HiRez Poll Tears For Fears - THE SEEDS OF LOVE [Blu-Ray Audio]

[MarkyM]

Solid 10 for me!
I completely missed this album at the time and until now other than hearing Sowing on the radio.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it via the superb immersive mix by SW and really appreciate his hard work on this one! It will be in my top tier surround rotation from now on.

 

[srbjab]

My copy of this arrived late and I've taken some time to listen through several times to the main album and extras. I struggled a bit with a rating for the surround mix, but finally settled on a 9 - mainly because I think Steven Wilson overcame tremendous technical challenges to deliver what he set out to do - create an immersive surround mix that significantly opens up the densely layered recording - while remaining very true to the original stereo. It's obvious from reading his notes that he reveres the original stereo mix, so much so that he declined to create a new stereo mix on this release. It's also clear that identifying/obtaining all the disparate elements of this very complex recording was a herculean effort. Although Tears For Fears remains one of my favorite bands, Seeds Of Love was never my favorite release from them and is the one I returned to least often. Having said that, the new 5.1 mix definitely enhances the listening experience far beyond the original stereo and has increased my appreciation of the album. Despite the lengthy and arduous recording process, when I listened to the 5.1 mix at high volume the first time, what came across most was the sheer joy everyone seemed to have in creating the music. While I don't feel that it's the best Steven Wilson surround mix I've heard, I do think it is a highly effective and successful one.
I'm a bit less impressed with the deluxe package overall. This is another case of having to purchase an expensive box set containing a lot of material I'm not really interested in just to get the surround mix I want. It's really a shame that a stand alone blu-ray wasn't offered like those for The Hurting and Songs From The Big Chair because that would have been a far better value, IMHO. The box, sleeves, and booklets are nicely done, but I think would have been better presented in a 12" X 12" format for the price. As far as additional audio value is concerned, to me there's a bit too much repetition and some questionable inclusions. I mean, when you have 2 masterings of the original stereo mix and the new 5.1 mix of the complete album all in hi-res, how many "edits" of songs do you need and how often would you want to listen to them? And did we really need 5 versions of a song, "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams", that never made it to the album? I know, no one held a gun to my head and forced me to purchase this, but when I compare it to the value of prior TFF blu-ray releases, and to deluxe releases from other bands such as Jethro Tull, Alan Parsons and King Crimson (where Robert Fripp always provides a much cheaper alternative to the mega box sets) I think this package comes up a bit short.

 

[R E Faust]

This is an excellent surround mix, my only quibble is that the vocals could be a little more distinct and centered.

The last 3 tracks are sensational on this album and 'Year of the Knife' is the highlight of the surround mix (as it was for me in the original Stereo mix)

Slight overuse if the surrounds for vocals and other elements means I score it a 9

R

 

[JulesRules]

And did we really need 5 versions of a song, "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams", that never made it to the album?

I'm glad to have all five versions. The Fluke remix single was a #1 hit on the dance charts and this has so far not been represented particularly well, even if it's sonically not quite in line with the album (but has many ties to it).

Agree about the abundance of edits though. I'd rather have had more of the jams and outtakes, and perhaps also new stereo remixes.

 

[Ninecats]

HOLY ****! What A sound, always loved this record for its big, larger than life-sophisticated sounds, and they just got even better and bigger. I got chills several times playing this. That alone is a 10.

 

[Ranasakawa]

Brilliant surround mix woeful album. The previous album Songs From The Big Chair is a considerably better album.

 

[Strilo]

Although Tears For Fears remains one of my favorite bands, Seeds Of Love was never my favorite release from them and is the one I returned to least often. Having said that, the new 5.1 mix definitely enhances the listening experience far beyond the original stereo and has increased my appreciation of the album. Despite the lengthy and arduous recording process, when I listened to the 5.1 mix at high volume the first time, what came across most was the sheer joy everyone seemed to have in creating the music. While I don't feel that it's the best Steven Wilson surround mix I've heard, I do think it is a highly effective and successful one.

Very much so. You could have been describing my experience with this album, from release in 1988 to now.

 

[marpow]

I voted 10. Actually a hard vote for me, in my mind I started at an 8, and then when I started to write my thoughts here and now I kept going back and forth between 9 & 10.
There where a couple negatives to this, one was the build up, waiting a few years, knowing this was ready for release made me think it was going to be the end all to all surround mixes, along with the fact I have listened to this CD from it's release in 1989.
My intilal listen in surround was "it doesn't sound right" the fidelity was good, maybe a tiny bit bright, but still real good. Then after about 5 surround listens I finally got it and imbraced it. The surround is super discrete in the 5.1. I actually like 5.1 better than 4.0 and nobody uses that center speaker better than Steven Wilson.
One thing I really like, and this is not the first disc to do it, but I like hearing when sounds of vocals and instruments play off each other diagonally, say right front to left rear as an example, this release has plenty of that.
The bass and LFE through the subs was just right.
I have read the book about Wilson's need to make adjustments for missing artifacts and now after a few listens I am not listening for the negative but the positive.
Highly enjoyable 2020 release in surround.
I listened to the 5.1 BD-A, 24/48, DR avg 13, 2 X actual disc, and 3 X the ripped disc played thru my JRiver software, USB out of my PC to ExaSound 38 DAC, all RCA out 6 cables (5.1) into the AVR. My average listening level was 50db.

 

[JohnA]

Gave it a 9 due to high production values.
-1 because the material is not fully up to scratch for my tastes.
Sound quality and surround mix are solid 10

 

[groo]

Been a while since I purchased a Bluray Audio disc this expensive, though by the abundance of box sets and deluxe editions, this is on the lower end. I was not a fan of the album when it first came out but boy was I blown away by the first track Women in Chains. It just showed how meticulous R Orzabal was and Mr. Wilson just mixed it to perfection. Discrete effects that don't emphasize effects but moods and passion. It was so good I overlooked Seeds of Love mix and for Additionally this Wilson mix did not neuter the bass.

 

[ar surround]

I had a difficult time rating this album. Should I give it a 9 or a 10? The complexity of the production is beyond the maximum that I prefer, so I'd probably go with a 9. However, I am really impressed by Wilson's ability to take a gazillion multi-tracks for these songs and come up with this result. If a rank amateur like me tried to mix this, I'd explode like a chameleon trying to hide in a box of crayons. So I give it the 10.

 

[fthesoundguy]

Before this was announced as a surround mix, I never listened to anything on this album before. I know all the hits from Songs From The Big Chair, but that was the extent of my Tears for Fears exposure. After streaming it a couple of times, I was amazed at how great this album is.
I’ll start off by being a tad blunt. The first two singles that this album produced are the worst of this record to me. I absolutely love everything on this album except Woman In Chains and Sowing The Seeds Of Love. Those two are just… ok.

Woman In Chains: There were some nice surround moments in this. The shaker starting in SR and then going to the other surround. There were a couple of great placement parts as far as the vocals go. There are instances with the backing vocals in the surrounds or the phantom . Sometimes there’s something happening in the center when the vocals go mainly towards the surrounds. It works especially well when roland sang “the sun and the moon” in the SL and “The wind and the rain” in the SR near the end when they are singing the “So free” part. This mix has made this song a lot more tolerable for me.

Bad Man’s Song: God, I love this song. It has got such a great groove in it. There isn’t a whole lot of panning going on, but the placement is just wonderful. The shaker is locked down in the SR for the song and various horns are thrown in the surrounds. Keys and some backing vocals appear at moments back there as well. the “Faith can move mountians” part of this song is just incredible sounding. Reverbs flow right through you and everything is just perfect. With how detailed and expensive this amazing production was, I am always fascinated that we get fake horns instead of the real deal. That really dates an otherwise perfect album.

Sowing The Seeds of Love: I don’t hear any vocal issues that some others have, but I just don’t really enjoy this song so maybe i’m not as invested as others. Again, not a real adventurous mix but it works. Lots of good placement of instruments. Strings and shakers are in the surrounds for the most part. The one part I really loved is that vocoder-ish vocal effect going on. It’s cool to hear it separated in this mix a bit.

Advice For The Young At Heart: Loved the start with the backing vocals in the surrounds and bongos in the phantom rear. The low end sounds really lovely on this song. The shakers going between the surrounds is really pleasant as well. Otherwise its a pretty standard mix. There is a nice moment with a harp starting in the SL and panning to SR during a strum. The lead vocal at the end sounds really nice with all the space that it has.

Standing on the Corner of the Third World: There are so many cool percussion things happening in the surrounds on this one. Starting off right away from the chimes in the phantom surround, to bongos and shakers too. I just wish the fake brass near the end was a little louder. Its the climax of the song! It just sounds a bit dull to me, which is unfortunate. At the end, the overdriven bass coming from the phantom rear is really great! Loved the panning around the room with the harmonica as well.

Swords and Knives: This is a special song in 5.1. Lots of space to hear all the discrete instruments in all the speakers. Loved the metallic sounds at the start in the surrounds. There is a cool swishing sound that goes from SL to SR. The structure of this song is really special. Starts off mellow and then adds in the band, it comes to another level with the addition of the backing vocals. Loved the guitar note panning near the end of this song during the break. The last three songs on this record just go so well together and this mix has made me appreciate that even more.

Year of the Knife: First off, this is one of the best songs i’ve ever heard. Period. I cannot believe I never heard of this song before the announcement of this box set. I love the crowd at the beginning. it gets me pumped when the band comes in. Those guitar notes split between the front and rears at the beginning is really amazing. I’ve never thought to do that but it works SO brilliantly. Loved the backing vocals absolutely screaming at you in the surrounds. Also, roland’s scatting during the first chorus section in the center is absolutely incredible. I never picked up on that in the stereo version (I do now though) and had to go back and listen to make sure I wasn’t hearing things!
During the breakdown, I loved that the snare sample gets thrown into the phantom surround. I wish the guitar solo was louder near the end. Its a little buried in the original mix, but it gets lost a little more in this one with the backing vocals just blaring in the rears. I’ll give SW a little credit though, there is just so many things happening in this song, I would be spending a 100+ hours trying to get a song like this perfect.

Famous Last Words: Again, a lot of wonderful discrete things happening in the surrounds on this one. Horns, percussion stuff, strings. Its a really wonderful and powerful song, especially once the drums come in. It just about gives me goosebumps.

There is one thing that puzzled me a bit while continually listening to this. To me, the low end is not uniform across all the songs. Advice for the Young at Heart sounds absolutely incredible and well balanced across the frequency spectrum, while every other does not meet that level. They are ok and don’t sound anemic or anything but as soon as I play Advice again, there is a noticeable difference! I’ve played albums with great low end in them back to back just to make sure I wasn’t hearing anything weird. I’m guessing the huge difference between songs means this was either not mastered or very lightly. Definitely not a cohesive unit as far as the low end goes. Does anyone else feel/hear this discrepancy? It hasn’t been brought up in this thread so maybe its just me…

I do wish a couple of the B-Sides were mixed in surround. Though with the trouble of finding all the material on the tapes for the actual album, I can see why they were left out.

Other Audio: There are a lot of great tracks on these couple of CDs. Since I have fell in love with Year of the Knife, hearing all the different versions of this song has been awesome! Especially “The Mix”, (it’s weird to hear it with a drum machine) and the Canadian single. It’s quite different than the final product. The Langer / Winstanley version of Bad Man’s Song is AWESOME as well. I wish somehow that there wasn’t just an instrumental of that.

The one thing I hate is the track order for CD two and three. It seems like they were trying to mix it all up nice, but I just wish they were organized a little better. Why are the instrumental and first two mixes of Jonny Panic and the Bible of Dreams before the final one? To hear the progression on how the song turned out? (That kind of makes sense) Why are some 7” edits between the two discs? The Demos and Jam session cd is laid out well, which is good because that’s the best one for sure.

I’m going to give this a 9 for now. There’s just a couple of things on this one that don’t make it a perfect release. I had so. much. hype. for this surround mix, which leads to feeling just a tad disappointed when listening to it. I thought it was going to be one of the best surround mixes of all time, it just happened to be true for something else released on that day. SW’s Ultravox - Vienna mix has spoiled me and is how I grade surround mixes for sure. I am loving this mix more every time I listen to it and am really glad to have this! It’s an incredible album and i’ll boot it up just to hear Year of the Knife / Famous Last Words over and over again. I’ll be listening to this one for years to come. Yet another album I would have never given a chance and now its something I listen to in my free time quite frequently.

Mix Highlights: Bad Man’s Song, Standing On The Corner Of The Third World, Swords and Knifes, Year of the Knife, Famous Last Words

 

[notfer]

I ordered from MusicVaultz in late September, but the album was shipped until December. And it wasn't until this weekend when I gave it a spin.

My vote calculation is based on the recommended voting framework proposed by JonUrban:

Surround Mix (30%) = 8.5
Audio Fidelity (30%) = 10
Content (30%) = 7.5
Overall Package (10%) = 9
TOTAL = 8.7 (Round up to 9)​

SURROUND MIX: 8.5
It is a very good mix, don't get me wrong. I prefer more discrete mixes that use the rears much more.
But I was able to hear panning and some instruments and voices coming and going from the rears.

AUDIO FIDELITY: 10
It sounds great. It has a great production and everything sounds clear to me.

CONTENT: 7.5
This was my first listen. I was surprised. A lot of great songs and musical passages. But it is not something that I love 100%. But I understand why some people love this album.

OVERALL PACKAGE: 9
For what I paid, the contents are very good. 4 CDs with B-sides, demos. The Blu ray with the 5.1 mix, the original stereo mix and the remaster.
I doubt I will ever listen to the demos and early mixes as I'm not that bid of a fan of the album. Nevertheless, very good contents for those who love this album. The only thing missing is the lyrics.


RESULT: 9
Recommended.

 

[wrat]

Another solid 8 for me very good album and surround mix , quite a difference in all the mixes

 

[Larry Geller]

As of 2/8/21, SDE posted this story: The previously out-of-print Tears For Fears The Seeds of Love box set is once more available to order, but the SDE shop uk is already sold out.
View attachment 62938

Just got mine through this. A 10 if there ever was one. Tears rolled down.

 

[knifeman]

I was thinking the only way I'd buy this was if it was offered as a stand-alone blu-ray, which I gathered probably wasn't going to happen. I knew a few of the songs, but after everyone around here was practically falling over each other in anticipation of this release, I wondered if I was missing something. So I listened to it a few times on YouTube. First off, I really liked the female voice (Oleta Adams) on a couple of tracks, and found the record overall to be a pleasing listen. So I figured what the hell, took the plunge and found a copy (which is becoming a bit harder to do). I'm not a big Tears fan, so a lot of content on this release might get played only once, if at all. But I'm going to say that the price of this set is worth it just for the blu-ray. Now I understand what all the commotion was about! If I had to describe this record in one word it would be LUSH. It reminds me of a Steely Dan recording, with so much going on that a lot of it goes to waste in a stereo mix. Here, the 5.1 just opens everything up. And the album itself really surprised me. A bit poppy at times maybe, but I've played this numerous times and it's been my go-to disc lately when I only have an hour or so of listening time. I'll vote 9. The 5.1 mix is stellar, as is the fidelity and the music is much more enjoyable (for me) than I thought it would be. A must have.

 

[JulesRules]

(Well, I have it, but can't currently listen to the 5.1)

I posted this in the Steve Hoffman forums and I think I need to also put it here.

As some of you may know, I'm one of the few weirdos who's signed up for this site despite not having a surround system. Not that I wouldn't want one, but at the moment I have neither the funds nor the space to accomodate that.

It doesn't help that the only device I can play Blu-Ray discs on is a battered old laptop, which I once bought especially for the capability to play Blu-Ray discs. The drive isn't in a very good state (the spindle fell off twice, and the second time it fell apart - I actually consider it a miracle that I somehow managed to glue it back on in a way that it still plays most discs, although it's not quite balanced anymore!), and the laptop was pretty much unusuable before I swapped out the fan. So all of that explains why I haven't really gotten around to listening to this disc (as well as a few others I bought, mostly in combined packages like Steve Hackett's Selling England... or Steven Wilson's own Home Invasion).

The positive thing is that where I put the laptop, I could hook it up to a couple of rather decent PC speakers that were once connected to a really old desktop computer. They're not audiophile by any means but I've come to like them quite a bit. Considering their size, they have a good soundstage and nice bass. Certainly better than the built-in laptop speakers, ugh!

So now today - as part of my chronological journey through TFF's catalog - I finally got around to actually listening to Steven Wilson's remix of the album on the blu-ray! Unfortunately, I could only experience it on two speakers connected to my old laptop, but with TrueTheater Surround mode and eyes closed it was almost like actually being immersed in it, and the clarity and possibility to follow a lot of the elements in the sonic picture very well makes it fascinating even for someone who knows this album as well as I do. No doubt it will be even more impressive with a real surround system. Note: I listened to the DTS-HD stream.

The most impressive track, mix-wise, was "Standing on the Corner of the Third World". I felt very drawn in by this one - everything was pretty much perfect. "Year of the Knife" was a close second. The power was palpable. I also enjoyed "Woman in Chains" a lot. "Badman's Song" seemed a little too dry for me, but that emphasized its jam nature (there were also bits were I felt the organ was lacking presence, but that may have been due to me just having two speakers...). "Advice for the Young at Heart" was wonderfully immersive but seemed to lack a bit of power - I must admit I agree with Curt that the LP mix sounds too soft (I've come to prefer Bob Clearmountain's mix on the 7") and Steven seems to have softened it out even more. "Swords and Knives" had some thrilling moments but similar to the remixes on SFTBC, I think it exposed the programmed drums a bit too much. Still great, though.

I don't have any fully formed opinions on "Famous Last Words", probably because I was so overwhelmed from "Year of the Knife".

The worst, by far, was unfortunately "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (and I think others have made this point before). There were good moments like Curt's vocals. But there are two main problems with it. One is that Roland's vocal is mostly a different take, and an inferior one at that, with lots of breathing (that I wish Steven would've cut out, or at least lowered in the mix), rushed delivery, Roland singing "bring back the jams"(!), the long note ("love power") breaking off prematurely leaving a hole at that point - it's almost like a live version. The other is exemplified by how the band showed the song to Bob Clearmountain and he was confused. Couldn't mix it, there was just too much going on in it. Neither Clearmountain nor SW are slouches, in fact they are grade A mixing engineers, but that song has something special. I guess the only people who could've done it justice are Roland and David Bascombe... and I understand they both had some input into the remix but you know, that's not the same thing as actually doing it yourself. (Then again, they don't have surround mixing experience, so that could've misfired differently.)

But that is the only misstep on the disc. Granted, it's on one of my absolute favourite songs ever, so I can't totally overlook it. Nevertheless, I'm thankful that this mix got done and released. And hearing it also solidified my decision to buy the upcoming Tipping Point 5.1 disc. Even if I can't listen to it in ideal settings, I'm sure I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. And considering that this was done directly after the stereo mix, that will not have the problem of missing original recordings that plagued Seeds to a degree - though all of them are pretty much close to unnoticeable aside from the "Sowing the Seeds" vocal.

By the way, since this prompted a revisit of the two threads in this forum, I'm going to address a few things, taken from both threads...

So last night I anxiously put in the new disk and selected the Sowing the Seeds of Love track and ... it was just OK. The mix sounded off to me with some of the vocal parts mixed too low and it didn't seem to build up to the glorious finale that I remembered. Strange. After listening to the song I sat there fairly disappointed. Yes the mix is in surround sound but it wasn't as good as I had hoped or imagined. Then I did something that I never do with these surround disks.... I saw that they had included the original 1989 Bob Ludwig stereo versions and so I played the stereo (gasp!) track. Immediately, I had to turn up the volume to get it to a good listening level (Wilson's 5.1 is mastered higher) and the sound that came out was beautiful, with an almost 3D sound from just the two main stereo speakers. I actually had to verify that my AVR was outputting stereo and not an up-mixed surround sound, it wasn't. Hummm. I played the 5.1 track again and I could obviously hear the surround mix is wider and more spacious, but to me, it is missing some.... magic.

I agree on that song, but that one only. The rest seems very faithful to the original sonic world, and as somebody who basically has this album in his DNA by now, I think I can speak with some authority on it.

And sometimes I have the feeling SW had to use different lead vocal takes

This is definitely the case. I'd say only about 20% of Roland's lead vocal on "Sowing the Seeds" is the same take that's on the album. I didn't notice anything like that on the other songs, though.

Y'all, not hearing the volume disparity for lead vocal from the title track to all other tracks. Sounds very consistent to me. 3rd listen. LPCM each time.
Anyone else want to weigh in?!

Even though I was listening in stereo (with surround fakery*), I got enough of an impression of what's going on. That song is incredibly dense at all times (not just at moments like some other songs on the album). So the vocal is at a similar volume as on the other songs but gets buried because the rest of the music is far more active/loud/upfront than on the other tracks. I don't quite know why this works better on the stereo mix but I'm sure there's an explanation.

"...listening to the band that made us cry..."

My first listen to this was a religious experience. This album was always sonic perfection, but Steven has given it new life. I cranked it up (sorry downstairs neighbors), leaned back in my recliner and kept my eyes closed for fifty minutes. There were multiple places where I could have sworn I was listening to an Atmos mix. Instruments were coming from places where I knew there were no speakers. It is so rich and full.

I don't recall reading this post but I agree. I actually planned to write a few things while listening to the mix but couldn't do anything, really. "Woman in Chains" - eyes closed almost all the way through. That just happened by itself. A few times I watched the on-screen graphics (I love how the single covers were worked into those, it's not just random nonsense) but that's it.

Nicky Holland's jazzy piano work ("Birdland" anyone?)

It's Oleta who's playing piano on "Badman's Song", not Nicky. And it's funny that you should bring up "Birdland", since that is evidently a favourite of hers. She covered it during the sessions to Circle of One, the album produced by Roland and David Bascombe and featuring several other musicians from the Seeds era. This version was included with the 2CD reissue from a few years back, which was put together by the same team as the TFF deluxe editions and also features interviews done by Paul with Oleta, Nicky, Roland and David Bascombe. That deluxe edition also has a live version of "I've Got to Sing My Song" with TFF backing, which is the same version as on the Going to California video but with far less obtrusive audience and (to my ears) better sound quality.

The one thing I hate is the track order for CD two and three. It seems like they were trying to mix it all up nice, but I just wish they were organized a little better. Why are the instrumental and first two mixes of Jonny Panic and the Bible of Dreams before the final one? To hear the progression on how the song turned out? (That kind of makes sense) Why are some 7” edits between the two discs? The Demos and Jam session cd is laid out well, which is good because that’s the best one for sure.

I agree with that criticism. In addition, "Mix One" and "Mix Two" of Johnny Panic (also known as "Shock Mix" and "Unstable Mix") are from 1991. They are later remixes by the band Fluke, released as an anonymous single that scored in the dance charts. I'd have put the regular 1990 version first but it appears last on the CD - weird.

I also learned only right now that Roland is shouting "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" and not "Too late! Too late! Too late!" near the end of the song. Weird.

Yes, I noticed that too...

Now... I think I would vote "9" if I were asked but since I haven't listened in real surround I don't feel I'm really eligible to vote.

[* I should probably do some testing on the surround and stereo mixes to find the best setting - PowerDVD has several options for choosing 2 speakers, 4 or 6, and TrueTheater can be used in "Theater" and "Stadium" mode... and yes, I realize that I was maybe just listening to a fold-down that then gets processed to sound wider. Don't stone me!]

 

[sjcorne]

Even though I was listening in stereo (with surround fakery*), I got enough of an impression of what's going on. That song is incredibly dense at all times (not just at moments like some other songs on the album). So the vocal is at a similar volume as on the other songs but gets buried because the rest of the music is far more active/loud/upfront than on the other tracks. I don't quite know why this works better on the stereo mix but I'm sure there's an explanation.

I think it has to do with the level difference between the stereo 'phantom center' and actual center speaker. For the level of the center channel to exactly match that of the phantom center (a mono signal reproduced by two speakers), one usually has to add around 3 dB of volume. The same goes for the reverse action - if you're folding the center signal into the mains, you're supposed to lower it by 3 dB.

I understand that Steven Wilson typically remixes in stereo first, then moves the individual elements out into the surround field without changing levels or effects - so if he were to take the vocal that's at proper level in the stereo remix and shift it to the center speaker, it would come off as around 3 dB lower than intended. Since you're playing the 5.1 mix through a two channel system, the center channel content is being re-routed to the 'phantom center' and thus restored to level.

Almost all of Wilson's '80s remixes (Misplaced Childhood, Songs From The Big Chair, Sparkle In The Rain, etc) have this problem with the underrepresented vocals in the center speaker on my system, but it's fixable either by telling my Blu-Ray player or AVR to ignore the center channel (thus diverting that content to the front left & right) or simply boosting the center speaker around 3 dB. In any case, allowing that vocal to diffuse a bit into the front and rear speakers might have helped it maintain prominence in the busier passages.

I'd say only about 20% of Roland's lead vocal on "Sowing the Seeds" is the same take that's on the album. I didn't notice anything like that on the other songs, though.

Interestingly enough, SW didn't mention anything about this in his section of the liner notes detailing the missing parts (I doubt I would've noticed that one missing string line in "Year Of The Knife" had he not mentioned it).

 

[Strilo]

I thought SW mentioned it somewhere. But for sure there are different vocal takes used for Roland. Like JulesRules, I know this song so well, it's as if it's part of my DNA. It's for sure got differences.

 

[JulesRules]

Interestingly enough, SW didn't mention anything about this in his section of the liner notes detailing the missing parts (I doubt I would've noticed that one missing string line in "Year Of The Knife" had he not mentioned it).

I thought SW mentioned it somewhere. But for sure there are different vocal takes used for Roland. Like JulesRules, I know this song so well, it's as if it's part of my DNA. It's for sure got differences.

Yes, that is what surprised me. I looked in his notes and couldn't find a reference to it.
But I also remember how they described recording the song, with Roland's vocal being supposedly "live" and only bits redone later. The remix probably features the entirety of that original live vocal and thereby reveals that much more was actually re-recorded.

Something else I remember Steven talking about was the "radio tuning" intro (which according to a poster on here was actually taken from a Dolby test CD), that he had to take it from the stereo master... TFF used to drop that into their live shows opening the song, had they also taken it from the final mix?