I'm listening to the reissue right now. I've actually been listening to Adore a LOT recently (
http://www.last.fm/user/oreoleo/charts?subtype=tracks - for no particular reason other than it's a good album) so I feel fairly, ehm... qualified (for lack of a better word) to notice the smaller differences. I've been looking forward to this reissue a bunch and wanted to set some time aside to listen to it so I hope you all don't mind my ramblings too much..
To Sheila - The banjos and some of the ambient effects are higher in the mix
Ava Adore - Seems basically identical. Longer fade out is not as jarring as on the original and much appreciated.
Perfect - Also mostly the same
Daphne Descends - Counter to the rest of the album so far the mix seems a bit flatter here. The swirling guitars aren't nearly as prominent, but there's a tremolo effect on a 2nd (?) guitar I'd never noticed before. Think I might prefer the original mix.
Once Upon A Time - The high end is much more noticeable here, especially the tambourines.
Tear - The crash cymbals on the intro/main hook are mixed higher, covers up the somewhat dated/dry sound of the synth, giving the overall sound more depth. Without looking at the spectrograph, it sounds like there might be a bit of that "loud at any volume" brickwalling going on- booo. But I could be wrong.
Crestfallen - Vocals much more front and center. There's what sounds like a digital shaker sitting a little too above the mix and is kind of grating..
Appels + Oranjes - Dynamic range seems better. My least favorite song on the album, but the mix makes it somehow more listenable.
Pug - The intro hook sounds thinner, and the bass is (maybe?) reeled in a bit so it blends with the rest of the mix better now. Similar to Crestfallen, the vocals are again more front and center. Outro fade sounds improved similar to Ava Adore. Might be more brickwalling at points but can't say for certain. Sounds like the most significantly changed mix on the album thus far, to my ears.
The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete - Greater dynamic range, the bass comes through more prominently than on the original mix. Sounds great, actually. Cleaner vocals.
Annie-Dog - Pretty sparse song, hard to do much with, but the bass seems to be increased a bit and the piano has a fuller sound. Not sure if it's better dynamic range but each element (vocal, drum, piano) sounds cleaner and easier to pick apart. The arrangement really lets the mix shine, imo.
Shame - Sounds basically identical to the original. The hi-hat and vocals are a little brighter, in line with the rest of the reissue.
Behold! The Night Mare - Is it just me or are the vocals on the chorus ("and the NIIIGHT MAAAAARE rides on") kicked up a bunch? Legit caught me by surprise and startled me a little. The whole thing sounds a bit louder, actually, but not to the point of brickwalling.
For Martha - Vocals are louder. Can clearly make out the line "wherever I run to you lost one" which was always kind of a question mark for me if he said "one," if not for the live versions. While the clearer vocals are appreciated, you can hear some of the imperfections in Billy's falsetto at times that were otherwise mixed out so I'm not sure if it's a net improvement. No major differences in the rest of the mix (why mess with perfection?), aside from the across the board increase in brightness.
Blank Page - Sounds like the bass level is increased. There's some more space in between the multi-layered vocals on the chorus (or maybe I'm just listening too intently). Nothing too drastic, thankfully.
17 - lol
Overall it all seems brighter and louder than the original. The high ends aren't rolled off as much. Besides that it's pretty faithful to the original, however unlike basically every other main SP album I feel like this is the one album that needed a re-mix/mastering the least, aside from Tear and Pug which, ironically are the most questionable mixes on the reissue. Will have to listen side-by-side with the originals to make up my mind on the changes.
Hope someone appreciates this
