stormspell wrote:Dude, this is the second time you're telling this release is unlistenable giving you a massive migraines. What else could I do but to refund you?
Nor did I ever asked you to change your opinion. I was just saddened and disappointed to see you expressing your opinion in public every time this topic pops up. You of all people to whom I've explained personally the situation and all the hurdles we had to cross just to see this release out. A fellow label owner who would know of all those things, or so I thought...
And since I'm at it, let me clarify one more thing: all your comments of how the old tape rips are better are inaccurate. There are NO tape rips for the demo II. This demo was never even mixed before Dave transferred the multi-track tapes and mixed and mastered it - so what he gave us is ALL that is available, ever! At the end it was down to THIS sound, or NO release! There was a lot of bleeding in the drum tracks, and a particularly nasty reverb effect throughout, so it was sonically challenged from the start and a lot of compromises had to be made. It is not like we took a pristine recording and slammed it down you know, quite to the contrary.
Seriously, how do you expect me to not get upset when you know it is impossible to provide a better product, yet keep telling otherwise?
Anyhow, it is probably all my fault. I really should stop carrying so much. Apologies to everyone who had to read through this rant.
I think that if Rob thinks a release of yours is shit that he is entitled tp say so. Dan said it best in the rules with: "consensus is for hippies." I realize that you are the guy behind the label and because of this are obviously sensitive about the issue and even though you had to jump through hurdles to get the material for the release, it doesn't mean that you shouldn’t receive any criticism over it. Rob was a customer and he received a product that he wasn’t happy with. Sure you refunded him but that doesn’t mean that he should just sweep the issue under the rug and keep it as his dirty little secret. I work in the casino industry and have had several meetings regarding marketing and customer service. Applying this knowledge to this issue I will tell you that a happy customer will tell an average of 10 people about the great experience they had where as an unhappy customer will tell an average of 25 people about the terrible experience they had. This is just human nature.
Personally, I have this release, like nearly all of those you put out that I have interest in and even though I wouldn't go so far as to say the disc is "unlistenable" I will say that the quality isn’t the best. I realize that you had issues with the mastering and didn’t do it yourself like you would have preferred but that doesn’t mean that those of us that have bought and listened to the release shouldn’t have an opinion about it.
Besides, one release with not so great sound won't overthrow all the other great ones you have put out so far. Just think back a little over a year ago when Shadow Kingdom released the Serpent's Knight compilation. That one had bad sound too which was not due to the label itself, but the material is still out there and people are still able to enjoy it.
Relax a little.
