Favorite "little" mixing decision on a GNR song, or specific effect/moment of sound design?

[themadcaplaughs]

On 1/25/2022 at 2:37 PM, CubanSkies Dummy said:

You cross the line. Your message was reported.

 

SORRY. I WAS WRONG.

It's a Tobias song.

You're aware of the lyrical content and image of this band you love....and this was what crossed the line? 

[Draguns]

On 1/25/2022 at 8:02 PM, ryanf23 said:

This is a slight twist to the topic but I love this also:

- that Double Talkin Jive was partially written about the song Patience and Izzy’s disgust of the success of that song at the time

- the lyrics Izzy wrote in Pretty Tied Up about some frustrations he had with the band and Axl singing the song seemingly not getting some lyrics were about guns n roses

 

I never knew that about Patience. Where did you hear this? I'm just curious. 

[Draguns]

This is probably one of the best posts ever on any GNR message board. There were things that I didn't know like the acoustic guitar in Think About You. I don't think anyone brought up Axl humming in Sweet Child  during one of Slash's solo in the song.  

On 1/25/2022 at 5:55 PM, GnR Chris said:

Since we're three pages deep, I'll only add what hasn't been mentioned:

- Many will probably say it's cheesy, but I love the sex sounds in "Rocket Queen" during the bridge.

- Duff saying "to the bar" at the end of "You Ain't the First."

- I love the synth "blaster" sounds in the beginning of Riad. Way more prevalent in the locker leaks. It seriously transforms the songs when they're up higher in the mix.

- The acoustic guitar in "There was a Time" is beautiful. If I remember right, I think it's even Axl playing it.

- The intro to "Welcome to the Jungle." And I don't mean the iconic start/stop riff that starts the song. I love the "oh my god" whisper followed by a continuous deep howl that Axl does. It ends a little before the first verse begins. Axl used to do this live too, but hasn't for years (to my knowledge). One of the best examples of this I can think of is the MTV VMA 88 performance. It just makes the song sound so fuckin' mean.

- The line "tomorrow never comes" buried in the mix in "Catcher in the Rye." Once you hear it, you can't unhear it. And it's creepy.

- The Dracula-sounding way Axl sings "I don't want to do eeet" in "Sorry."

- I don't think this lyric was in "The Blues," but in the coda for "Street of Dreams," rather than sing "What I tell ya" a second time, Axl sings "that's one more failure." And I am not sure why, but that always hit different for me.

I think that MTV performance was one of the best ever for Jungle. 

[ryanf23]

1 hour ago, Draguns said:

I never knew that about Patience. Where did you hear this? I'm just curious. 

Sometime around 1989 maybe early 1990, when Izzy was frustrated with the band… he was getting sober and Slash, Duff and Steven were in bad shape, Axl was Axl, the song Patience was their big MTV video at the time, Izzy said he was really sick of the song Patience because of all the band turmoil and he wrote Double Talkin jive partially about that. 
 

I can’t remember where I heard that

[Draguns]

1 minute ago, ryanf23 said:

Sometime around 1989 maybe early 1990, when Izzy was frustrated with the band… he was getting sober and Slash, Duff and Steven were in bad shape, Axl was Axl, the song Patience was their big MTV video at the time, Izzy said he was really sick of the song Patience because of all the band turmoil and he wrote Double Talkin jive partially about that. 
 

I can’t remember where I heard that

I know that Patience was a big time hit on MTV. I've been a fan since October 1987.  I have never heard of Double Talk Jive  being about sick of Patience. There was a story about  finding a head in the garbage can, which I heard about.  I also found this. There's no mention about Patience or even on Google.  I would be curious if someone misinterpret the no more patience lyric in the song.    

 

[SoulMonster]

5 minutes ago, Draguns said:

I know that Patience was a big time hit on MTV. I've been a fan since October 1987.  I have never heard of Double Talk Jive  being about sick of Patience. There was a story about  finding a head in the garbage can, which I heard about.  I also found this. There's no mention about Patience or even on Google.  I would be curious if someone misinterpret the no more patience lyric in the song.    

 

Yeah, that was news to me, too. I only have three quotes about the song in the song archive at A4D: 

https://www.a-4-d.com/t112-double-talkin-jive

And nothing about it being connected to Patience. 

I also don't have any quotes from Izzy on Patience. 

[Gordon Comstock]

I remember reading about that too... Izzy was fed up with the band at the time and the line "I got no more Patience, man" was about being sick of how popular Patience was. Could be bullshit, I read it years ago.

[Blackstar]

It probably originated from an Axl quote in the Patience CD single interview, and then, along the way, it got twisted and morphed into a different story where Izzy supposedly wrote DTJ as a reaction to Patience:

Axl: "When I sang [Patience] it was the first time I'd ever sang it. Izzy basically wrote most of the words, except for the ending part. And then Slash and Duff got it on, rearranging and rewriting parts - the music parts of it, the guitar parts. But even then, one reason the song was written was about needing patience and having a lack of it. And, you know, Duff's written his version of Patience, it's kind of a comedy version which may be out sometime. Izzy has a new song and it says - let's see, how does that go - Double-talking jive/get the money motherfucker/’cause I got no more patience (laughs). You know, I can't stand to watch the video of it or anything.  I'm proud of the video; it's just - when I hear it, it just makes me think about how I don’t have any patience now.  Same way for basically everybody in the band. It's like, it depresses us because we go, “Man, we thought we were getting closer to finding some peace of mind,” and we are farther from it than we’ve ever been – or at least that’s the way it seems."

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3210-1989-06-dd-patience-cd-single-w-axl-rose-interview 

Edited January 27, 2022 by Blackstar

[Arnuld]

I love the digital drums on the 2006 versions of Better, IRS, and TWAT.  In 2000 music critic David Wild described the CD songs he heard in November 1999 as Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti remixed by Trent Reznor and Beck. When I heard these songs with those digital drum intros and the synth effects I thought that his description was spot on. 

[S1lkw0rm1]

- This is more of an "arragment" (I guess, I am not a musician) rather than a "mixing" thing, but I love the guitar work right before the chorus in "Back Off Bitch". It's really catchy but it's burried behind Axl's screaming. It can be first heard from the minute 1:14 until 1:20.  

- The "drum" sound (is it a drum sound?)  in My World. It was much better used by Bjork in "Army of Me".

- As many mentioned, the ending of Prostitute. It sounded so nostalgic when I first heard it. It was like the song did not really wanted to end but it was inevitable at the same time. If I have to find an image to describe it, it would be like the end of a rollercoster ride, when you still have the adrenaline rush of what you have just experienced but the car is already slowing down. Just the opposite of the beginning of Chinese Domacracy, where all the sounds and effects create such an anticipation as if the song did not really want to start. Sorry, I got carried away.

- The sound effects in Coma. If the bands let Melissa play with them and put them high in the mix it would give a more industrial and oppresive vibe to it when played live. At least, that's how I imagine it.

- Axl' scream at the beginning of Welcome to the Jungle. It really sounds like police sirens to me. Also, the guitar sounds before the last "You know where you are?".

- The distorsion in Axl's voice in Oh My God, especially at the end. Also, the mini guitar solo. I wish it was a few seconds longer. Too bad the whole song sounds like a demo.

- The piano at the end of Yesterdays.

- The drum kick and china cymbal (I guess it's a china) bits at the end of Down On the Farm' solo. So simple yet so catchy.

- Shannon adds so much to Don't Cry, even when you can barely hear him.

Now that I read my own comments, I realize that I complain about the mix rather than praise it but I have already spent too much time writing. Lol.

 

[Swedish]

3 hours ago, Blackstar said:

It probably originated from an Axl quote in the Patience CD single interview, and then, along the way, it got twisted and morphed into a different story where Izzy supposedly wrote DTJ as a reaction to Patience:

Axl: "When I sang [Patience] it was the first time I'd ever sang it. Izzy basically wrote most of the words, except for the ending part. And then Slash and Duff got it on, rearranging and rewriting parts - the music parts of it, the guitar parts. But even then, one reason the song was written was about needing patience and having a lack of it. And, you know, Duff's written his version of Patience, it's kind of a comedy version which may be out sometime. Izzy has a new song and it says - let's see, how does that go - Double-talking jive/get the money motherfucker/’cause I got no more patience (laughs). You know, I can't stand to watch the video of it or anything.  I'm proud of the video; it's just - when I hear it, it just makes me think about how I don’t have any patience now.  Same way for basically everybody in the band. It's like, it depresses us because we go, “Man, we thought we were getting closer to finding some peace of mind,” and we are farther from it than we’ve ever been – or at least that’s the way it seems."

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3210-1989-06-dd-patience-cd-single-w-axl-rose-interview 

Do we know what that Duff song was?Cornshucker perhaps?

[Blackstar]

4 hours ago, youngswedishvinyl said:

Do we know what that Duff song was?Cornshucker perhaps?

No, it wasn't Cornshucker. It was a comedy alt. lyrics version of Patience Duff had written.

Duff: And there's another version that I have of [Patience]. I used to have an 8 track recorder. The 'Patience's that's on that is about a girl and it is really sweet and nice. I have another version that is more of a comedy thing, you know, it was when I lived in this apartment with three people and were doing drugs and shit, we sit there, and it's kinda comedic, it's like you sit there, and you just need a little patience. Your roommate takes a shit and forgets to flush it. All you need is a little patience. [Interview with Steve Harris, Dec. 3, 1988]

Duff: Del was an avid reader, and turned me onto a book called Slugs by Shaun Hutson. I remember just sitting in my bedroom/dining room with my curtain pulled taught, and reading this book with life sort of swirling around me in our apartment. There were drugs aplenty then, and Valium was the drug-of-the-month at that particular point. I remembered Izzy's little ditty, which at that point had a working title of "Patience," and I wrote a lyrical verse then that went, '"I sit here doing drugs/Reading a book about slugs/All I need is a little patience." This horrible lyric never made it past my apartment front door, thank God. [Seattle Weekly, Oct. 28, 2010]

[Swedish]

53 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

No, it wasn't Cornshucker. It was a comedy alt. lyrics version of Patience Duff had written.

Duff: And there's another version that I have of [Patience]. I used to have an 8 track recorder. The 'Patience's that's on that is about a girl and it is really sweet and nice. I have another version that is more of a comedy thing, you know, it was when I lived in this apartment with three people and were doing drugs and shit, we sit there, and it's kinda comedic, it's like you sit there, and you just need a little patience. Your roommate takes a shit and forgets to flush it. All you need is a little patience. [Interview with Steve Harris, Dec. 3, 1988]

Duff: Del was an avid reader, and turned me onto a book called Slugs by Shaun Hutson. I remember just sitting in my bedroom/dining room with my curtain pulled taught, and reading this book with life sort of swirling around me in our apartment. There were drugs aplenty then, and Valium was the drug-of-the-month at that particular point. I remembered Izzy's little ditty, which at that point had a working title of "Patience," and I wrote a lyrical verse then that went, '"I sit here doing drugs/Reading a book about slugs/All I need is a little patience." This horrible lyric never made it past my apartment front door, thank God. [Seattle Weekly, Oct. 28, 2010]

Thank you, I had never heard about this!

[Amir]

3:17 on TWAT, that little guitar that comes in on the left speaker that morphs into a heavy guitar from the right at 3:20.

Absolute favourite is 1:18-20 on Madagascar, when Axl's scream and (Buckethead's?) guitar become one.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Amir

[CubanSkies Dummy]

The brand new recorded vocals by Axl in "Rocket Queen" in 1999. (LIVE ERA)

Edited January 29, 2022 by CubanSkies Dummy

[WhazUp]

On 1/29/2022 at 6:45 AM, CubanSkies Dummy said:

The brand new recorded vocals by Axl in "Rocket Queen" in 1999. (LIVE ERA)

^ While I am surprised you didn't answer in list form or make up random CD era song titles in this reply, I actually agree with the fact that '99 Axl sounds awesome on the re-recorded vox on Live Era

[opalho]

I know this doesn't really count, but the Live Era version of "Nightrain". I mean, this is why I love live albums, or the first track at least. It pulls you in like "Back In The Saddle" does on Live! Bootleg and "Deuce" does on Alive! Such a great rendition. Such a shame that the rest of the album was kind of a put down. 

[darkside259]

i think my favorite is at the end of sweet child slash solo with the "where do we go ?" and a litle distortion of the guitar, then axl is left alone with the bass saying "where do we go" and  the song goes heart rage again with and axl/slash togheter, dude thats awesome

the "train" effects with the guitar in nightrain

the dolphin guitar in estranged

and the intro of mr brownstone

Edited February 23, 2022 by darkside259

[Honeyxcyanide]

In Estranged with headphones when Axl sings you took everything from me and it travels from left to right 

[Chester 524]

what ever it is Axl says 2 seconds into Human Being.  I got that cd the day it came out in 93 and I still can't figure out what he says.  

[WhazUp]

On 2/24/2022 at 4:30 AM, Chester 524 said:

what ever it is Axl says 2 seconds into Human Being.  I got that cd the day it came out in 93 and I still can't figure out what he says.  

I certainly hope someone can solve this mystery because I have absolutely no idea either lol

[King_Johnny]

40 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

I certainly hope someone can solve this mystery because I have absolutely no idea either lol

Sounds like 'whole different beast' to me.

[Spaghetti4twenty]

14 hours ago, King_Johnny said:

Sounds like 'whole different beast' to me.

That’s what I’ve always heard 

[Billy Cundy]

The harmony guitars on the pre-chorus of Out Ta Get Me. Proper Thin Lizzy. 

The PROPER harmony vocals on SCOM in the verses… Axl seldom did proper tasty harmonies, adding a third or fifth above… when he’s layering vocals, he tends to do octaves and that’s about it. CD has a few more conventional thirds and fifths, but the vocal production on UYI is void of any decent harmonies. Just his silly ‘cool ranch dressing’ bass overdub. SCOM has some great harmonies, I reckon Clink probably knew it was a radio hit in the making and forced him to do some nice proper pop harmonies. 

[Live Like a Suicide]

Not exactly a little mixing decision, but the orchestral arrangements on This I Love and Prostitute are amazing. Too bad they are mixed heavily into the background and are hard to hear at times.