I just listened to the whole thing for the second time and luckily my opinion didn't change at all (see: The Muse Awakens : First Impressions ;D). It's a great release by one of the greatest bands on Earth (they just have to release a dozen more studio albums just to confirm their greatness ).
My only critical note would be pointed towards... production. No, I'm not going to say it's bad or something! I just would prefer (please don't laugh) a bit more reverb! ;D Yep. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of "more reverb for the sake of it". (In fact I prefer to mix my own stuff sometimes a bit "too dry"). But I just can't shake off the influence of previous two HTM's releases that have a great deal of lush reverb in their sonic domains, so to speak. Maybe it was added later at the mastering stage by Kit, I don't know (I didn't hear the originals on vinyl) but the results are nothing short of amazing - it adds a great deal of spaciousness and awareness - something that fits really well with HTM's music, imo.
Anyway, so far I listened to The Muse through the air. But sooner or later I'd do this in headphones (I have really good ones by Sennheizer) and maybe then I'd change my mind regarding the amount of reverb on the record...
My only critical note would be pointed towards... production. No, I'm not going to say it's bad or something! I just would prefer (please don't laugh) a bit more reverb! ;D Yep. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of "more reverb for the sake of it". (In fact I prefer to mix my own stuff sometimes a bit "too dry"). But I just can't shake off the influence of previous two HTM's releases that have a great deal of lush reverb in their sonic domains, so to speak. Maybe it was added later at the mastering stage by Kit, I don't know (I didn't hear the originals on vinyl) but the results are nothing short of amazing - it adds a great deal of spaciousness and awareness - something that fits really well with HTM's music, imo.
Anyway, so far I listened to The Muse through the air. But sooner or later I'd do this in headphones (I have really good ones by Sennheizer) and maybe then I'd change my mind regarding the amount of reverb on the record...