Hey Matthew, seems barnes and noble has up the listening player, for the new cd already.(at the bottom of the page for all to sample). I hope it helps sales, but it should have been on amazon first.

Now I'm getting confused at the amazon site, because there's 2 import cd's.One cd goes at $33.99 with one extra track and another cd going for $36.99, which says extra tracks. What's the difference, this time? Both are suppose to be Japanese Imports.

I've already put in a request to Amazon to fix it and notified her manager in case there's anything that can be done on that end.

I promised to comment on the differences between the official release of TWHMMTMOMD and a promotional version of this record called Paradise. I have done no analytical comparative listening (I’m not into that kind of stuff with Meshell) so I’ll focus on major differences only.
The official version lacks Middle Earth (aka Point of No Return), one of the finest songs on Paradise. Could anyone tell me why? Evolution has been inserted in place of Middle Earth – on Paradise this song sits between Headline and Solomon.
Solomon has been elongated from 3.24 on Paradise to 4.03 on TWHM… - the passage which follows the spoken word by Jack Bean has been added.
Relief (The End) is one of my favorite pieces on Paradise and I’m not sure I like the changes made on the official release, called Relief : A Stripper Classic. On Paradise this piece goes to 4.47 with Jack Bean’s message starting from 4.11 (with no background music). His final words which complete the Paradise are: “I have to put my trust into one Elohim and keep it going”. (Elohim – God, esp. as used in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament). Interesting… No spoken message on the official release – instead the music is cut at 4.04 and additional piece of music added until 4.27. I prefer the Paradise version.
Other differences – I think the sound on some of the more aggressive pieces like Sloganeer has been made more polite with less sibilants and less treble. This should work fine with most transistor amplifiers – with my vacuum tube amp I didn’t mind the earlier version at all… On some pieces I can hear minor changes regarding percussion. I haven’t noticed any changes regarding the sound of the Meshell’s bass itself (but comparative listening piece-by-piece could reveal more differences).
Finally, on the Japanese version there is the bonus track Different Girl (Every Night). It is a good piece, if different from the rest. Worth buying.
Hope this was useful. If the changes made to the music/production were the reason to delay the release by half year – well, then I’d say that Meshell did a good job with Paradise and the changes are not necessarily for the better. Anyway, I look forward to somebody sharing their views on the album (I gave mine at the beginning of this thread). Great music to me and one of my three favourite records by Meshell. Enjoy!

Hello Darek, I hope someone will give their summaries of both cd's as well, but I was hoping that we would all be able hear the difference if there was a way of hearing the "Paradise" cd that you are familiar with. I thought it was said that once the official cd was released ,that someone would place music from" Paradise" here. Maybe I'm wrong but please, Matthew tell us what we can or should not look forward to. Thanks

that was never said, and it will never happen.

Sorry I apoligize.I just misunderstood.

TWHMMTMOMD...
Meshell has made it the album of my dreams.

For me - the best record ever!

Got my US special edition today!
Can't say which bonus track I like better - the Japanese version or the US... both are worth having IMHO.

quote:

The TWHMMTMTIA Cover...
i think someone may have already suggested this, but we should have a contest to try to guess what the heck that is on the cover...it's intriguing to me becuase i'm assuming its not just a random image ...im assuming that it was picked for a reason and that it somehow relates to the songs within...but i honestly have no clue WHAT that image is. I keep looking at it trying to figure it out...but i got nothin yet.

so it looks like we kinda have an answer to what the cover image is now...apparently its an image ofa portion of a backbone or vertebrae.
(i'm basing this on the the inside artwork of the US limited edition which i finaly got in the mail ...whoo hoo!

so a backbone or vertebrae...let the interpretations and theories of the relationship between that image to the title/music/themes inside begin...

and now...i'm off to listen

LOVE the new album!!!! Darek, I too would like to know what others think about the album, and what are their favorite songs (they are all good!).

I'm not going to lie, when I first saw the title, "Relief: A Stripper Classic," I said uh oh, this one should be good! As soon as I popped the cd in, I flipped through them all to get to that track. It did not disappoint, and it is one of my favorite cuts as well.

From the moment I heard "Meshell Johnson," I loved it, and it is probably my favorite song on the cd.

Next would probably be "Relief" almost in a dead heat with "Elliptical," and then "Solomon."

It's almost impossible to rank these beautiful songs, and they are all great!!! It will probably change day-to-day. How many cds can you put in and just press play without skipping any?

Wow, I could go on and on but I won't, but "Soul Spaceship" is a MUST HAVE as well.

Yes! This is one of very few records that I can listen to end-to-end. Even these less favourite songs have their hooks. I don't think there is a weak moment on this record. BTW I don't like it when reviewers try to pidgeon-hole the songs on TWHMMTMOMD - "ahh this is reggae, and this is Caribbean, and here is flamenco guitar...". It sounds as if Meshell took some recipe to make the record more "interesting". That's not the point! Meshell has created a music of her own genre and it is a perfect blend to me and sounds so fresh (even if vocoder was used already in early 70s...)
Hopefully more people will share their views on this forum. I guess everybody must now have the record?
It would be great to hear how people compare it to other Meshell's records. For me this is currently her no.1 - I've had this music for some time and the charm just doesn't wear off.

Hey Darek, thanks for these posts! I'm looking forwad to hearing the different views on the record as well (i'm gonna throw my own reactions in too, maybe over the weekend if i get a chance to).

Thanks for your comparisons/diferences between the Paradise Promo & TWHMMTMOMD official release. Of the differnces you mentioned the one that i definitely agree with you on is the change made to the ending of Relief...on the official release i find myself really missing the soft piano fade-out that we heard on Paradise. For that reason I too prefer the Paradise mix of Relief as well.

one other difference i noticed was the removal of the background harmonies in Lovely Lovely on the official mix. While i liked the Paradise mix of this as well (with the background voices) i think i actually prefer the official releases mix of that track without those voices...it makes the song a little more...i don't know ...personal? ...natural?...without the tight harmonies (which were beautiful in their own right). Not sure if i'm explaining myself clearly...lets see...the official mix of 'Lovely Lovely' without the voices has just a little more 'space' in it and feels more 'naked' more 'intimate'and maybe more 'sensual'...and i think that is more appropriate considering that songs main theme.

So yeah, I too like the Paradise version of 'Relief' better than the official version...
and I like the official version 'Lovely Lovely' better than the Paradise version...

I'll post some more thoughts later this week, but in short...what another amazing amazing record.

BTW your description pretty much read my mind as well...where you say Meshell has made her own genre...i couldnt agree with you more. i think this one really does that consistently all the way through more than any of her previous records...really its 'uncategorizable' genre-wise (i know, i know...'uncategorizable' is not a word heheh...but it fits doesn't it? ...

'uncategorizable'...and i'm lovin it....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: derek,

i think the word you're looking for is "bitter"

I was a little surprised by some of your criticisms of the album, Matthew-- although I don't recall if they referred specifically to the "Paradise" promo or also to the final TWHMMTMOMD. Especially your yearning for the not-so-produced vibe of earlier records. I guess I'll share some of my thoughts.

My first listen to the record was a little clouded by the fact that I've heard these songs grow and develop live for the past few years, so I couldn't help but want to hear the live versions. After I got past that, I started hearing the tracks for what they are and I'm really loving every track on the record.

I was very excited to hear what was instrumental "Red Planetary Skywalker" become "Solomon". The last several tracks, from "Michelle Johnson" through "Relief" are for me a really killin' suite.

I was surprised at how I like the extended "Elliptical" MUCH better than the shorter Article 3 version. Somehow it achieves the vibe much better and it has become one of my favorite tracks. (Though that could be said for just about any track on the album).

Also something that surprised me was that the overall vibe of TWHMMTMOMD is very different than I got from ARTICLE 3 EP and her recent live shows. The world of ARTICLE 3 EP is a dark one where crazy sounds/images sweep around out of nowhere (for me). I expected TWHMMTMOMD to expand on this vibe, but somehow, TWHMMTMOMD is much more settled, much more at peace, though it is peace that is reached through struggle with chaos. (Sorry for the abstract terminology, its the best way I have to describe this music.)

I'd like to respond to some of your "Bitter" comparisons just for the sake of discussion.

You mentioned that somewhere between "Bitter" and "Cookie" (or was it "Cookie" and "Comfort Woman"?) Meshell's production value changed and that you felt some of the raw vibe has been lost on her albums for the sake of crisp studio perfection.

When I listen to music and work in the studio, that is usually my number one complaint. I am a huge proponent of live recording, a valliant enemy of Pro-Tools-- I hate when the imperfections that make us and our music human get glossed over and airbrushed and auto-tuned.

But that's not the vibe I get from Meshell, on any of her records, especially the heavily-produced Cookie, Comfort Woman and TWHMMTMOMD. Comfort Woman is probably the most heavily produced, and yet I'm amazed at the depth of the atmosphere she was able to achieve with that record. Comfort Woman may be Meshell's most accessible album, and as such many people initially dismiss it as more shallow than her more challenging work (such as: myself, many friends, and Ernest Hardy -- http://www.freemyheart.com/gallery/269.html).

But after 4 years or whatever it's been, I'm still hearing new things in Comfort Woman. Isn't it amazing that like Bach, she's created something that is immediately accessible and unfathomably deep, sonically and otherwise? In addition, from a purely sonic/technical standpoint, Comfort Woman's production is pretty groundbreaking and I think people will come back to it for years. People will hear the heavily produced sonic landscape -- and also the musicians interplay and rough edges, say, in the outros on "Long Song #3" and "Liliquoi Moon". And how about the odd intervals at which delay is applied to the cross-stick on "Come Smoke My Herb"? That's not 'studio perfection, let's gloss over and make it all the same'. That is careful application of studio tools for a specific and subtle sonic effect.

Let's also remember that 4-6 of the 8 tracks on Dance of the Infidel were most likely recorded entirely live.

Anyway, I don't hear TWHMMTMOMD as being glossy or studio-perfect. I think that sonic palette with which Meshell is working is not really an "earthy" one; we've heard the words "space funk" used several times in this forum and the way she achieves that is with killer musicians, killer direction and killer studio work. The shit that Deantoni Parks pulls on "Article 3" couldn't have been done with a sampler. The sound of "Elliptical" couldn't be accomplished without using the studio and overdubs the way that she did.

Anyway....that's my take on things at this point. Certainly didn't mean to call you out on anything Matthew, just felt like sharing my experiences. Long live open debate!

All I was saying in my posted thoughts about the Paradise promo is that sometimes the honesty in her lyrics get lost in the overproduction (continued tinkering) of her music.

It was basically just my message to her in case she was reading. Since most people at that point in time couldn't compare what was on Paridise and the earlier alternate recordings of her music, I should have been more clear about that.

Earlier versions of songs such as "Shirk" which can be heard in the "Noah's Arc" series sound completely different on TWHMMTMOMD. In my opinion, what makes that a special track are the lyrics and the subtleness used in the music during the "Noah's Arc" version only make you feel the lyrics more. (Think of how you feel when you still hear any of the songs from "Bitter.")

I'll put it this way. Thankfully "Bitter" was recorded in 1999. Because if it was recorded in 2007, I get the feeling we'd have a completely different album sonically.

As I told a friend over a conversation this past week, whatever happened during the process of turning what became "Bitter" in to Maverick, I am thankful for. Selfishly as a supporter of her gifts, we got her best work in my opinion. If one reads the interviews around that time, Meshell was going through a lot of shit, including being told by Maverick to fire David Gamson, hiring Craig Street, and returning back to the studio. Whatever Maverick did/suggested that she do, and whatever Meshell did in response -- it works.

My (unsubstantiated) fear is that like when Prince began staying holed up at Paisley Park from the late 80s onward, followed by his leaving WBR and not having anyone tell him "NO" anymore, my fear is that Meshell will follow some small version of that now that she's away from Maverick. Who does she have close that will listen to what's being recorded and turned in and say "Hey, maybe let's try this instead." No one that I'm aware of. If that happens, she just takes the record to another label and sees if they'll release it instead (Verve >> Shenachiej, for example.)

I love the overproduced albums, including the new one -- for what they are. I just worry that the power in her lyrics is being drowned out by the overproduction. She doesn't seem to trust the original tracks that she cuts and continues tinkering. Again, makes me think of Prince (if only in a small way) in that regard.

Anyways, it's just my thoughts. It all gets fixed when she performs live as everything shines through then. Just my 2 cents...

Again, I'm not saying I want "Bitter" part two from Meshell, because that would be as lame as going to one of her shows and shouting at her from the front row to play "Boyfriend" or "Barry Farms" while using flash photography on her. What I'm saying is that I wish there wasn't so much tinkering. That's all. Trust your admirers more to appreciate what comes through at the shows without all of the extra stuff layered on later that takes away from the lyrics on CD... songs like "Article 3" and "The Sloganeer" are great examples of what I'm referring to in my comparisons of the tracks on "Bitter." Those two tracks, while nothing like the songs on "Bitter" seem to be recorded live without any tinkering afterwards. While they rock much harder than the music on "Bitter," that's what I'm looking for. Just the music, and the lyrics.

The complete opposite of that would be "River" from "Comfort Woman." First there was "River." Then the tinkering began and we now have "Andromeda and the Milky Way." Listen to the version of the song on KCRW and tell me that you don't prefer that one over what was released on "Comfort Woman."

That's all I was/am saying

I am luvin the new CD. I expected a lot of rock based on Article 3 but the new CD was a mixture of "Bitter" and "Comfort Woman" with subtle hints of "Cookie". The CD definitely exceeded my expectations. I love "Relief: A Stripper Classic" and "Solomon" as well as the alternate takes of "Elliptical" and "Shirk". I can't express how happy I am that the music has finally arrived. I wonder what journey she will take us all on with the next album.

Peace and luv

Am i the only one who think that the Elliptical EP version is xxxx times better than the one inserted in the album ??? To me , it sounds like a demo version; like if the non-essentials parts (even if they are not that bad, i think they need some work) were been retired to do the EP version. Plus i like more the intro, the mix of Sy Smith voice, the effects at the end of her verse (into you...) on the ep version .They (she ?) retired some bass effects, (you can hear it if you compare the intros),changed some percussions (once again you can hear it in the intros).It makes the track less good IMO.

the "uuuuuuuuu" at the beginning is more in the foreground than on the ep version.On that last one i didn t identified what was used to do this melody.On the album it's a voice but i don t know if it is the same on the ep. I prefer it in the EP : more atmospheric

i forgot that : i HATE how the cornet is stopped at 3 : 45 .Perhaps it would have worked on me with some effects like the reverb (like the last "into you" on the EP)

I really don t know why one of my prefered track was sabotaged like that (IMO) and extended with non essentials parts (IMO).The Ep version was a complete atmosphere, the album one sounds like an unfinished good track which could have been very better.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bassy.B,

Again Thank You Meshell......This cd has so much to offer. For so long I wished for those nonreleased soundtrack scores, this album has me hoping for a soon to be released movie. It just tells so many stories and moods. You're to dawn good to be true. At first it hit me like "comfort Woman" part 2, and then I listened more and more and heard the stories you're oviously telling from your heart. If there was a movie release for this music, it would be an instant cult flick. Please don't stop, and maybe tease us with the release of some of those songs that you're adding to your shows.

quote:

Originally posted by matthew:
feenin, I've never heard "Mass Transit."

I don't know how it works though. I fear the stuff recorded while under Maverick may not see the light of day until those rights expire... if they ever do. (Think PRN & WBR.)

Matthew , I know it's been awhile since this message, but maybe there's some light coming soon. I recently made a visit to imeem.com to check out the music they had to listen to by Meshell and low and behold I was listening to "Afterglow" from the Noah's Arc Series. Just kind of wish it was available to download, maybe you'll add it to the site. Later

i might be wrong, but imeem allows it's users to upload music (official or othewise) that they've come across.

i will never post "afterglow" on this site or myspace unless approved by meshell or her management, mostly because meshell is beyond that material at this point. sorry :\