Friend of the site Ben Mitchell has highlighted some major differences between the digital/regular version of Superhero and the 7″ vinyl single.
Here’s more from Ben:
@faithnomore20 One major difference is the droney ‘leader of men’ part (3’50”-4’13”) has been mixed out & replaced with more plinkly pianos
— Ben Mitchell (@benlmitchell) March 28, 2015
@faithnomore20 Lots of other little differences to the mapping, Billy is louder and generally the vocals seem to be clearer in the mix — Ben Mitchell (@benlmitchell) March 28, 2015
I have the iTunes pre-order, but for some reason it only came with Superhero. But I bought the deluxe pack yesterday, which came with the album versions of the 2 singles, and the Motherfucker mix is different, as you describe. The album version sounds more menacing and ends with a warbling feedback sound instead of the piano note fade out. I like both versions, I wouldn’t necessarily call the album version an improvement, just different. I’m looking forward to hearing the vinyl Superhero version (if I get a record player or someone posts a link) and also how all the sounds blend together on the album.
I also think the album version of Motherfucker will be a different mix. If you compare the clip available here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/sol-invictus/id971801283 – or better yet the longer clip if you actually go onto the iTunes store – to the single version there are a few noticeable differences 1) During the first chorus Roddy’s backing vocals are mixed out so it’s now just Mike, then vice-versa for the second chorus (on the single version you can hear them both quite clearly), 2) The ‘oooh’ backing vocals are a lot lower in the mix with less reverb, as are the falsetto/staccato backing vocals, 3) the drums have a lot more of a punch to them. Easier to hear the differences when comparing on headphones but definitely there. I would suspect these changes came after Matt Wallace’s input given how long ago the original version of Motherfucker came out. Presumably people who have pre-ordered Sol Invictus on iTunes already have the album version downloaded so would be able to make a better comparison themselves.
This is pretty interesting; has anyone found a full version of the vinyl mix online?
The mix is different too, instrumentally. Much more drums sounding drier, better more audible and less obscured in the mix. Sounds more like an Angel Dust track in one version. Sounds way better/finished to my ear. I think its the version we heard with the ‘less repeats of the chorus vocal’ version.