The Still Life dropouts

[Ermz]

For a long time I'd thought those channel cut-outs and such on Still Life were only restricted to The Moor. Lately, as I've been playing back the album on the studio monitors for the first time I'm noticing the guitars dipping in volume on the right side of the stereo image all over the place.

It happens on Moonlapse Vertigo, Face of Melinda etc. etc. I never realized that the problem was this severe before. Kinda ruins the enjoyment of the album a bit.

 

[Protected Witness]

Yeah, there are alot.

Still Life is still my favorite album though.

 

[Botfly]

Yeah, there are alot.

Still Life is still my favorite album though.

.

 

[Dreadful]

Don't think about the production too much seriously...if it's gonna make you like an album less and less.

 

[scorpian007]

Yeah, there are alot.

Still Life is still my favorite album though.

.

 

[YaYo]

I've never really noticed them, and i dont plan on listening to it now to try and find them either. I imagine it's one of those cases where as soon as you notice it once you can't not notice it anymore.

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, most definately. Avoid listening for them like the plague.

 

[Saber Rider]

I really, really, REALLY hope they do some remastered version for Roadrunner.
Also MAYH could get good use of it.

 

[The_Isle]

Hey, that's an interesting thought.

Would it be legal for Roadrunner to remaster their previous works and not break some sort of contract thing?

Do Opeth's previous labels still own the copyright to that stuff or what?

 

[Agarves]

"Peaceville records have slight, though yet unconfirmed plans to release a 5.1 surround sound mix re-release of Opeth's 4th album, "Still life". More information as we have it."

I do hope we'll see and hear "Still Life" in 5.1 with all the technical faults corrected. Although it has been a while since the announcement.

 

[JoeVice]

i think they are kind of cool in a way...yah, they are a bit annoying, but i don't know any other album that has that same problem...do you notice that when the sound comes back in the the right side, it seems to fade in slowly? or is that just me?

 

[Justin S.]

Yes its frustrating, and very noticable. When I listen to the album with my Sennheisers I hear the dropouts on multiple tracks as well. I notice that its not so obvious when I play it on generic speakers. Id also say avoid listening for them, but with any decent equipment the mistakes just jump out, so I guess we'll have to live with it (I doubt the 5.1 will ever materialize, and even if it did, would that affect this issue? I remember older threads discussing this.)

 

[[KOTNO]Narrot]

Don't think about the production too much seriously...if it's gonna make you like an album less and less.

i agree. enjoy good productions and ignore bad productions. and if you hear production-mistakes think 'it adds to the vibe' until you really believe it...

what bothers me more than the still life dropouts is how they forgot to cut out the amp-humming in hope leaves...

 

[BrandonS]

I remember when I was a newb to Opeth, and I had never heard real metal before (apart from mainstream metal like sabbath, etc).... First I bought Still Life and MAYH from Amazon.com for Christmas one year, they were the only 2 CDs I got! And they started my collection. I remember before I went to bed I used to pop Still Life into the portable CD-Player and put on some headphones, and I dove into what was, to me, a really deep musical experience. Mind you, I was a nOOb at the time, but I was still able to appreciate the ambience created by Still Life. It was almost like hearing a medieval tale, and with the headphones it made me feel even closer to the action. I never noticed the errors until I played it really loud on my stereo. But I still don't care about that.

I listened to MAYH after I was able to digest Still Life, and I listened to it on the headphones also. I used to dance while listening to it. This brings back so many cool memories, it makes me want to go listen to them now.... I'm going to record them to cassette to play in my car, I recorded deliverance and BWP before, but I've heard them sooo much already... It's been a very long time since I've listened to SL or MAYH.

Congratulations on provoking a rant.

 

[Evan84]

I think that's more of an anecdote than a rant.

 

[Alcapoth]

Damn, you guys. Are these fuck-ups REALLY that bad?


I mean hell, I've listened to Still Life to death and have yet to find these "errors" everyone speaks of. Also note, I have a killer surround system that I listen to all my music on, and there was never anything I noticed. Still Life sounds fucking excellent, as it should.


Maybe the music is just so fucking great I get mesmerized and lose all track of thought (except for the music that takes over my soul.) Hehe...who knows.

 

[Pseud0]

ive always said in these threads that there are like drops on every song

 

[Jokke]

Yeah.. I've noticed them in several songs as well. I don't really care that much, and most of them are not that noticeable, to me at least.
Also, I saw someone mention something about some of the guitar solo's making an ugly fuzz sound, and I heard that when I listened to SL yesterday, like some ugly clipping, not very prominent though.

But still, I love the album. :Spin:

 

[Brains for breakfast]

Still life is my favourite album. I never ever noticed that "bad production" everyone is speaking of.

 

[saut]

This is what I'm all about!</Dennis, $1 to anyone who catches that>

Still life is my favourite album. I never ever noticed that "bad production" everyone is speaking of.

It's my favorite album too, which is probably why I noticed the bad production in the first place. I was kind of wishing that it was just my Digipak version, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Lets just pray that they remaster this masterpiece. They can call it a remasteredpiece.