viscerally negative the reaction has been for so many. I went into Nevertake fully divorcing myself from any expectation that it would make me feel like NTFP did when I discovered it in 2006, and I enjoyed the resultant experience. The music and lyrics remain excellent, the musicianship is tighter than ever, the mix punches like a prizefighter, and Matty delivers a perfectly serviceable performance in my estimation (but with fuller harmonies than the original). I get going “I still prefer the original to this.” I don’t get going “this fucking sucks.” But maybe I’m expecting too much nuance from the internet.

 

Sometimes it’s as simple as thinking the weird robotic voice sounds like mediocre karaoke? Like .. it is as simple as … it doesn’t sound good and every inch of emotion is sucked dry? Like you’re right, the issue is many people don’t like his (extremely processed) voice? That’s a totally reasonable and fair position for a fan of music.

 

I suppose the “roboticism” of the pop vocal engineering doesn’t bother me as much as it does others. It’s presumably an aesthetic choice, as Matty didn’t seem to have any issues hitting the notes live at the shows I’ve caught. Now I wonder if stripping off that layer of production would actually turn people around, or if they’d still say Matty’s too boring a vocalist to redeem the project.