The author makes some decent points, my overall opinion however is this - Brian Fallon is infallible. Even the worst BF or Gaslight album is great he can do no wrong and that INCLUDES the vastly underrated Get Hurt
I’m seeing the band 3 times in the next 4 weeks and could not be more excited gonna give the remix a full listen tomorrow. Clips sound really great
Honestly? I go back and forth between the mixes on both versions. I legitimately enjoy some of original mixes since it lends to the overall “vibe” of the record IMO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Either way, can’t be mad that both versions exist! I’m finally seeing them live for the first time next month in SF and I’m hypedddd
I liked how Brian said he realised his songs worked as solo tracks or Gaslight songs, so he just wrote what he felt was best and the band got to work on fleshing it all out. That plus this (excellent) new mix got me thinking I'd really love a Gaslight album of band versions of Brian's best solo songs. Wondering what everyone would pick? My album would have: Nobody Wins Honey Magnolia Etta James Watson See You On The Other Side Then so many other contenders. Most likely: Smoke, Red Lights, Open All Night, Forget Me Not, Vincent, I Don't Mind (If I'm With You). PS as if this wasnt silly enough of a thought experiment, I would personally not want any Horrible Crowes, I think that is probably Brian's second best album TGA included and should not be messed with under any circumstances.
My grandma died on Sunday and every lyric from this is hitting so hard. Not interested in debating how effective it is when it’s reducing me to tears.
Overly-reverbed vocals aside, I think Hello Exile sounds okay, but as a follow-up to After the Party (which is an amazing sounding album), it is clearly the inferior album production-wise.
Yes very much so. Instrumentals on Hello Exile sound okay. I don’t mind the underlying acoustic rhythm guitar on most tracks in theory since it adds texture, but the bass then needs to be dialed back a bit so there’s a certain punch that’s ultimately missing (at least to my ears). And the way its all mixed with the vocal production just never sat right with me. It’s been a minute since I’ve listened to the whole thing. I’ll revisit it tomorrow & see if it hits different now.
Well this conversation about a 5 year old menzingers album in the gaslight anthem forum certainly is boring lol
Off-topic: Hello Exile is immaculately produced and would be severely diminished if it sounded like After the Party (which also sounds fantastic). On-topic: This new mix definitely has reignited my love for this album. I love or at least really like all of the songs here (the first 6 songs, especially, are just hit after hit) but the production did temper my enjoyment of it somewhat, and now it has a whole new life.
I feel like the song that benefits the most from the new mix is History Books...I loved it before but now it's in another stratosphere, that chorus fucking hits now
Hello Exile always sounded fine to me New mix of TGA is great, listened to it in full yesterday, noticed it most on Weatherman and Spider Bites but the whole thing is sharper, punchier, better. Very happy this exists. The only negative for me was, as someone else said, the clicking in the first 20-25 seconds of Michigan 75 - hugely distracting to me - I THINK it's meant to sound like a quieter version of the percussion that kicks in later on the song, but it's poorly done and sounds like a glitch and kinda drove me crazy (again, just in the first 20 seconds or so). Too bad because the rest of the song sounds better. Most noticeable on the new mix was vocal clarity and also backup vocals in some spots that I didn't even know were there or were super muted on the previous mix.
I feel like a dog with a dog whistle being blown straight in my ear and people saying “I can’t hear a whistle.” It legitimately gives me anxiety and is way too distracting.