This album was a revelation for me. I have finally realized what it is about computer recordings ( as opposed to recordings made in real studios) that makes them different.

The music itself and the musicianship get an 8. The creativity is a 4.
But man, the horrible recording and production suck it down to a 3. They ruin it.

Imagine hearing a classical guitar, a thousand miles away. The guitar gets closer and closer, becomes 100 miles away , still a bit distant. Then some drums and a bass come in from across the room. Then from a mile down the road comes this electric guitar piece, but it almost sounds like it is coming from behind you somewhere.
Then a vocal comes in, right in the middle of your head.

That is what studio recordings were once like. That is what Farewell To Kings was like.
In a pair of headphones you could close your eyes and feel like you were in the center of a vacuum in the middle of the galaxy and could hear what is going on throughout all of creation.



On Clockwork Angels, a guitar starts from a few inches from your ear. Then the bass from a few inches from your other ear. Then some simulation of tom-toms come in from a few inches from your ears. Then the vocals come in, a few inches from your ear.

Computer recordings lack depth and dimension! THAT is the difference, and this album is the perfect example.

The music is good, the musicianship fantastic. The production sounds like every other album out there. Because it is all just inches from your ear, no dimension.

Modern recordings have a two dimensional sound. Left and right.

Studio recordings had up, down, behind you, from a thousand miles in the distance, from the middle of your head.

With Clockwork Angels, there is no depth, no dimension.


This would have been a great album done in a studio and produced by a producer that knew the creative aspect of recording, rather than just the technical aspects.

As it is, it has that generic hard panned left and right ambiance effects and slammed against the ceiling compression that comes stock with computer recordings. The compression is horrible, for some reason modern compression makes guitars that have any amount of distortion sound bland and weak.
There was a time when electric guitars sounded HUGE on recordings.


I like this album because it made me realize exactly what it is about computer recordings that makes them mundane.
Now I know and can express it.

I borrowed it from the library and gave it a spin, and ok, I heard it. No desire to hear it again. Glad I did once.

Unlike the stuff Rush recorded back in the days of real recording studios, which I feel compelled to listen to often.