72_72291 "Hugo, let's go to the car test, do you want to be together?" Pedro walked towards the door and shouted at Hugo who was lying on the couch.

But halfway through the sentence, he was pulled by Neil next to him, and Pedro looked at Neil in confusion, and Neil whispered, "He didn't rest for a night last night." "While the news about the new album has started to buzz lately, the band has been rehearsing for the concert in full swing.

Last night the band's practice lasted until three o'clock, but when the rest of the group had returned, Hugo remained in the practice room, and when Neil came at seven o'clock in the morning, Hugo still hadn't slept. After practicing for more than two hours just now, Hugo still couldn't resist the tiredness after all, lying on the sofa and closing his eyes, but fell asleep directly.

Pedro couldn't help but look at Hugo twice, and then whispered, "But the last time we went to listen to the master test, Hugo didn't pass, and if we missed the car test today, Hugo will definitely be unhappy." ”

It's 1996, and although the level of recording of the album is very high, there is still a huge dependence on the environment, and the quality of the recording is very susceptible to environmental disturbances - which is why everyone thinks they are crazy when Glory to Death decides to move the studio outdoors. So, when an album is recorded, it needs to be tested. This test consists of two parts.

One is the mastering test in the recording studio, that is, the playback with professional audio and professional equipment, the recording effect is picky, and the high-quality and high-level experience is experienced; One is the car test, that is, to test the listening effect with low-quality and low-level audio, and the car audio is the most typical "bad" audio, to see the listening effect in a harsh environment.

The album is divided into two parts, the studio part and the outdoor part, and there is so much uncertainty that this also makes the importance of mastering and automotive testing skyrocket.

Not long ago, Hugo missed the mastering test because of the promotional event, and then it was an intensive concert rehearsal, so Hugo has not heard the recording effect of the entire album of "Storm" until now. Today's car test, Hugo doesn't want to miss.

Neil knew that Pedro was right, that the album was the culmination of Hugo's hard work, and that the band members knew better than anyone that it was a milestone in the glory to death. However, Neil also knows that Hugo's recent exhaustion, the 100,000-person concert has put Hugo under pressure, and Cameron is still in a cold war with Hugo...... So Neil didn't know what to do for a while.

After hesitating, a figure walked directly past Pedro, and the deep voice came from his ears, "Hugo is not as fragile as you think......" and then saw Fukin's back walking forward, Fuquin walked to the sofa and kicked the sofa hard, Hugo was immediately woken up, a carp sat up, and then turned his head to look around blankly, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and said in a muffled voice, "When?" ”

Fokine replied simply, "Car test time." ”

Hugo immediately stood up and stretched, "Go!" When he walked to the door, he saw Neil and Pedro standing in the doorway, and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?" Then he passed between the two men, "Alfonso, wait for me...... Are you driving today? Whose car are you going to drive? Hugo and Alfonso drifted away.

Fokine walked over, looked at Neil and Pedro, who were standing at the door and didn't come back to their senses, patted the shoulders of the two people, and without saying a word, walked directly through the two people and walked out. was stunned, and the two of them chased after them.

Due to the acoustic test, the band did not drive the members' own cars today, but drove Alex's old beat-up pickup truck. Alfonso drove, with the biggest Foquin in the passenger seat and the other three in the back seat, and the pickup truck slowly drove out, driving towards the bustling area to test the acoustics.

There was a familiar melody in the carriage, and Hugo listened attentively, but more to feel the listening effect of the mastering, as expected, there was no problem with the A-side of the studio recording, although there was a lot of noise in the car audio, but it still did not affect the quality of the whole album. However, before he started listening to the B-side recorded in the outdoor studio, Hugo was already worried about the effect, because there was no way to ignore the noise of the car stereo, and the ambient noise of the album they recorded outdoors was originally part of the background music, and it was impossible to predict how well it sounded.

"How was the B-side effect in the previous mastering test?" Hugo asked in a loud voice.

"Good." It was Neil who replied, "The noise is more of a natural part of the arrangement, we took note of that during the recording process, and the overall effect far exceeded expectations, and I and Fokine both thought that it was even better than the A-side, more passionate and surging of rock 'n' roll, and it seems that your idea has been a success so far." ”

"I also think it's good, the A side and the B side are excellent." Pedro raised his hands to clarify himself, causing both Alfonso and Neil to chuckle.

Hugo didn't smile, he pursed his lips, didn't speak, no matter what the effect was, he still had to wait until he heard it with his own ears to know, "By the way, is the price out?" ”

Since this "Tempest" is a double-sided disc packaging, the price will definitely not be the price of a single-sided disc, and for some time before, Henry has been negotiating with EMI Records about this issue: because EMI Records wants to be listed at double the price, which really makes the members of the glory to death angry.

At the moment, an album is generally $13 - that's $12.99, and if the price of "Tempest" is doubled, that's $26, which is too high. It is reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "History" album, and the money-obsessed Sony Columbia Records directly priced the two-disc album for $33, which directly affected the album's sales.

In fact, the B-side of "Tempest" was entirely the idea of the band Honor to Death, and they had even planned to give it away for free as a giveaway for the concert, but in the end Roger Farson compromised, which allowed the outdoor recording version to be released in its original form. But now, EMI Records wants to make a profit through the Guò B side, and the price has fully doubled - it is completely selling the B side as a regular album, which is contrary to the original intention of glory to death.

In fact, businessmen are profit-seeking, and the idea of EMI Records is not unexpected, but the problem is that the B side is just an experiment, and it is more the product of the collision of countless ideas and inspirations in the process of making the three albums of Glory to Death, and this disc is the essence and soul of Glory to Death as a rock band, so they hope that the concert will be released for free so that fans can listen carefully, and it is not a formal studio album, nor is it a formal concert live album.

Therefore, the decision of Glory to Death to EMI Records is naturally strongly opposed. Henry knew all too well about the temper of Glory to Death, and before the band members could protest, he had already taken the lead in negotiating with EMI Records.

When it comes to pricing, Glory to Death has no say, and EMI Records has an absolute legal right to enforce it – and even Michael Jackson has not been able to stop Sony Columbia Records' style. But Henry still tried his best to convince EMI Records, trying to make EMI Records understand that their strategy was wrong, and that they could shoot themselves in the foot, and the result was the loss of glory to death and EMI Records, which Mariah Carey and Oasis would have been happy to see.

It's just that I don't know what the conclusion of EMI Records is.

"Fourteen-nine-nine." Neil gave the answer, and Hugo raised an eyebrow slightly, two dollars more expensive than a regular album, which is fifteen dollars. This is an acceptable range. And many albums will be customized, collector's, or special editions at this price, which is not expensive.

"Roger must have spent a lot of effort." Hugo chuckled, after all, adding a disc to the album costs a lot, and EMI Records is willing to add only two dollars, which can be said to be a big piece of meat.

"Cut, they didn't spend much more anyway." Pedro scoffed, because the recording of the B-side disc was all at his own expense, and EMI Records did not cost anything at all. Everyone in the carriage chuckled as he said that.

Looking at the scenery outside the window slowly retreating, the melody flowing slowly in the bad stereo of the car, and sometimes the chaotic noise and noise of the neighborhood, Hugo listened carefully, and slowly came to mind the situation when each song was recorded at that time, every detail of the picture is so lifelike, and can even outline the scene when he first wrote the song, even if he did not carefully distinguish the lyrics, the notes also penetrate the layers of protection, hit the atrium, and convey the feelings accurately and profoundly. As Neil said, the B-side worked surprisingly well.

All of them were just as Hugo had expected, and the B-side recorded in the outdoor studio of "Stormy Rain" presented exactly what he expected, quietly imprinting the spirit of walking on the road to death with glory to death in the depths of his soul. This made Hugo breathe a long sigh of relief, and the smile on the corner of his mouth crept up, and after the last track of the album was played, Hugo was about to open his mouth to communicate with his teammates, not wanting the disc to continue running, and then, the clear and transparent guitar strings poured out.

This strange but familiar melody made Hugo stunned directly, and his whole brain immediately fell into a crash, unable to think at all. This...... That's not right! This song shouldn't be in the "Storm", and more accurately, this song shouldn't be heard by anyone at all, but what's going on?