loomer Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Does anyone know what else he's done? Worst album cover ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeSomeMo Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 And Natalie Imbruglia right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loomer Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Supposedly. And I think also the likes of Elton, Rod Stewart (?) and Ronan Keating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt420 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Don't forget "Into The Groove" on YCD/TIC, fans often say that "Shep took out the R&B of the track". But for "EY", even if there was the Local Mix, it's the Non-Stop Express Mix and it's various editions that got popular, Stephen's funky arrangement was completely overshadowed. It was just probably disappointing for Stephen, and by then he earned enough royalties from all the hits to be able to say no to Madonna. He might have not been asked for I'm Breathless, but there was still that "Get Over" track done around 1990, no? Or was it an outtake and they never really met in the studio after 1988? I meant the edit, instrumental etc. for 5 versions, I think the maxi-single has 5-6 tracks but only the 12" Mix is credited to Stephen Bray. That's so true. His mixes of ITG and EY are both DEVOID of funkiness. And those 2 songs are 2 of the best "R&B/funk" songs of her career. So good in fact that most people wouldn't even label the original versions R&B/funk/pop but that is indeed what they are. Of course until Pettibone got his hands on them and made them into mechanized, of it's time sounding garbage. EY on the LAP album has a timeless sound whereas the IC version sounds like it's straight outta the gay bar circa 1990. And let's not even get into what he did to LAP....sadly most casual fans probably think that is the REAL LAP. Sorry but Vogue is the only REAL masterpiece Shep and M did together. They had a couple of goodies on Erotica together, but his sound was beyond tired by that point even. It baffles me how Erotica with it's stale often monotonous beats, Madonna mumbling with a head cold (lemme turn the volume up to full blast....oh damn still can't make out what she's saying..... gotta read the lyrics....at least she put them in there) and coming on the heels of the impeccable LAP could be considered as one of her best works. Needless to say, I'd be a bit alarmed if I were Pat too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 ....sadly most casual fans probably think that is the REAL LAP. One would assume that even the most casual fan would have seen the music video at some point. Radio stations don't typically play the dance version. Really, everyone should just own the Like A Prayer album. Then this wouldn't be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I prefer the 7" versions Shep did for LAP and EY over the album versions. I also like the TIC versions but they don't belong on a GH album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt420 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 One would assume that even the most casual fan would have seen the music video at some point. Radio stations don't typically play the dance version. Really, everyone should just own the Like A Prayer album. Then this wouldn't be a problem. EXACTLY! I forgot that the video is indeed the original version so that's a good thing! Although I recall a while back looking for LAP on youtube and only being able to find some edited version of the video that featured the IC version....BLASPHEMY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 No one is ever going to be able to convince me that the original album versions are better than these three single remixes, all by Shep Pettibone. Download them and if you get a chance listen to them side by side with the album mixes. Like A Prayer [7" Version] | download This is the single version that I demand appear on the new compilation. More percussion, more bass, more atmospheric strings. Oh, and Prince's soaring guitar work (listen to that solo on the end, compare that to the lifeless album version.) Express Yourself [7" Remix] | download This, too, is the proper single version. All kinds of new stuff here... thicker bass, zippers (), strings --fittingly-- straight out of "Hot Thing" (a Prince track). The vocals are also placed much better in the mix. Keep It Together [7" Remix] | download This was released on the promo CD alongside Shep's more dramatically reworked single version. Love this one too. Kicks off with "1-2-3" and then her actual voice yelling "Hit it!" and doesn't let up from there. Like the previous two, this is such an improvement over the album mix. And that cold ending?! Fuller. Funkier. Forever and always, okay? Learn it. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 mattress, i prefer the album versions of KIT, LAP, and EY to the single mixes. :hide: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 mattress, i prefer the album versions of KIT, LAP, and EY to the single mixes. :hide: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Did you download them? Just to make sure we're talking about the same mixes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Did you download them? Just to make sure we're talking about the same mixes. of course!!! i LOVE the mixes. but as for LAP, that guitar intro from prince and the door slam are just perfect. express yourself & keep it together lose its old school 60's/70's gritty groove for me, in the mix. BUT, i LOVE the mixes. the album LAP, for me, has the best mixes of an album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loomer Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Like A Prayer [7" Version] | download This is the single version that I demand appear on the new compilation. More percussion, more bass, more atmospheric strings. Oh, and Prince's soaring guitar work (listen to that solo on the end, compare that to the lifeless album version.) Oh that's going too far surely. The album version is far from lifeless. I might prefer that 7" version of LAP, if the reverbed guitar intro was intact, rather than just the dry riff. Is that your favourite version of "Keep It Together", rather than the "Back To Life" one? I don't know.. it sounds pretty cluttered and synthetic. Those mixes at least are very close to the originals but I don't like Pettibone's discofication of everything. Makes everything sound more disco-y and fluffier - and thus more dated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 of course!!! i LOVE the mixes. but as for LAP, that guitar intro from prince and the door slam are just perfect. express yourself & keep it together lose its old school 60's/70's gritty groove for me, in the mix. BUT, i LOVE the mixes. the album LAP, for me, has the best mixes of an album. Oh, I disagree. The remixes still have the integrity of what the original producers did... they sound raw, gritty and "live"... but to me are infinitely more alive. I'm going to have to throw together a few side-by-side comparison clips later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Oh, I disagree. The remixes still have the integrity of what the original producers did... they sound raw, gritty and "live"... but to me are infinitely more alive. I'm going to have to throw together a few side-by-side comparison clips later. yeah, id like to hear that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattress Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Oh that's going too far surely. Yes. It is limp after hearing the single mix though. Is that your favourite version of "Keep It Together", rather than the "Back To Life" one? I don't know.. it sounds pretty cluttered and synthetic. Those mixes at least are very close to the originals but I don't like Pettibone's discofication of everything. Makes everything sound more disco-y and fluffier - and thus more dated. I like both, but would use the commercial single version (Single Remix) instead on a compilation. Posted these three to show that Shep didn't simply do the "cliche'-dance-cha-cha-mixes" as was implied. He spruced up the original sound and then did his dance versions to feed the club crowd. It isn't his fault that Madonna and the pop public's tastes temporarily moved into that direction. And this 7" Remix is only as cluttered as the original. Seriously, play bits of it alongside the original mix and you can see the instrumentation is actually more "real" sounding on Pettibone's version. Also, the songs on Like A Prayer were always going to sound dated. All versions sound like '70s songs recorded in the late '80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pud Whacker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 im listening to the ones you posted side by side to the originals. they sound sharper, cleaner. when im done, ill be back!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jamesshot Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Pat and Madonna together produce magic. I do think this writer did try to editorialize a bit and downplay Madonna's role. Shep, while no Pat, can produce some fine work with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carta Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Steve Bray wasn't overly happy with the album version of EY and has said in the past that his preferred version was never released (Madonna's decision). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt420 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Mattress....those mixes you posted are excellent. I think those are the mixes they played on the radio back in the day? Thanks for posting! They stay true to the originals and would be good for a compilation. I just don't like when they are completely altered like on IC where it strips away the funkiness and soul of the songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carta Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Thanks for posting those remixes, Mattress! As others have said, they're the ones that were played on the radio back in the day and they definitely should be the versions featured on the new compilation (KIT aside - it won't make the collection). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acko Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 THERE WAS ONE NAPOLEON.. THERE IS ONE ME & THIS IS THE ONE EXPRESS YOURSELF! Forever and always, okay? Learn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Worst album cover ever i picked this up cuz of pat leonard aside from a few songs i liked it was lackluster and a total borefest therefore the cover completely fits imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeSomeMo Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Mattress, after posting the LAP EY and KIT mixes by Shep that stick close to the originals, can you post his 'dancier', 'housier' reworkings? Esp the original version of what ended up on TIC and his reworking of KIT that I have on the single, only the single is not here with me I would appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Danny86 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 i picked this up cuz of pat leonard aside from a few songs i liked it was lackluster and a total borefest therefore the cover completely fits imo I recall a certain someone on this forum saying that Jewel sold out when she worked with Patrick Leonard (and later on, Rick Nowels). I checked on Wiki and apparently he co-wrote this: And a track on the US/Japanese version of this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluejean Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 'In This Life' came on shuffle on my iphone today... and I have to say, as touching as the song is, the production is awful. It sounds like a home demo Madonna did herself. That piano, ugh. He did do some good stuff. Vogue, Rain, Deeper & Deeper, Rescue Me and some others. But he was certainly more of a remixer than producer (much like Stuart Price.) There's nothing wrong with the results, but there were limitations. Patrick Leonard had the musical knowledge to go anywhere with Madonna, and that's exactly what he did. He seemed to bring out the best in her with songwriting. Now production wise, he wasn't as hip as others, and I guess that's why she moved on since she wanted to keep her sound fresh. I wonder if Patrick would be content to just write music with her and let the production be handled by someone else. (As happened much to his dismay on Ray Of Light.) I am guessing not, which may be why they haven't reunited since then. Give me Patrick Leonard over Pharrel Williams, Timbaland, Stuart Price or even Mirwais any day. Oh and definately over Shep Pettibone. You can understand his horror really when you think about it. The 'Like a prayer' remix is good but it lacks the poignancy of the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Bitch Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 He got quite up his own arse around that time - I remember reading a snippet in Rolling Stone where he said that he wouldn't work with her again unless she singed a contract to say she wouldn't allow the tracks to be remixed for single release. There was also the Rolling Stone interview she did with Carrie Fisher where Fisher said he'd said something about her going insane, if she didn't get married again soon. Of course all that went out the window and he came cap in hand, when he needed some more hits in the late 90s - I bet his production of Skin and Frozen sounded nothing like the final versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeSomeMo Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 'In This Life' came on shuffle on my iphone today... and I have to say, as touching as the song is, the production is awful. It sounds like a home demo Madonna did herself. That piano, ugh. GOD I KNOW. PLINK PLONK PLINK PLONK gross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Danny86 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 He got quite up his own arse around that time - I remember reading a snippet in Rolling Stone where he said that he wouldn't work with her again unless she singed a contract to say she wouldn't allow the tracks to be remixed for single release. There was also the Rolling Stone interview she did with Carrie Fisher where Fisher said he'd said something about her going insane, if she didn't get married again soon. Of course all that went out the window and he came cap in hand, when he needed some more hits in the late 90s - I bet his production of Skin and Frozen sounded nothing like the final versions. To be fair, Madonna needed "Frozen" as well. Especially in the UK, where she only had 2 bigger hits between 1990 and 1998. Even though "ROL" is the most acclaimed, remembered, performed etc. since then, "Frozen" proved to be the safest choice for a transition between old and new Madonna. I think only the string arrangements remained from the Pat version in "Frozen", the rest of the production is undeniably Orbit's. However, I always thought "Nothing Really Matters" sounds so dated with those drums and Orbit only added those bleeps in the intro and the bridge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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