Here's my MIX
Hah! I wondered how long it would take for someone to have a go a drying up the lead vocal as a drop into the chorus, and here it is at last! This dodge came to mind almost as soon as I heard the song, and I'd certainly have given something like that a go myself. (Ah... It's like an old friend...
) The difficulty pulling it off in this particular song, though, is the funny snare upbeat that starts the chorus -- which also caused problems for the reverse transition effect in a.r's mix previously. Exactly how and when you turn off the effects, and how the decay tails of the different instruments interact with that can make a huge difference to how well it works. In this case I'd experiment with editing down the tails of the bass and guitar sustains under that last vocal word. Shortening one of both of them would be my first experiment, I think, although I might alternatively choose to extend them more into the chorus itself.
There are several other great little effects spins here. Good thinking with the feedback repeats midway through the chorus -- there's a little lull in the melodic interest at that point in the proceedings which you're filling beautifully. You could make it even better by fading it down when the guitar moves up for its little fill, and then fading up the fill a bit too. It's this kind of 'listener direction' with automation that can really breath life into a mix.
The snare is a definite talking-point in this mix too, because it seems to me to represent one of the better attempts to give the instrument that extra high-frequency sustain I'm hearing in my head. However, like karumba's barn-storming show-opener on this thread, a little more low mid-range feels necessary in this particular mix for me, so that the snare doesn't have to be as loud in the upper frequencies as this. Despite the advantages of the snare sound, though, the overall kit feels a bit skeletal and lacking in body. This is partly that there doesn't seem to be much buss compression going on (either on the drum buss or the whole mix) -- this is definitely a style in which I'd expect to hear a fair amount of compression, because if it's handled correctly it can lend a sense of urgency and thickness to the sound. If you're worried about dulling the drum attack, by all means use parallel compression, but I for one have an almost unconscious expectation that the cymbal tails will have a certain touch of wobble -- if not straight-out suck-and-breath pumping! I think you're trying to compensate for this at the moment by using a little too much longer reverb, which only really distances the drums, and also makes them feel less 'authentic' somehow. Blend isn't bad though, with the exception of the snare, which feels a touch too upfront and disconnected during the verses.
You've kept a tight rein on the low midrange of the vocals, and while that does aid the clarity of the mix as a whole, I think you might have gone a bit too far with it, especially during the choruses, where the singer just feels a bit like he's pushing too hard too early. I'd save that character for the choruses, where it's most needed, otherwise you'll always find it tricky to make the choruses seem harder-edged. Some good corrective tuning work on the vocal too, although it sounds to me as if the doubletrack might still need to be tightened a little more in this respect. (I'm surprised how few people have attended to the tuning: it looks like fHumble fHingaz and Lastrite are the only others so far who've had a proper stab at it. The choruses are never going to blend properly in this production unless they're in tune.)
There are two main points where the long-term dynamics need particular attention, the first of which is our old friend the start of the final choruses, of course, for reasons I've gone into before. The other is the beginning of the outro, and this could be because you've chosen really quite a high level for the lead vocal in the balance -- higher that I'd probably go for. The moment the lead vocal goes, your track loses quite a bit chunk of level and performance energy. The backing vocals are quite well-judged in relation to the lead, though, and feel nicely nailed into place, but somehow their tone seems a bit too upfront for me. Maybe they just need more blending effects, in addition to their added sustain tail. Hearing you ride those BVs up during the outro confirms me in my opinion that this is a good tactic for making sense of that section, and I'd almost certainly follow a similar approach myself. I'd probably also make more of the guitar solo, though, too, as the potential of that seems a little wasted at the moment.
Lots of good ideas there, everyone, and plenty we've not heard before either. Just goes to show that mixing's never obvious!
