What if Jonas re-recorded the vocals Discouraged Ones?

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batmura

Sea of Tranquility
Nov 1, 2001
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What would your reaction be if Jonas Renkse were to re-record the vocal parts of Discouraged Ones and perhaps Tonight's Decision? Would his obvious improved style benefit the songs based on his recent live performances or would it detract from the overall atmosphere and quality of the album? Would his more 'perfect' singing hinder his ability to express character?

Any thoughts?
 
I think it would be interesting to hear both of those records revisited with their updated sound of today - Jonas' vocals and over a more lush base. TOTALLY unnecessary, of course, but I, for one would be very interested to hear them both.
 
Jonas' vocals on those records have a direct correlation to the sound they had. Every single aspect of the band was less refined back then. Meaning rerecorded vocals would stick out like a sore thumb. Personally what has always stood out to me most about Jonas is his phenomenal tone, not so much his ability. Has his technique improved over time? Most certainly, but the emotional impact has lessened on the past two records imho. What I'd like to see is for him to really apply himself and open up a much broader dynamic range for future material. Perhaps he could use a double shot of espresso...

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naahh... he has some of the most emotional performances there. Fucking Distrust. Not really the best tech, but sooo touching.

the only thing that might benefit from improvement are the backing vox on the original Right Into The Bliss. I don't know if that's Jonas doing a falsetto or Blakkie, but it just sounds.. thin. A shame, because it sounded amazing on Live Consternation.
 
I recently just bought and finally gave good, thorough listens to DISCOURAGED ONES and TONIGHT'S DECISION. I do still stand behind my belief that Jonas has perfected his vocal style on THE GREAT COLD DISTANCE and NIGHT IS THE NEW DAY. I would not want to hear him abandon his current style. However, I was able to find much on these older albums to appreciate that I never gave a chance to before, especially because I found it fascinating how much they improved with every album (especially Jonas). I know the payoff is huge once I get into TGCD and NITND, so I enjoy listening to the entire library from start to finish (I do not like the material before DO...except "Day").

As others have said though, (while I truly love the vocal style he now uses), I don't know how that style would fit into these earlier songs from DO and TD (unless they were fully rerecorded...and even then I have my doubts). I will say this though.....TD could definitely use a remastering (or maybe a whole new recording). The mix/sound quality on that album was pretty bad. Some of the cymbals sound like wind chimes (like what you hear from downloading compressed 128 kbps bitrate mp3 files) plus there was a lot of cracking/popping in the audio. I thought it was dust on my laser's lens or even the disc itself, but it's definitely organic to the data already on the disc. Otherwise, that album was quite good. Even still, if push came to shove, I would still rather have all-new Katatonia music to listen to instead of rerecorded songs.
 
DO doesn't need any changes imho - it's perfect as it is and the vocals as they are done, are an important part of that atmosphere they created. TD could benefit much from proper re-mastering, but I don't see/hear the need in re-recording it in it's entirely.
 
I think Jonas' vocals on Tonight's Decision are already really good, so I really don't see the point in re-doing that one. Actually when that album came out I remember thinking he had really improved vocally since Discouraged Ones. Sure he's even better now, but Tonight's Decision he still sounds damn good.

Discouraged Ones, on the other hand, I would love to hear his vocals re-recorded. I like the original the way it is, and there's something pure and honest about his performance...even if it's not perfect. However when you hear the band now play a song from that album live...Jonas sings them much better now.

But honestly, my biggest request for the band is to re-release a remixed version of Viva Emptiness. That album has amazing songs that are held way back by a really bad mix with muddy guitars, and a crappy drum sound.
 
BlueSky said:
Jonas' vocals on those records have a direct correlation to the sound they had. Every single aspect of the band was less refined back then. Meaning rerecorded vocals would stick out like a sore thumb. Personally what has always stood out to me most about Jonas is his phenomenal tone, not so much his ability. Has his technique improved over time? Most certainly, but the emotional impact has lessened on the past two records imho. What I'd like to see is for him to really apply himself and open up a much broader dynamic range for future material. Perhaps he could use a double shot of espresso...

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This. All the way.
 
Jonas' vocals are definetly not as refined on DO, but I like that...I like his morose Robert Smith like voice, it fits the shoegaze-gone-doom era of Katatonia extremely well. Change nothing, but if they would re-record a track such as deadhouse, it would be worth it for a listen. I'm not a huge fan of TD (my least fav Katatonia album) but still, I would leave it be.
 
wtf this will never happen omg we srsly need to get a life and yeah .. the album is fine the way it is :p
 
insidethefall said:
Jonas' vocals are definetly not as refined on DO, but I like that...I like his morose Robert Smith like voice, it fits the shoegaze-gone-doom era of Katatonia extremely well. Change nothing, but if they would re-record a track such as deadhouse, it would be worth it for a listen. I'm not a huge fan of TD (my least fav Katatonia album) but still, I would leave it be.
Click to expand...

Could not agree more..absolutely love the Robert Smith influence on his vocals on DO. It was also the album that changed me into a HUGE Katatonia fan, although I did love the band's material before that as well.

It is kinda like when Amorphis recently re-recorded some tunes from their first 3 albums: a better production, better death growls, etc..but I still prefer the originals by far, the sound of the old versions of the songs has an atmosphere that holds a special place in my heart. I can't imagine that I would like a re-recorded version of DO (even if it was just the vox) more than the original.
 
I like the album the way it is. His technique was less refined, but it fit the album very well. I think if they were going to rerecord the vocals, they would have to rerecord the entire album, really! Not necessary, even though it might be interesting.
 
The idea whilst sounds interesting... No. Every Katatonia album whilst possessing certain charactertics is unique in its own way. No doubt Jonas vocals have improved considerably, in fact at times he sounds liek a diff vocalist. Still, DO just lives up to its name. It is pure depressing and helplessness. The seeming lack of energy in the vocals makes that album what it is. Some of the songs are as soul crushing as many Funeral Doom artists, vocals are a major reason for this.
 
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