Peter Gabriel's 2023 album "I/O"

[krabapple]

Lagavulin is probably my favorite. Islay generally works for me. Talisker and Oban over Balvenie. I really like Laphroaig, tho. It has hilarious descriptions attributed to it, too. Not sure I've had the Caol Ila....

Yeah, Laphroaig brings out the absurd wine connoisseurship language in fans. I like peaty, just not that sort, so for me it tastes...highly overrated? Certainly an acquired taste.

The Caol Ila was light in color, well-aged, and expensive when purchased in Edinburgh for consumption back here in the States...it smelled of some sort of fuel or industrial cleaning agent when poured. Maybe it objected to the transatlantic journey ;>

 

[Galliardist]

Average DR for the two stereo mixes is reportedly 6, and it sounds more like 4 a lot of the time. Low DR doesn't always bother me, but this sounds like all the bad descriptions people give of it. It's "nice" to see him keeping up with the times.

Fortunately, the Dark Side mix is quite wide in stereo and has decent placement and separation, and also has some interesting ideas to compensate, so gets my vote.

It may have been more interesting to see him use some younger musicians, rather than star mixing engineers. I do wonder whether the sound of the stereo mixes was deliberately done that way or if it was just flattened to hell for the release.

Some of the lyrics have interest, as always, but musically it's not up to the standards I'd expect - much of it feels like I've heard it before, and not in a good way. Sorry.

The multichannel mix might change my mind as and when I get to hear it. If you want to hear this album properly, it looks like the only way to go.

 

[hex168]

Amir, thanks for that bit of historical info.

PG led Genesis is my all time favorite band and his solo career has been exceptional, Solsbury Hill to Biko and all parts in between. I've seen him in concert more times than I can count. Always entertaining.

I share the same view and experience and yet I find I/O boring. I'll give it another chance after a while but not soon.

 

[StigErik]

Too bad he has lost his powerful voice …
Apart from that, I think he has actually evolved when it comes to harmony and chord progressions.

The quiet songs are the best on this album I think, but on those the weakness of his voice is more obvious.

Both mixes are terrible. Way too much brick wall limiting.

 

[Chrispy]

OTOH he's 74 in two weeks, too. Not bad for his age in any case.

 

[StigErik]

Mick Jagger is 80 by the way, and still sounds like he's 19.

 

[Chrispy]

Mick Jagger is 80 by the way, and still sounds like he's 19.

Hmm, haven't paid much attention to him in a while. Meant to check out that latest release and never got around to it....no time like the present

 

[DavidShe]

I prefer the Dark Side mix, which generally sounds good, except for the densest sections that become overly compressed and muddy. For instance, in the first track, "Paneticon," after 4:14, there is severe compression. Additionally, the two cymbal crashes around 5:01 sound distorted. Can anyone else hear this?

 

[Galliardist]

I prefer the Dark Side mix, which generally sounds good, except for the densest sections that become overly compressed and muddy. For instance, in the first track, "Paneticon," after 4:14, there is severe compression. Additionally, the two cymbal crashes around 5:01 sound distorted. Can anyone else hear this?

Since you point it out, yes. And at least the second of the cymbal crashes you referred to is also distorted in the Bright SIde mix, as I'm hearing it.

 

[Sokel]

Not my music but for the shake of comparison Dark for me please.
But,what's wrong with the songs themselves?
No dynamics???

 

[andivax]

Very interesting album in terms of mixing and Gabriel's Legacy.
I love So album, it's kind of a reference to me.
I/O sounds very much like Gabriel ) but also kind of like "demo" record.
It's hard to say which "Side" is the best, Dark or Bright.
Both are not ideal and contains mixing mistakes (drums overcompressing, kick-bass conflicts).
But we must know why it sounds like that.
May be it was like "we will record only one take and mix it ride away with NO fresh ears".
Anyway, the album is great for Gabriels fans, because it is just exists )
If you want reference materials - Yello albums is for you ))

PS I would like to mix this album by myself to make a "Modern Side" version. Is it possible to have a stems?

 

[Galliardist]

Very interesting album in terms of mixing and Gabriel's Legacy.
I love So album, it's kind of a reference to me.
I/O sounds very much like Gabriel ) but also kind of like "demo" record.
It's hard to say which "Side" is the best, Dark or Bright.
Both are not ideal and contains mixing mistakes (drums overcompressing, kick-bass conflicts).
But we must know why it sounds like that.
May be it was like "we will record only one take and mix it ride away with NO fresh ears".
Anyway, the album is great for Gabriels fans, because it is just exists )
If you want reference materials - Yello albums is for you ))

PS I would like to mix this album by myself to make a "Modern Side" version. Is it possible to have a stems?

interesting response.
As I understand it, the album was recorded over a few months, the tracks were released individually prior to the album on full moons over several months. The single track releases are still available on Qobuz at least, and some are different lengths to the ones on the album - for example check Panopticom dark side mix, where the single is 3sec shorter. You may want to visit those singles if your preferred streaming service has them.

I think the single versions sound very slightly different, but it's way past my bedtime...

 

[andivax]

interesting response.
As I understand it, the album was recorded over a few months, the tracks were released individually prior to the album on full moons over several months. The single track releases are still available on Qobuz at least, and some are different lengths to the ones on the album - for example check Panopticom dark side mix, where the single is 3sec shorter. You may want to visit those singles if your preferred streaming service has them.

I think the single versions sound very slightly different, but it's way past my bedtime...

Ahhh. It's interesting. But album sounds not very loud and that overcompressed sound is definitely not mastering but mixing stage.
It can be matter of taste or poor hearing of Peter (it's common problem of almost all touring musicians I've worked with) + his age (also causing hearing loss/age-related deterioration which is statistically ok).
But overall album is great. And it makes me "feeling" something so I began to forget about all that mixing "issues".

PS This is still weird. I just finished re-mixing jazz album release. All tracks was recorded in defferent time, it was covid time then war time in Ukraine. But in the end the release is sounding solid. May be Peter release I/O as is on purpose. Nevermind. Great album ))

 

[Axo1989]

That's pretty remarkable. Five whole seconds! And then you hit eject, grabbed the CD and tossed it like a frisbee out your car. And put on the frickin' DOORS, man!

Ugh.

Though lukewarm on the idea until now, such doltish posts have convinced me to pony up for the BluRay of Peter's new one.

Ok, now I can contextualise you throwing shade at Portishead et al in the other thread. You simply have execrable taste, and a peverse commitment to same. Even when others offer sound guidance.

But de gustibus non est disputandum, as they say, so enjoy.

The video is kind of interesting, notwithstanding.

 

[krabapple]

Mick Jagger is 80 by the way, and still sounds like he's 19.

hmmm..no, he doesn't. But he sounds better than he has any right to.

 

[krabapple]

Ok, now I can contextualise you throwing shade at Portishead et al in the other thread. You simply have execrable taste, and a peverse commitment to same. Even when others offer sound guidance.

Ok, now you've made an unwarranted, context-ignorant leap to score a point. Hey, it's the internet, it happens.

I 'threw shade' at a dated production fad Portishead employed on Dummy on thread about analog-sound plugins. I like Dummy just fine otherwise; it's a classic, I still play it.

Wholesale dismissal of an artist with a catalog as varied as Peter Gabriel's, or claiming that five seconds of new music is enough to make one throw it out a window in favor of the laughably overrated Boomer chestnut LA Woman, makes me question one's musical wits.

 

[CapMan]

Trivia time - Tony Levin shoved a nappy (diaper) under his bass strings to get the muted bass sound on Don’t Give Up.

“I grabbed a diaper and shoved it under the strings near the bridge”: How Tony Levin came up with his muted bass tone on Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up

Peter Gabriel called it the “super wonder nappy sound”

www.guitarworld.com

 

[Ron Party]

PS I have alwasy kinda liked Peter Gabriel (always as in back to the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis), but only in pretty small doses. He's one of those artists that I figure is doing something of which (or is that to which?) there's more than meets the eye -- but I'm danged if I can figure out what it is.

You may recall since you are/were a fan of PG led Genesis that sometimes what met the eye was an outrageous costume he would wear on stage, such as when he was the human personification of a particular STD.

 

[WillBrink]

Thanx for the heads up boys, will give it a listen ASAP. SO is still on regular rotation in my house.

 

[krabapple]

Trivia time - Tony Levin shoved a nappy (diaper) under his bass strings to get the muted bass sound on Don’t Give Up.

...and did the bass fingering for "Big Time" while Jerry Marotta tapped the strings with drumsticks