How "live" is Earth inferno / Visionary heads?

Discuss about the albums and videos the band has released over the years. The band we are talking about here is of course F.O.T.N. and not side-projects, similar bands etc. Please use other sections if you want to talk about the weather.

Moderators: Morphic, Blue Angel, The Fallen Ones

User avatar
kazamel
Psychonaut
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:42 pm
Contact:

How "live" is Earth inferno / Visionary heads?

Post by kazamel » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:50 pm

The sound on Earth inferno is so close to being perfect, that I can't imagine them actually sounding like that on stage. I mean, they were just kids back then, well, you know what I mean. Have any of you seen them in that phase? And were they as good as they sound on Earth inferno? I've always wondered how much they "improved" the live recording before releasing it. I've got the Preacher man boot from 1991 as well, but it's an audience recording so I can't really compare.
I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects.
User avatar
Big Si
Dawnrazor
Posts: 805
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:58 pm
Contact:

Post by Big Si » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:56 pm

The sleeve notes state that the recordings were mixed by the band and Andy Jackson, they also had access to some of the newer technology that was starting to appear around then :?
User avatar
wild bill buttock
Nephilim
Posts: 2571
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:00 pm
Contact:

Post by wild bill buttock » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:31 pm

As far as my drink addled memory can recall,I always found the Neph's sound to be pretty much as it is recorded on the live album and videos.
However I admit that I only saw them live once completely sober(August 1990 at Wolverhampton civic hall) The sound was bang on and the band were as tight as a gnat's chuff.The gig became part of the recording for Earth inferno and the B-side of the sumerland single,The watchman live,was recorded at that gig.So I would say,yes they really were that good!
User avatar
spiral66
Moonchild
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:08 pm

Post by spiral66 » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:33 pm

I remember reading somewhere that they didn't fiddle with the recording too much, you can supposedly hear the dry ice machines hissing. They had a lot of them. From the several times I saw them they really did sound that good live.
User avatar
kazamel
Psychonaut
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:42 pm
Contact:

Post by kazamel » Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:30 am

your answers are more reassuring than i could have imagined
will make me appreciate these recordings even more
many thanks :wink:
I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects.
Salacious B. Crumb
Moonchild
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:34 pm

Post by Salacious B. Crumb » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:20 pm

I dont want to spoil your fun, kazamel, but (without any knowledge of this specific case) it's very seldomn that a "live"- album is actually recorded completely at one live show. Often the songs are taken from different shows and got heavily re-worked or it's done completely in the studio with a live audience from cd mixed in.

A bootleg would show much better the state of the art of the band than Earth Inferno does.
Ahrayeph

Post by Ahrayeph » Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:40 pm

Well, now we have 'Memoriam', which is a very well sounding yet unedited professional recording. So you wil hear mistakes : Nod missing a snare hit here, Carl singing off key about 50 cents there, Peter Yates coming in late etc... But what it shows, is that the band CAN perform near to perfection live. Of course there will always be mistakes that are put right after the fact to make the live album/vid sound perfect. But if 'Memoriam' is anything to go by, they wouldn't need that much touching up if they played a strong set like the one in Birmingham. One thing that did strike me on 'Memoriam', was that you can hear the crowd isn't as massive as on Earth Inferno, so there might have been some crowd additions on the official live (or the venues were larger)...
User avatar
wild bill buttock
Nephilim
Posts: 2571
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:00 pm
Contact:

Post by wild bill buttock » Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:28 am

Was "Memorium" recorded at the Birmingham Hummingbird in October 1990 by any chance?
User avatar
Badlander
Leviathan
Posts: 1195
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:25 am

Post by Badlander » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:55 am

wild bill buttock wrote:Was "Memorium" recorded at the Birmingham Hummingbird in October 1990 by any chance?
I really think so, but I can't find the thread where the information is confirmed. :|
And when the promise was broken, I cashed in a few of my dreams
User avatar
wild bill buttock
Nephilim
Posts: 2571
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:00 pm
Contact:

Post by wild bill buttock » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:53 pm

Yeah it was then.Just found the thread on the sharing section.
Memoriam - Live in Birmingham, oct. 4, 1990. According to Ande's Nephilim Collector's Guide, it was at the Hummingbird

Last time I ever saw The Neph that gig was and it truly was a stormer.I remember thinking on the way out that The Neph have got such a brilliant future, they just kept getting better and better both live and on record.
*Sigh*
User avatar
angry bob
Nephilim
Posts: 1732
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:28 pm

Post by angry bob » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:55 pm

I think, Earth Inferno has such amazing and powerful sound that some of the tracks are better than their orginal versions.For example,Last Exit For The Lost and Dawnrazor never excited me so much as they do on EI.Or drums and guitar "solo" ending At The Gates Of Silent Memory.This is just smashing!
Live records need to be sounding selective and big.Otherwise they're not enjoyable when you listen them at home.
User avatar
Badlander
Leviathan
Posts: 1195
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:25 am

Post by Badlander » Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:04 pm

Memoriam is just as good as Earth Inferno, just a wee bit different. Earth Inferno sounds a bit more polished, not to say clean, while Memoriam has more of an in-yo-face-muthafucka feeling to it. They complement each other perfectly. :twisted:
And when the promise was broken, I cashed in a few of my dreams
User avatar
wild bill buttock
Nephilim
Posts: 2571
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:00 pm
Contact:

Post by wild bill buttock » Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:15 pm

Just downloaded "memoriam" and it is fcuking brilliant.Like Badlander says ,much rawer than Earth inferno but better for it I think.Very nostalgic for me being I was actually there and still remember it as one of the best gigs I'd ever attended.
Love the way you can hear the smoke machines hissing away.[/b]
User avatar
Blue Angel
Nephilim
Posts: 3062
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:52 pm
Contact:

Post by Blue Angel » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:42 pm

Agreed...

I enjoyed listening to the crowd shouting for their favourites... I'd forgotten all about that sort of palaver

LLLLLAAAUURRAAA

CCCEEELLLEEEBBBRRAATTEEE
Fields of the Neffalump

Jism!
Ahrayeph

Post by Ahrayeph » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:56 pm

Blue Angel wrote:Agreed...

I enjoyed listening to the crowd shouting for their favourites... I'd forgotten all about that sort of palaver

LLLLLAAAUURRAAA

CCCEEELLLEEEBBBRRAATTEEE
I'm just wondering what the thrill is of yelling 'PSYCHONAAAAAAUT!!!' after every song when you KNOW they're gonna play that. :mrgreen: And what's with the guy with the whistle right when 'Sumerland' starts? In dire need of attention, were we? :twisted:
But it's a great gig to listen to. Can't stop listening to it, actually. Especially the aforementioned 'Sumerland' has a power not even found in the stonking version on EI, methinks. The only way this double CD could have been better, was if 'Trees Come Down' had been part of the set list. Then - and only then - it wouldn't be toppable for me. It's still pretty damn great without that song, though. Well, if they HAD played Celebrate as well, I would have liked that too, but in the version found on the Sumerland single, with the strange instrumental epilogue. That should have been the beginning of a great new song, instead of the end of another...
User avatar
Nic
The Watchman
Posts: 1488
Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 1:03 pm

Post by Nic » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:05 pm

Ahrayeph wrote: The only way this double CD could have been better, was if 'Trees Come Down' had been part of the set list.
Very much seconded, they don't come much finer. *smoking*
When routine bites hard and ambitions are low...
User avatar
thegranny
Leviathan
Posts: 1314
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:34 pm

Post by thegranny » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:04 pm

Blue Angel wrote:Agreed...

LLLLLAAAUURRAAA
very good!!!! heheee :mrgreen: *notworthy*
"Cover his face so that he may not see the light."
http://www.elusive.no
R.I.P. Jan Kenneth.
User avatar
kazamel
Psychonaut
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:42 pm
Contact:

Post by kazamel » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:31 am

Memoriam definitely answers my question. All the more sad I missed that era.
I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects.
User avatar
kazamel
Psychonaut
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:42 pm
Contact:

Post by kazamel » Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:54 am

Ahrayeph wrote:One thing that did strike me on 'Memoriam', was that you can hear the crowd isn't as massive as on Earth Inferno, so there might have been some crowd additions on the official live (or the venues were larger)...
or there were microphones pointed at the audience when recording Earth Inferno, which is rather unusual in case of bootlegs, even with soundboard recordings :wink:
I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects.
Ahrayeph

Post by Ahrayeph » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:54 pm

The thing is that if there aren't any mics pointed at the crowd, you usually don't hear the crowd as clear as you do when there are. I've heard soundboard recordings and you could not, or hardly, hear the crowd. It's like there were little gaps of silence inbetween the songs. This is due to the fact that most mics used on stage are a) pointed at the instruments and b) most of them are dynamic mics that don't take up any ambience. And the only condensers used will be pointed at the cymbals (and hi hat) so all the low end is being filtered out anyway, so nothing much will be picked up anyway. The crowd being clearly audible on 'Memoriam', leads me to believe they did have mics pointed to the crowd and that, in fact, they recorded this show and several others to have enough good recordings for EI. That's a common practice. You get all these live concerts from The Doors these days, because the band taped entire tours for their two live albums. I think 'Memoriam' is such a recording too and I still believe crowd noise was added to EI, which is common practice as well...
Post Reply