Alternate Sirius mix of WATM

[madhatter]

I've seen a lot of comments asking where to get the alternate cut of WATM that aired on Sirius. Rather than continuing to post the link in comments or direct people to Xcacel's post in the Sirius thread, I figured it'd be better to just make a dedicated post for it. Many thanks to Xcacel for obtaining this and making it available. Here's the link for the full album as aired on Sirius: https://mega.nz/folder/vAZWEArD#vvwNk8prk3OQQ9u8Yxjl8g

WATM is the only song that is significantly different. The rest just have some cuts at the start or end to reduce dead air and/or to cut to Dave's commentary.

There is still some debate about Break Free, and there may be an alternate cut of that with some slight differences in the outro. So far, that has not shown up, but if it does, that will get posted here as well.

[C.S.]

The more I listen to this cut of WATM, the more I love it. All I can say with any authority is that the whole album sounds better here with the lossless files than what I'm getting from Spotify. I'll leave it up to y'all, but I really wish the whole thing sounded like that WATM. It's honestly a "faith restored" experience.

[Oaviv]

The XM version has a part played by Timmy, I think, that is 100% missing from the official version. It’s during the chorus and it sound like an ethereal guitar. It completely glues the song together and leaving it out is criminal. Why anyone would choose to deliberately mute that track from the song is absolutely donkey-brained. It’s like someone muted the track to EQ a track and forgot to unmute it prior to bouncing the file to the final WAV. It just doesn’t make sense. Would love to one day chat with someone involved in the mixing and production to understand why such a crucial part of the song was cut. Just, wow. I work in music production and can’t understand this decision.

Also from a mixing and production perspective, She wishes it was TOT…and this is coming from someone who never liked the live version.

I digress.

[seanbrutus]

Originally Posted by Oaviv

The XM version has a part played by Timmy, I think, that is 100% missing from the official version. It’s during the chorus and it sound like an ethereal guitar. It completely glues the song together and leaving it out is criminal. Why anyone would choose to deliberately mute that track from the song is absolutely donkey-brained. It’s like someone muted the track to EQ a track and forgot to unmute it prior to bouncing the file to the final WAV. It just doesn’t make sense. Would love to one day chat with someone involved in the mixing and production to understand why such a crucial part of the song was cut. Just, wow. I work in music production and can’t understand this decision.

Also from a mixing and production perspective, She wishes it was TOT…and this is coming from someone who never liked the live version.

I digress.

I honestly think that guitar, while cool, muddies up the chorus. I think the other stuff is cool and should've been kept, but I also REALLY like the official version. It has a Wilco-esque mix, where it just feels like everyone sitting in the same room playing the song. The Sirius mix feels like a production... and a really good one at that.

I'm ok with having both.

[madhatter]

Originally Posted by seanbrutus

I honestly think that guitar, while cool, muddies up the chorus. I think the other stuff is cool and should've been kept, but I also REALLY like the official version. It has a Wilco-esque mix, where it just feels like everyone sitting in the same room playing the song. The Sirius mix feels like a production... and a really good one at that.

I'm ok with having both.

This is pretty much where I fall, too. I like both versions, and I'm glad we have both. I'm gonna guess that there was a lot of discussion on which to include, and I don't know that either one would necessarily be wrong. So, like I said...I'm glad they're both out there.

[TheLastStop123]

this version has really unlocked WATM (the song) for me. I literally cannot stop listening to it.

[bmt322]

Does anyone have some audio software that can turn Tim down on the chorus? This track is pure gold if that can be achieved.

[Dannyyankou]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda prefer it being more stripped down on the final cut

[bmt322]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda prefer it being more stripped down on the final cut

Yeah, for now I prefer the final, but there's two things that I just don't like about it. 1) The vocals in general; Dave's daintiness throughout and when they sing "far out" and "because" in/around the bridge; just misses the mark. And 2) the horns sounding like they are electronic. Other tracks on the album have this problem too; like a zipper-sounding effect. It is particularly evident on Break Free.

[alec]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda prefer it being more stripped down on the final cut

I agree. I would still change a couple of things in the mix that made the album (a little room sound/ reverb on acoustic guitar and turn down backing vocs a little), but I like the album mix better over all.

[seanbrutus]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda prefer it being more stripped down on the final cut

Agree. It's a much cleaner mix, even if I'd tweak the volume of the mellotron, and the organ in the chorus.

[DMBlyrics]

Due to the compression/feed of the version we have I can't say it's better than the one we got. After multiple listens, I like some of the extra instrumentation, but not all of it. I see why they scaled it back, but somewhere in the middle would have been just right.

[DMBlyrics]

Originally Posted by alec

I agree. I would still change a couple of things in the mix that made the album (a little room sound/ reverb on acoustic guitar and turn down backing vocs a little), but I like the album mix better over all.

Ya, guitar and vocals are just too dry to start off. But once the band comes in, it works.

[alec]

Originally Posted by DMBlyrics

Ya, guitar and vocals are just too dry to start off. But once the band comes in, it works.

Yeah, it sound fine with the band. I listened to studio LIOG yesterday, and the acoustic pretty dry there too but somehow sounds better. The big difference is when the vocal comes in. So much more alive with a bit of great sounding reverb around it.

[dobyblue]

I didn't listen to the intros, did they state anywhere it was a different mix of the song? If not, could it be possible that Sirius got a stereo folddown of the Atmos mix to broadcast?

[LaLaLaLaHey]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

I didn't listen to the intros, did they state anywhere it was a different mix of the song? If not, could it be possible that Sirius got a stereo folddown of the Atmos mix to broadcast?

Definitely not. They’re are many audible instruments that are present in the Sirius version that do not exist in either official mix (stereo or Atmos). It’s a completely different mix

[bigeyedpigs]

I really just can't even comprehend this and I don't even care enough to listen. Of course there's an alternate mix and a better version of the album they put out, it wouldn't be dmb otherwise lol
This is why I don't understand why people would want suad, sugar will, or shotgun redone at this point, there is zero possibility they will be better than versions already out. Even Bismarck now sounds awful

[K270]

IS there a way to listen to it without downloading it?