Zach Top American Don (Deluxe Édition) - Vinyle Bleu [VINYL]

After finishing American Don with (Steve) Albini, interpersonal tensions were reaching a climax and would eventually lead us to our loss. I was (Eric) convinced that we had lost the essence of the songs during the recording. Recording with Steve was not unanimous. We had composed the album entirely from guitar loops and the Storm & Stress team wanted to further explore the potential of Pro Tools in the studio, a tool that seemed to fit perfectly with our approach and aspirations. Steve had just completed the construction of the magnificent Room A at Electrical and Damon insisted that we record the battery there. He never gave in. As soon as we arrived, we realized that all the tracks, consisting of multiple overdubs on our effects pedals, only allowed for mono guitar recordings. We worked around the problem by recording the tracks on a single loop and then adding all the guitars on top of it, which allowed us to get a full stereo field, equal to the power of Steve's drum recordings. This approach has radically transformed the way we play. Although this allowed for magical moments of improvisation (like the intro of "Peter Criss"), once the album was finished, the sound was heavy and the performances dusty. I was increasingly convinced that the sound of the Akai Headrush, and the tempos it imposed on Damon, were the very heart of these tracks. Ian agreed. In a bold last momentum, I had the idea of calling Greg Norman (who worked for Steve!) and ask him if we could secretly come to his studio in South Chicago on tour after our next concerts to re-record the album live. It was a huge move that seemed doomed to fail, but miraculously, everyone agreed and we tried the experiment. Greg captured our overflowing energy, both personally and professionally. Tempos are faster and no one is holding back, having nothing to lose. These real live recordings show the tracks as we played them on stage, when they were premiered between June 1999 and July 2000. Now, 25 years later, Greg Norman's tapes have been dusted, restored and digitized. Thanks to modern restoration tools and Sir Bob Weston's expertise, we were able to remix and master these recordings for the first time. — Eric Emm, bassist