The Official "WTF did HMX do to El Scorcho" Thread

[gtc]

Hey no censorship! That's awesome!

But how about the rest of the song? How about the vocals that aren't where they're supposed to be? How about the totally different guitar solo? How about that terrible 'remastering' for the game? I shouldn't be, but I'm really shocked that the drum part was mostly ok.

They took the #1 song I wanted in this game, brand it as a true Weezer version, and made it sound like it came from a bad cover band.

Or did they forget the "As Made Famous By" prefix?

[josh1235]

I didn't notice anything crazy different. HMX has said that they focused and charted Rivers more than the back-up singers for gameplay reasons so that may be why the vocals are off for you. As for the other stuff Weezer is notorious for making multiple commercial versions for release. Make Believe has 2 versions that were released with various tweaks Rivers said in Rolling Stone. One version was out there maybe 2 weeks so who knows. Maybe the master they got was different than the version you prefer.

[patmac0014]

I agree with Josh...nothing too out of the ordinary. Songs sometimes sound different in the game than what we've heard over the radio or ipod or what have you.

And enough with labeling threads "official"

[FultonPub]

And enough with labeling threads "official"

Especially when you have 5 whole posts on this site!

[gtc]

I really can't believe you wouldn't notice it. It's glaringly obvious. Guitar solo. Lead vocals, not backup.

I know about Make Believe (Perfect Situation in particular), I was actually rather upset that they changed it because people at concerts were singing it wrong. And taking out the guitar buildup really hurt the song too.

But we're talking about Pinkerton, which has been out for 12 years now and the ridiculous majority of discs would have this version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzxwGazkLWU
Listen to that, then the Rock Band version. If the Rock Band one is 'official', it must be a buried version that hasn't been published in a very, very, very, very long time.

EDIT: and "Official" is a joke because everybody else does it. You think my 6 post count matters? Maybe you should see the thousands I have on other music gaming forums. Post count does not equal overall experience or knowledge on the subject matter.

[shadebug]

you'd be surprised what people do and don't notice. For instance, when i first played GH80s I was apalled at the shockingly awful cover of what I like about you. Then HMX got sued by the romantics because the cover was too good

[eVan_Diesel]

Meh. Certainly this could have just been added to one of the existing threads....

[patmac0014]

Meh. Certainly this could have just been added to one of the existing threads....

That can be said for most new threads nowadays

[toad3000]

you'd be surprised what people do and don't notice. For instance, when i first played GH80s I was apalled at the shockingly awful cover of what I like about you. Then HMX got sued by the romantics because the cover was too good
Yeah, that lawsuit doesn't have a leg to stand on. Methinks The Romantics just wanted some free press...
But anyway, I haven't heard the game version of El Scorcho yet, but I've noticed several times in the past that the balance of the tracks sometimes comes out a little wonky when compared to what you'd hear on the radio/cd/etc. Song With a Mission was really noticeable (altho that was a cover), the guitar track on that becomes very loud during the chorus, then fades back again during the verse. It's strange and distracting.

[HubbubJub]

While the guitar solo isn't too terrible, the end of the vocals right before the drums come in is really really awkward. Why add the on? But if it's a master, I suppose it's the way Weezer intended it...anyway, I'm a tiny bit disappointed, but I'm still very very happy to have it.

[FultonPub]

EDIT: and "Official" is a joke because everybody else does it. You think my 6 post count matters? Maybe you should see the thousands I have on other music gaming forums. Post count does not equal overall experience or knowledge on the subject matter.

We are gonna need some evidence backing up this statement! :rolleyes:

[foolosophy]

I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed when I heard the solo. Still a great song though.

[gtc]

Whatever. It would just be nice to hear from somebody over in Boston about what they did. I'm not trying to drum up a mob, or ask who thinks this is worse (even though I definitely do). This is a 100% objective observation that the song is different, even though it was supposed to be El Scorcho by Weezer, not El Scorcho as made famous by Weezer, or El Scorcho rerecorded by Weezer, or El Scorcho previously unreleased demo track by Weezer.

And honestly negative lashbacks like this are why I don't post here. It's supposed to be a 'discussion' board not 'gtfo noob you're not fellating harmonix' board.

[DethBoxx]

The RB version is ALWAYS going to be different from the album version.
Instead of complaining, you should look at this as a GOOD thing.

[muohio]

I just accept that the masters in RB are going to be different than what is on the cd. For example, Say It Ain't So and Maps off the top of my head are different enough to notice. IMO, the masters in RB are typically more raw and don't have layers of studio editing.

[hmxhenry]

I actually just ran upstairs and played El Scorcho for the first time to see what all the hubbub was about. I didn't catch anything wildly out of the ordinary to be perfectly honest. Also, to clarify, yes I have heard the song before.

The only part that kind of threw me off was the trade off between the lead and backing vocals in the last minute of the song, in the "I'm a lot like you" bits. I think part of my problem was years of conditioning singing all the repeating backing parts and not just Rivers' lead part. Other than that, great song, will play again.

[King_Nuthin]

One of the HMX developers commented on it in the thread on the featured threads group. He said that the dropped lyric was a backup part, I'm not sure I buy that but I'll accept it for now. The solo is odd and there was no comment on that. Still this is easily one of my top 5 songs in the game now. My favorite parts of the song are all intact, except for possibly the one high note.

[Fro007]

I've listened to this song (maybe literally) thousands of times. This mix is a lot different than what's on Pinkerton. It actually sounds like a completely different vocal take from Rivers at times (note the "come on down the street and dance with me" instead of "come down on the street and dance with me"). His voice sounds noticeably different compared to the album in some spots. It's still the actual band though so I'm not gonna complain.

[Surllio]

Remember this much...

What is on the CD has been mix, remixed, had certain parts put in the forefront and others pushed into the background. Sounds added, notes extended, etc. When they work with it for RB, what they bring forth from the master is usually untampered. That means the "odd" solo you are hearing is the true solo, but parts you don't recognize were over powered by the other instruments.

I've played El Scorcho several times now. It sounds more like an untouched studio master or a live recording. And personally, it sounds better to me because of that.

Stop crying. Be glad we got it.

[m00p]

Ah, just another complaint thread. Forgive us HMX, your doing a swell job...


LOCKED

[Fro007]

Remember this much...

What is on the CD has been mix, remixed, had certain parts put in the forefront and others pushed into the background. Sounds added, notes extended, etc. When they work with it for RB, what they bring forth from the master is usually untampered. That means the "odd" solo you are hearing is the true solo, but parts you don't recognize were over powered by the other instruments.

I've played El Scorcho several times now. It sounds more like an untouched studio master or a live recording. And personally, it sounds better to me because of that.

Stop crying. Be glad we got it.

Just to clarify:

As a fan of the band I think it's pretty cool too, actually. I was just pointing out that if you've had this song imprinted onto your brain, some of the differences really do stick out a lot.

[King_Nuthin]

Just to clarify:

As a fan of the band I think it's pretty cool too, actually. I was just pointing out that if you've had this song imprinted onto your brain, some of the differences really do stick out a lot.
Agreed, though I can't speak for the OP. I'm more curious as to how the changes came about - in some places it appears to be more than just mixing - than upset that they are there. I can't say enough how glad I am that this song is in the game in any capacity and have repeated that plenty.

[Ultrace]

It's supposed to be a 'discussion' board not 'gtfo noob you're not fellating harmonix' board.
There's a difference between "not fellating Harmonix" and something like this:

They took the #1 song I wanted in this game, brand it as a true Weezer version, and made it sound like it came from a bad cover band.

Or did they forget the "As Made Famous By" prefix?
That's hardly constructive criticism there. And your title for the thread? (Currently The Official "WTF did HMX do to El Scorcho" Thread) For someone who states they're not trying to drum up a mob, you sure got rather worked up over this. It's little surprise you got the backlash you did--you came here with a fair amount of forward lash in advance.

And I'm neither defending or decrying what HMX did to the song. I never heard it before the announcements and after listening to it was less than impressed, so don't take my post as any indication of the quality of the song as translated into RB.

[MinusTheBear]

The end of the very first verse, The main vocals are off, almost like it was a bad take that was turned down , but HMX accidently used that take. THe guitar solo still has the guitar solo we know from the album, but it has the 2nd guitar, which is harmonizing for the guitar solo turned up way too loud. It should have been the other way around.

[bmore007]

The new/different solo throws me off the most. I dunno what happened there.

[Goldfoot]

The new/different solo throws me off the most. I dunno what happened there.

Then you obviously didn't read this thread, which is weird because you posted in it.


What is on the CD has been mix[ed], remixed, had certain parts put in the forefront and others pushed into the background. Sounds added, notes extended, etc. When they work with it for RB, what they bring forth from the master is usually untampered. That means the "odd" solo you are hearing is the true solo, but parts you don't recognize were over powered by the other instruments.

[bmore007]

Then you obviously didn't read this thread, which is weird because you posted in it.

Yea well I saw that. Harmonix could have tinkered with it too and put the right solo to the forefront.

[espher]

*has flashbacks to useless 3's and 7's drama*

[BroadswordBlues]

I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed. It’s one of my favorite songs of all time, not just from Weezer.

After hearing this version it became clear that it was mostly a lot of nuances that made the song so great for me, a few of which are mostly absent here. In that respect it’s hard not to be disappointed.

Has Harmonix done some sort of disservice to us or the song? No.

Whatever small amount of magic which happened to get lost in the translation here I think is more than made up for by the fact that it’s now available in the game at all.

[AVC808]

i have a ps3 so i cant download it yet, but after reading this thread yesterday i went on youtube last night to check it out (thanks to everyone that uploads their captured dlc video).
as a big weezer follower i can tell you that the whole vocal track is different from the album/radio version. ive heard weezer songs so often that i can tell the slightest pitch changes in dozens of instances in el scorcho, as well as the already pointed out solo change.
yes i can see how this change really throws you off (like the come on down the street?), especially in a game like rock band, where one part is dedicated to singing. when youre used to singing a song one way, it becomes really awkward. i'll go along with the theory that this really was a master, and the version we've come along to know by heart was a studio change at the last minute. it happens.
that said i really dont let these things bother me. the songs still pretty much the same. why cant you guys treat it like a live version. when you go to concerts there's always little changes in tune, and solos sometimes get improvised. that's how i'll be treating this song.
id rather complain about getting a different weezer song (or more weezer). pink triangle might be my favorite track from pinkerton. and the absolute song im waiting for harmonix to release as DLC is only in dreams. i think ive repeated that about 8 or 9 times now :)

[StunLock]

First off, the version in RB is very good, no complaints here.

Now, being a fan for many years and hearing this song probably hundreds of time, yes, it is certainly obvious the vocals are different (down on teh street through me for a complete loop), solo was mixed wrong (not different, just wrong) and finally the end vocals I thought were slightly better on the album.

I'm sure they changed the middle vocals (How stupid is it, I cant talk about it) so that when you are singing you sing the entire phrase and not get cut off when the background vocals sing "my heart".

Regardless, it's different, but still a great song. Thanks for putting more Weezer in the game :)