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ITEM No3.
Don't you just love Mondays? ;)
ok ok don't shoot me, but there are some which do bring joy, and this could be one of them!?.
continuing with the 25 year anniversary of Gone Bald this year, with "special items", which i'm working on throughout the year, to put out/make public/give gifts/bring joy,,, Ho Ho Ho,, and all that. celebrate in a way that's possible and appropriate.
so, the item No3., where do i start?...
well, first of all, i'm writing this from my own perspective, and this is not: which album or GB line up is my favorite, kinda thing,,, it's just something i wanted to try for a long time, and this album was just asking for it ;)
that said, this is a very special album in my opinion, and unfortunately, i think, also never got enough "attention" from the "outside".
maybe it was my fault for putting it out myself DIY "arts & crafts" style, having only limited edition physical release with it and all that,, but then again, i never really had much luck with the labels, so, trust me, if there would have been a suitable label at that time to release it, it would have been released by the label.
would it get more attention then?,, i don't know.
also, i felt it deserved kinda more from the sound it self. and don't get me wrong, we had a good studio going on (very damn good), Danny did a great job with recording us, understanding us (trying to), babysitting us, really trying hard to squeeze out all the frickin' details that were there in hundreds, from the bunch of noise that we produced back then. i respect and love the time i have spent with him on this album, and what he tried to do, how he tried in the end to, kinda make everybody happy.
but it was just damn hard with that kind of a mindfuck material.
i did had a will to have everything "nice and clear", (well, as much as that would have been possible, for that time / technology, mind frame, and distortions that were already built in the material in the early stages of creation) but at the same time, i also felt that some of the (in or outside) compromises were just not fitting for all that progressive heaviness, while on the other hand some extreme sounds / thoughts & details were,,,
for that whole "theme"/"point"/"concept" of the album,, and the way how i felt back then...
i' mean, the album is called "S.O.S." for heavens sake!?.
but, it was not only about extremes at certain moments, it was also about a certain "low cloud hum", that kinda/somehow ended up being there, on top of the recording, which, yeah, kinda bothered me whenever i was listening to it later on.
also, i suppose because of the harshness, we were not really pushing the volume up in the final mixes, so in the end it kinda felt like it possibly didn't really produced enough of the blast that i was kinda wanting.
i really don't know where the original tapes ended up, and if those were actually our property in the end,, i guess not, (too poor for buying bunch of expensive analog frickin' tapes, and you would need some, and then some, for the whole length of the album).
anyhow, as i said, i had an idea of a remaster in my mind for a while, this album fitted the bill, as well as being possible "Item" for the 25 year anniversary of the band.
i didn't had to look too hard for a person to do it, as i'm working with Mihael (Mexo) Bele for a long time, and trust him fully. also, honestly i don't have a clue if anybody else would take this upon, without having the original tape masters and such. so, i came to him with this idea very cautiously, and said that if he thinks it is not possible, that we'll just drop the whole crazy idea...
well, he excepted the challenge and made me one numb son of gun when i heard the first results, comparing it with the original.
in my opinion he did a tremendous work with only having frickin' wav files, yes, of course he couldn't do "a complete do-over" or anything like that, but he cleared up what he could, widened the spectrum of the recording, tried to calm down what he could, and bring up whatever that made the new remaster alive and refreshed a bit more,
with a different presence then the one that was hangin' there above it all this years from original recordings.
it is wider & deeper, sometimes even more roomier, it is crispier,, and film samples are brought up more to the surface. plus there's some extra cool new surprises here & there.
is it louder,, yes it is,, louder then most of the records you own probably. is it harsh/extreme?,, well, what can i say, it probably won't find an audience in the pop / poser / hipster / "new alternative",, you name it, scene.
did he got rid of the "low cloud hum" that was hangin' over it, oh yeah, i believe he did.
i don't know if i ever wanted this album to be so much "in the face", but dammit, i also don't think i ever wanted/expected it to be milder, in a way,,,.
could some of the instruments & separations in the whole picture have been "nicer", more reliable/realistic/dry and more "edible"?,, well,, i guess so, maybe, but then we would have to have a time machine, fortuneteller/s, big shot producers & labels, or simply, our own big bucks?. but, hmm, still sometimes you just go with the flow, with the feeling you have in you, sometimes the no-compromise situation syndrome is the way to go, with or without having a possibility for "another way". and because i haven't really had the possibility for "another way", it's hard to tell about "coulda woulda shoulda".
anyhow, here ya go, this is the remaster for the album "S.O.S."
for those of you who will like the original version from 2001 more, i do respect your decision!, and hope, regardless which version you go for, that this album will gain a bit more aficionados & connoisseurs, then from the first round, back in the day.
Thank you.
Razorblade Jr.

REMASTERED By: Mihael (Mexo) Bele,
at "Deus Ex Machina" (Zagreb / Croatia) Summer 2018
Artwork Design Refreshment / Remaster By: Igor Mihovilović

Released in Cooperation With: "Guranje S Litice" (GSL#33)
guranjeslitice.bandcamp.com/album/s-o-s-remaster-25-year-gb-anniversary-edition
www.facebook.com/GURANJE-S-LITICE-41741496622/
www.discogs.com/label/164929-Guranje-S-Litice


More info about Gone Bald's 25 year anniversary:
www.facebook.com/notes/gone-bald/2019/10156858980724088/
+ Also fitting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqHVnRFh-7k&list=PL088BA8ACDA198FF2&index=3&t=0s
www.discogs.com/release/14267726


To all involved in / with this album, in the past present and the future,
i salute you.
and i hope that somewhere right now, Roy Batty, Danny O'Really, Razorblade Senior and some other very cool souls, approve what they hear.
credits
released October 14, 2019

***************************************************************************


Info for the Original 2001 Release:


recorded at ALUNA STUDIOS in Amsterdam January 2001.
recorded & mastered by DANNY O'REALLY
engineered by GIJS BORSTLAP
mixed by RAZORBLADE JR. & DANNY

IGOR PLZAK: drum and cymbal word & world
IVAN BILOSNIC: bass and "The Bitz" instrument
RAZORBLADE JR.: bad karma six strings and the primitive african style keyboard melodies

all bones & lyrics by Razorblade Jr., all meat on bones by Gone Bald
movie samples are taken from: "Blade Runner" - "All That Jazz" - "Vertigo" - "Under the Volcano" and "Zelig"
thank god for them.

guests on this CD were:
DAMIR P. KAFKA on alt sax
ANNA VAN DOOREN on tenor sax
IRINA KOVALEVSKA & RENSKE FEENSTRA on microphones
and ANDREJA KOSAVIC on telephones

design of the "chapter-info-noble-text book" & photos by SNJEZANA BOGDANOVIC
cover concept, idea, "smiley/unsmiley", s.o.s. cd'r print, band crest, and the handmade work for the final product by RAZORBLADE JR.

the album was released in limited edition of around 150 copies,
the CD'r is packed inside a working glove with band's crest / insignia printed on it.

originally released by GONE BALD March 1, 2001
gonebald.bandcamp.com/album/s-o-s
www.discogs.com/Gone-Bald-SOS/release/1940445
www.discogs.com/release/1940445-SOS/images