Should OU812 Be Re-mixed? Are albums sacred?

[Glenn]

It's pretty much agreed upon that the sound of OU812 didn't come out too well. And it was the last time that VH worked with Donn Landee. Mikey's bass, though it's never been as loud as it should be in my opinion, is hidden altogether on this album.

And from what I understand, this wouldn't be corrected by the remastering process, it could only be corrected by re-mixing the album. So...

Should it be re-mixed? Should any album be re-mixed, or should they be left to history, regardless of how good or bad they ending up sounding?

Personally, no matter how much I'd love to hear Mikey risen in the mix of that album, I think the album (and every album) should be left alone. Re-mixing could easily be overdone to the point of changing an album in a major way, and that goes against the album as a document of a point in a bands' history.

Anyway, do you think the albums are sacred in that sense, or would you be happy to have OU812 (or any album) re-mixed?

[JWS_5150]

I would gladly like to see OU812 remixed. When you can barely hear Eddie in the intro to "Mine All Mine" - there is a PROBLEM.

The album would take on a new identity in a way if it were remixed - that may be where the preservation argument is rooted, too.

I vote remix though [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[AbeVanHalen]

I vote to REMIX!!!!

Here's why:

The record is 13 years old, and it is no longer flying off the shelves. The people that want it, have it, in original form.

Remixing would be done for the fans that like the music but not the mix, and POSSIBLY for new fans that would buy the cd later (unlikely in this case). The original would still exist as a document of the band's history, but would be available in 'revisionist' form as well.

You can always return to the original if sentiment is important to you. I, for one, think the album has a vibe as is, which I like. But, I would like to hear it mixed 'properly' anyhow. Also, if you consider how severely FM radio compression changes the sound of a recording, remixing isn't all that severe in comparison.

[Van Halenized]

Should "OU812", be remixed? Umm, does a Bear shit in the woods?
[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Happy Daze

PS. And they outta "Remix" some shit we've never heard and mix it on out to the general public.

[Raldo]

I'd be curious to hear that album remixed. As for an album being sacred, personally I agree with it. A lot of the records recorded 30, 40, 50 years ago, have that classic feel to it. It was all analog. Those I wouldn't want to touch because that's what makes them so great. That's why Eddie dislikes digital recording. You don't get the same sound as you do with analog. Nowadays, with better technology it's easier to go back and fix things. You would think that the bad mixing of OU812 would have been caught before it went out to the public.

[Stuff No More]

I'd like to see OU812 remixed and remastered.

For that matter, I'd like to see them add some of the unreleased stuff to the old CDs when they remaster them. Tack I Want Some Action on to 5150 and Crossing Over on to Balance. I would have been raiding the old demo tape for new tracks to stick on the first 6 albums before re-releasing them.

Screw preservation, I want quality and crunchy bits.

[billy007]

I think once an album hits the shelves, that's the way it should stay. Everybody had plenty of chances to check the thing out for sound quality before it was released, if they couldn't be bothered to fix it then, don't bother to fix it now. Same with the remasters - if you can do something to fix the way the album sounds without actually affecting the music itself, that's fine, but when you start changing levels and reediting and doing stuff like that, that's wrong. Same goes for adding tracks, if they weren't there before, they shouldn't be there now. Now, that doesn't mean that a group can't make a remixed album available as an additional release (leaving the original available), you know, like the OU812 sessions where they fix the songs they don't like the way they sound now and maybe include some other work that was done at that time, but to heck with it - just give Glenn (and the rest of us) our box set and we'll take it from there (that would be another place where you could include songs from an album that you didn't like the way they sounded in a remixed form).

[Van Halenized]

Ya know, I think the guys realized that OU812 was mixed wrong. If you'll remember, Long time engineer and Ed's close friend, Don Landee was the man behind the controls of this album. When F.U.C.K came along, Don was let go of his duties at 5150 and Andy John's stepped up to the plate.

So I can only imagine that Ed and Co. knew about OU812 mixing problems, but have just decided to let it be.....for now anyways.

Ya know tho.....Don Landee had a certain magic about bringing out that, "Brown Sound" in them...
Like to see him back and what spin he could put on things.....

Happy Daze
Keepin da faith in VH

[Atomic Punk DLR]

I vote for a remix.

Hell... the production of this album is about the worst I've ever heard. So, yes, a remix could help in many ways.

Especially Mine All Mine badly needs some remixing, and also Cabo Wabo. But generally the album majorly lacks of bass guitar in the mix.

So, yes, a remixing and remastering would be my wish for this musically really good album.

[AL HAGAR]

Its funny this should be brought up. I just picked up a MP3 of Mine All Mine that sounds like it was remixed and remastered. The drums and bass are turned way up, you can actually hear everything that Al was doing-incredible.
The song sounds so much better, I vote to remix the whole album, if it umproves the quality of the cd than do it.

Al Hagar

[Dan Halen]

I think efforts should be made to make it sound better. OU812 is desperately lacking in powerful bass and drums sounds.

[diggyd]

I vote for re-mixing and re-mastering myself. It sounds dead to me. No bass, drums are weak ,and the guitar sound is lifeless. The songs are good though.

[Cabo Kid]

I say remix the bastard.

Then I might actually enjoy listening to OU812! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[BrokenCombs]

At the very least it should be remastered. Without even getting into the terrible mix on the album, the sound in general (overall) is remarkable LOW on OU812....If they were hesitant to mess with the mix, at least re-master the thing!


-BC

[Glenn]

Wow, I'm surprised by how many people would like to see OU812 remixed. What about if they wanted to remix one of the albums that are basically considered masterpieces; Fair Warning or Van Halen 1?

Would you like to see those remixed if the band wanted to, or would those be off limits because they came out so well in the minds of the fans?