I spent about half an hour ago today listening to a bunch of different Clayman videos on youtube - various live ones and both old and new rerecording again. I can say that I actually ended up enjoying a few vocal additions in the chorus in terms of writing - that little bend on the very last "clay" for an instance. I dislike the vocal production and i'm on the fence regarding his voice, but that's another thing. Clayman had that unique Anders delivery where his voice simply oozes with intensity and pressure, for me it's probably favorite Anders record just for the passion it projects, even if actual singing isn't that great as there are a lot of faded-out syllables that aren't clear.
Bjorn's solo and that syncopated chugging 101 half-assed riff is still utter garbage... can't believe how plastic the guitars sound, I still can't accept it. And I know it's a stupidly minor thing, but that bass note that sort of "hangs" in that tiny pause before the chorus hits really, really annoys the shit out of me. It was probably supposed to be a 1/16th note that somehow wasn't cut and edited. Listening on headphones and it draws my attention every time I hear it.
I fully acknowledge Clayman's (album) flaws - while the guitar tone is legendary, overall production is quite imperfect. Overall it sounds quite scooped, a lot of details that should be aren't there. But the rerecording almost sounds like an exactly opposite extreme side of the spectrum - all midrange and no balls. I really don't get what the fuck are the guys in the band thinking with this plastic production they've been sticking with for the few past albums. No American bands use it, even the shitty mall metal bands today still use high gain distortions and sound quite heavier than this. I get it that average person isn't really nitpicky about guitar sound and stuff like that, but we aren't talking about negligible nuances here.
When a guitar-driven band starts to almost feel ashamed of having guitars.
Also, those live videos I mentioned... saw a somewhat recent one with Chris Broderick. And Bjorn of course takes care of the solo and butchers it completely, a solo that is pretty damn simple to play anyway. The band now has one of the most talented guitar players (he was a touring member of Nevermore before his Megadeth stint), they should be using it as an excuse to reach for those tracks that had killer guest solos (December Flower, Suburban Me etc) and actually do the songs justice for once. Even back in the TJR days in the 90s they would just skip the December Flower solo live.
