5 out of 5
This is a tough one at first blush, because the Toadies Rubberneck reissue – packaging-wise – felt on the cheap side, going sans liner notes and not seeming to tweak much on the art, but at least it boasted a quality remaster. Hell Below looks like it follows suit – an inner liner but no extras – and has no remaster, moreso just offering us vinyl folks a first opportunity to get this on wax.
Ah, but: the art has been remuxed slightly, rearranging elements such that we get all of the original pieces in there, but blown up or shifted and such to accommodate the vinyl packaging. Simon Evers is credited with vinyl layout, and I offer a tip of my hat: it’s too easy to overlook the work it takes to not just blow up the CD images, and fair enough, the same was actually true on the Rubberneck LP also (which differed at least a tad from the ’96 vinyl edition).
Furthermore… while this might not be a remaster, we should question if a remaster is necessary if the original mix is spot on. And we can also say it is, essentially a remaster, since Levi Seitz specifically mastered it for the format, and god damn I gotta tell ya: it’s subtle, but the subtleties make this a must own if you’re a huge fan of this disc. I completely understand if you don’t like what Seitz brings out, but the “must own” would be to make you appreciate the original all the more. Thankfully (for me), I’m on the side that frankly loves this edition: the percussion alone makes it, sounding a bit looser, a bit more intimate, and that works alongside a slightly more rounded bass, more depth in Lewis’ vocals, and guitars where you can hear just a bit more resonance; a bit more wiggle. Yes, it’s the typical “warmth” of vinyl, but you can absolutely tell when someone is mastered for wax, and that Seitz didn’t push too hard to get that warmth (in the sense that I think you do have to be pretty familiar with the original to hear the differences), is a testament to, I’d say, the “truth” of the mastering – hence my initial question about the original mix probably being pretty dang close to what the band wanted. And then both are worth hearing because the CD edition sounds right on CD, and this one… sounds perfect on LP.
