Does anyone else feel that this album should be remixed and remastered by Devin? I love this album and it's one of my favorite release by Dev because it kind of shows all of the things he was doing up to that point with his music. BUT the mix and mastering job is terrible IMO it's to low sounding and there is fuzz on it all. If this album sounded more like "City" even it would be much better.

I find the mix perfectly fine, after a few initial listens you can listen to it and be fufilled with happy brutalness. And lots of devs solo stuff sounds fuzzy (Infinity had awesome fuzziness to me).

Want a solo album that sounds like City? Ocean Machine.

And I'll keep saying that after Addicted is released, more people will start to like Fzzt for what it is.

Yeah, I've heard all of the SYL and DT albums all I'm saying in Physicist does sound good, but not as good as the rest of the albums.

Personally, I love Physicist, including its sound. It's really got a unique sound when looked at in the context of all Dev's albums. I think the mission was to give it a sound that clearly distinguished it from SYL, and they certainly achieved that. But it was always going to be a tough ask because the music was very close to being an SYL album PLUS all the band members were the guys from SYL. But if we're going to put our cards on the table about sound-mixes we don't like that much, my vote would be for the self-titled SYL album. That one could use some work, imo. Too muddy and dirty for SYL. Not that it was anything like St. Anger, but it had the same problem - the sound was not right for the album, or the band. Well, I think so anyway. I know others who really dig that kind of messy chaos, but for me it was sobering to go from the pristine sounds of 'City' to the muddiness of 'SYL'. Great songs though

The mix kinda bugs me too, but merely because it's inconsistent with what you'd expect from sir Townsend – the guitars are generally equal to or lower then the keyboards. However, it serves to distinguish the record, and really, there's not much consistency between most Dev records anyway!

Also, it's rather ludicrous to say Ocean Machine sounds anything like City. Completely different guitar tones and drum sounds (beyond the obvious differences in songwriting). They're only tied by release year and common phrases/relations from the words.

Eh, it was mixed the way he intended it. Don't forget it was done after Ocean Machine, it's not like he was just learning how to produce an album.

Actually, I remember reading Mr. Townsend was displeased with the mixing...

I would like to hear a remastered version, but if I were Devin Townsend I wouldn't do it, simply because I would rather make a new album. But it would be sweet.

I would like to hear a remastered version, but if I were Devin Townsend I wouldn't do it, simply because I would rather make a new album. But it would be sweet.

I'm looking forward to the remastered versions of the Ki bonus material he's doing after the 4th.

I would like to hear a remastered version, but if I were Devin Townsend I wouldn't do it, simply because I would rather make a new album. But it would be sweet.

I could be wrong about this, but wouldn't a remastered version of Physicist simply make the existing sound of the album louder, fuller and punchier? As opposed to going back to the actual mix and looking at how the entire thing could sound different? I would prefer the latter if he were going to do something with it, but at the end of the day, it is what it is and I dig it - but it would be interesting for curiosity's sake.

hey! this is my first post here.

i was reading the discussion about eventuality of remastering the whole PHYSICIST album (one of my favs by the way). i thought that i could give you all an example what it could sound like. you can download short mp3 file here http://www.sendspace.com/file/fpm7hy

i hope Dev won't mind and will forgive me that i touched his work. RESPECT

Mike

hey! this is my first post here.

i was reading the discussion about eventuality of remastering the whole PHYSICIST album (one of my favs by the way). i thought that i could give you all an example what it could sound like. you can download short mp3 file here http://www.sendspace.com/file/fpm7hy

i hope Dev won't mind and will forgive me that i touched his work. RESPECT

Mike

No offense, but that's only messing with the EQ, right? I like the bassy bass though.

yep, eq plus comp to add a punch. this just can be a proof that mastering only can't make miracles. you need to go tdeep into the whole mix to change the sound.

yep, eq plus comp to add a punch. this just can be a proof that mastering only can't make miracles. you need to go tdeep into the whole mix to change the sound.

The overzealous compression is exactly the problem with the original mastering. The transients (=punchiness & attack) are all bulldozed by compression, leaving things sound a bit mushy and plain. It's impossible to add real punch to already mastered stuff where there is none. That said, it's one of my favorite albums and i can live with its unique sound. A gentle remaster would do no harm, though.

yep, eq plus comp to add a punch. this just can be a proof that mastering only can't make miracles. you need to go tdeep into the whole mix to change the sound.

The overzealous compression is exactly the problem with the original mastering. The transients (=punchiness & attack) are all bulldozed by compression, leaving things sound a bit mushy and plain. It's impossible to add real punch to already mastered stuff where there is none. That said, it's one of my favorite albums and i can live with its unique sound. A gentle remaster would do no harm, though.

that goes for every Dev album since City, though. compression can't hold back a gigantic kick drum like in Terria and Alien — you still feel that shit in your chest. this just further points to the mix of Physicist not quite bringing out what we usually get from Dev's production — there's a lot of emphasis on the high mids generally, and the airy keyboards really fill in all the space so the guitars don't quite crunch as usual; the drums don't quite come through either.