For the most part - The mixing on Living Things was terrible, which a shame because there's so many good ideas (particularly synths) buried under Vocals, Drums and guitar. Its not so much that everything is so loud (at least compared to earlier albums - Nu-Metal was like a poster boy for loud mixing), but things just don't have enough space to breathe. everything is pushed front and centre, with a lot of frequencies masking others. But then again, its mixed by Manny Marroquin, and him and Mark Stent are notorious mixing in that way to make it sound ear catching on small speakers (laptops, phones car radios etc). Neal Avron's work on A Thousand Suns was much nicer, and really fit the aesthetic. On a semi related note, the worst mixing I've ever heard is Oasis' Be Here Now. Apparently they were determined to use all 96 Channels on the mixing desk - I think they tracked the same guitar part like 12 times just for loudness. My favourite mix on an Album is Kid A by Radiohead. Since the album is virtually devoid of melody, they made up for with really well balanced ambience
Random comment. A lot of people say they hear Chester more so than Mike in Robot Boy but I honestly hear Mike having the prevailing vocals with a lot of effects. In fact, I hardly hear Chester singing at all, even. I think that's one of the reasons why they didn't preform that song live, Mike didn't think he could do it. I heard Mike's lead WOAH'S after Chester's in Roads Untraveled and was told repeatedly by many people that it was Chester in the lead all the time. The accapella comes out and I am proven right. And I can clearly hear his backing harmonies in Until it's Gone whist others say he isn't in it at all Either I'm wrong or crazy but if true (and I am confident that I am) I guess I have an ability for distinguishing Mike's voice or something.
Exactly what I thought. What the hell happened in the mix?! Was Andy plastered when he did this song?
Reviving this thread to talk about some mixing moments on From Zero, specifically Over Each Other. Great song but it's a great example of how drastically a mix can change a song when you compare it to the live version. The main classc LP synth melody that kicks off the song is only audible in the first verse, in the 2nd verse it's so quiet along with the other electronic elements and effects/production moments and it just makes that section sound so empty. Then there's the 2nd chorus and the final chorus/outro where there's more elements drowned out bc all you can hear is the guitars and the drums and it just makes the instrumentation of the second half of this song sound really bland, which is a criticism a lot of people had about this song. Even Fantano talked about the lack of the usual electronic embellishments in the instrumentation. What's funny is that it doesn't have to be that way, bc there's actually all these electronics and layers that I didn't even know existed until I heard the live version. Seriously, go listen to the live version, there's all these beautiful chimey sounds and synth pads in the mix during the 2nd and 3rd choruses that make the song so much more atmospheric and LP sounding. Same with the 2nd verse where you can hear all these really cool production effects along with the main synth melody that are just not discernable in the actual song even with all the space in that section. Seriously mind blowing just how much it sounds like a different song altogether when you listen to fan recordings or the "live in Paris" version they put out. It's not even a case of these things being mixed low like so many other instances in their music, here they're just not audible even if you actually try to listen for them, and the fact that it's mixed that way live feels like that's how it's intended to be heard, but the studio version doesn't reflect that at all. It's the biggest reason this song doesn't crack my top 3, sadly. If it sounded like the live version it'd absolutely be.
I agree that OEO is maybe the one song on FZ where I have small issues with the mixing. You've already explained the reasons very well, not much to add to it. I'll say that I can vibe with the nice saturated tone of the guitars in the 2nd half , but still, there are so many cool elements that can't be heard on the studio mix. The live version is much more balanced in that regards.
Yeah FZ is a marked improvement upon OML or even LT in terms of making sure the "ear candy" shines through. OML buries everything behind heavy synths pushed to the front of the mix, and LT buries some of the more interesting decorative parts like the IMR synth or Owen Pallett's strings. From what I've read, this was a point they emphasized when Andy Wallace mixed HT. They had to make sure the little parts Mike and Joe added in could be heard. And that's one of my favorite parts about the mix of that album too. And I think From Zero successfully captures that on most tracks. I think all the ones I have issues with are mixed by the same person actually lol.
I hope the mixing continues to improve. I barely listen to Living Things or The Hunting Party anymore because the mixing is so bad. I'll Be Gone especially actually hurts to listen to on headphones, it's so distorted and muddy, it sounds awful when it gets loud. Casualty is probably their best mixed heavy song in a long time, it gets loud but it never gets distorted or messy, it sounds so clean.