Just reading a few of Brian's recent soapbox postings, and it seems that he is quite cheerful about his astronomy, Kerry Ellis, Liverpool Uni, the WWRY musical etc... but nearly all his comments recently have remarks about the Q&PR album such as (and I'm paraphrasing) 'got to get on witht the painful task of finishing it..), 'it's such an effort and I hope it's worth it...' etc...
Do you think that because he spreads himself so thinly on the ground across so many tasks, Roger (and possibly Paul) too have got sick of waiting for him and have done some recording/mixing etc.. without him (as Roger and John did on Made In Heaven) and he doesn't like it, and now feels that he has to go and 'correct'(as he would see it) it all, and feels like he's losing even the tiniest bit of control?
It does seem as if he is not enjoying it or certainly the latter stages of getting it ready for the release
cmsdrums wrote: Do you think (the others) have done some recording/mixing etc.. without him () and he doesn't like it (..) and feels like he's losing even the tiniest bit of control?
I believe this is just his usual "last minute before production wrap-up" paranoia stage, when he'd suddenly feel unsure about the quality of the end result and would desperately need some honest "external" opinions or feedback about it, but will trust no-one to listen to it - I believe he mentioned that on a couple of interviews he did when he released "Another World"...
The mixing stage, from my perspective is plainly boring to some people. But, I wouldn't think that too much with Brian. He does relish getting stuck in and maybe, if what you're saying is correct (about others mixing it without him) then, yeah, I can understand that he'd want to put his own input into it. It's a difficult stage of the game to have to gather the band's thoughts into how the song should be mixed.
It's a very tough thing and maybe Brian wants certain things out of it that aren't already being put in or thought of. From what I've just read (i.e. 14 hours mixing) it sounds like a very long day, too! Maybe not as easy as he remembers it? Or maybe he could get frustrated when the result isn't what he wants. All these things have to be taken into account when looking at his soapbox. It's partially about control, but then, that's a band. Everyone (unless they say so) wants some level of control.
Ultimately, it's not about whether he's happy. No. He is a happy person. It's just that putting together your music after you've put it down on tape is difficult and draining. Nothing to do with how he feels about the band itself.
Adam.
It may all be exciting for us.
But for Brian, Roger and Paul it's a job which is as painfull and hard work as any other job. Surely they will also feel excitement during the process. But it's also very, very hard work
FriedChicken wrote: It may all be exciting for us.
But for Brian, Roger and Paul it's a job which is as painfull and hard work as any other job. Surely they will also feel excitement during the process. But it's also very, very hard work
Absolutely. When I design a book (or occasionally write one), it's a long and arduous project that is very time-consuming and often not very fun. (Though there may be some kind of sadomasochistic pleasure that people get out of this kind of thing... For instance, despite how consuming and draining graphic and book design and writing may be, there's a great amount of pleasure I derive from it, and I can't imagine pursing any other career path.) But the payoff is so much greater than the time spent on it, so I imagine this is what Brian is feeling now. I'm sure that he's enjoyed the recording sessions, and the association with Paul and Roger, it's just that it's now getting (or has gotten?) into the ugly stages of the final hurdle, so I'm sure Brian just wants to get the album finished and released so that he can go on the road and do what he loves to do.
Adam Baboolal wrote: It's partially about control, but then, that's a band. Everyone (unless they say so) wants some level of control.
Very true.
I've had so many arguments with Josh about how the drums should sound, for one.
He's all about using lots of compression and gating, and I hate it, because I think it sucks the life out of the drums, to the point where the snare sounds like it's snapping, not being whacked with a stick!