When the ink’s on the paper
Our permanent statements are the only thing that matters
This is part of a series of daily texts I’m writing while doing inktober. Enjoy some of my random thoughts on different topics…
When will whatever thing we intend to do gets ready for the world to see? What is the core difference between what we think we can do and what we actually do? In the end, the most important thing is the ink we leave on the paper.
Last year, the then mixing engineer and fire extinguisher player for Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten, Tim Palmer, shared his thoughts on the production of the record and he wrote a few things which I found interesting. Although Ten was a grunge record, it lacked some mixing elements that conveyed a grunge sound, and that’s because they’ve “(…) never discussed the idea of the record being mixed dry, or stripped back.” since “The ‘Seattle Sound’ hadn’t really made it to the mainstream yet.” So, Tim “felt free to just do what felt right for each song.” He added reverbs, delays and other effects which were possibly inherited from the 80's.
Just think about it, one personal decision changed the way the majority of people perceived this album as it originally was released.
You’d think that after Nevermind came out a month later and after all these years everyone would regard Ten for not only its style but for its production too, right? Well, Tim wrote that after the “Seattle Scene” and its dry, raw sound came out “some of the band expressed a view that they wished the album had been a dryer more stripped down record.”
The album was out for everyone’s ears to judge and there was no turning back. Whether it was the whole production or just the quality of the compositions, Ten’ sales surpassed those of Nevermind in the USA for two years. And the album continued to sell well on the following years, not giving a chance to its younger brother, Vs.
This could be considered something nice, right? Regardless of the production being as is or the band members wishing something different, the album performed good, anyways. So what’s the matter?
Eighteen years after the original release of Ten, Pearl Jam remixes the entire record in a more dryer way. They used the hand of Brendan O’Brien to accomplish this feat. It was a request from the bassist Jeff Ament, since he wanted to hear “a drier, more direct version of those songs.”
The sound is different, it has another emotion attached to it. You can actually take a better listen to the strums and notice a lot more the tiny cracks of the guitar playing which gives a more organic feel to it. It also increases the punch and gritty of the sound. The band expressed excitement over the “new album”. But how did it impact the fans? A quick google search shows the majority of forums and discussions agreeing that the new version, dubbed Redux, is better than the original. Of course, there are still others like myself, who praises some of the mixings from the original record.
But does it matter anyway?
The ink had already been put down on the paper. And no matter how much you try to mask this fact, what has been done, is done. You could magically convert all the existing LPs, CDs and MP3s to sound like this new record, you could defy people’s memories into allowing only this version to its ears and having them questioning why they do not feel exactly the same as when the original record came out. When Ten was originally released, Tim Palmer’s mix was what everybody had and it was what, in the end, resonated with them, whether they loved it or hate it. All the original album decisions were made collectively back in the day and “you can’t go back and change your high school photograph, just because its now out of style.”
A record is a snapshot of time, it’s a reflection of sorts. When the ink is on the paper, there’s no return. Especially in the age of the internet.
I hope you liked today’s writing! This one was written a long time ago. Just two days after Tim Palmer’s post on Facebook, can’t believe it’s been a full year!
Wanna know how different both records really are? Take a listen to Why Go’s intro on the original record, and then listen to it on the Redux. And here’s a comparison between Alive on both mixes. If it’s hard to notice the difference, pay attention to the drums. Both records are available on audio streaming services such as Spotify.
I’m always looking for feedback to everything I’m creating, so consider clapping or commenting if you can.
