Lots of stuff going on over here...
This is gonna get me some heat. I can't wait to see Jester Slave's dick get stuck in his zipper. TJR has a fantastic mix on it. In fact, I think it is one of the most nicely mixed albums that IF has. Mixing and production are super subjective though. I saw an argument on Reddit recently that Colony's mixing is 'perfect', which I couldn't disagree with more. The low end is a complete muddy mess. In fact, I think Colony is one of their worst sounding albums. Don't get me wrong, I love the album, but the mixing could be miles better.
This brings me to something I can't believe I'm going to say, but about the only thing these new IF singles have over Days of the Lost (IN MY OPINION) is the mixing. I have to say that I love modern production values. DoTL's mix is a bit flat and the drums especially aren't mixed very well. Again, love the album but if there is one low point for me, it's that. I know that modern mixing techniques get shit on pretty regularly by audiophiles, but I really do love it. Everything is so crisp and clean. The kick drums especially on albums these days sound way better.
But that is one point I have to make; the kick on TJR sounds excellent. To me, it is the best sounding IF album, certainly of the classics. Even Whoracle, which I also love, struggles in the mixing department. Colony is bad. Clayman is decent -- I think they missed an opportunity to give that album a true remaster (not even full remix) to fix some issues... but of course they didn't. In fact, I believe they didn't even touch it and just told people they did.
RTR and STYE are pretty bad, certainly STYE. CC is ok, but still suffers. Really, production and mixing has always been a weak point for IF to me. I guess you can say it's consistent. But unfortunately it's consistently bad. To my ears, that is. I would love to hear an IF album completely remixed by Zeuss or someone like Andy Sneap.