The Art Of Noise – In Visible Silence

I have a couple different pressings of this album, and track A2 is not the "Max Headroom" version of Paranoimia on this one. I don't believe the (IMHO, annoying) Max version showed up until 1988, but I may be wrong about that.

I would note that the note in the booklet about the "US and later European pressings" is partly incorrect, as the original US pressing (see https://www.discogs.com/The-Art-Of-Noise-In-Visible-Silence/release/432379) was the album "in its original, intended form".

I am judging this edition as it is because I only have the original release on first press cd. To me, the sound quality here is excellent. Great clarity and punch and superb dynamics. This does not sound flat at all on my set up. (A lot of modern reissues definitely do though). No noise at all from this blue vinyl set, apart from one stubborn dust particle that I eventually removed. The second disc of extras is great. 12" mixes, b sides and early versions. I have had about 5 or 6 albums from MOV and they all sound great, and they are all on coloured vinyl. Like I have said before it doesn't matter what colour the vinyl is, it's the (re)mastering and pressing that matters. (Picture discs are a different story). Most of my best sounding recent purchases are on coloured vinyl.

For me, their best album, hands down--this proved that they really DIDN'T need Trevor Horn. The entire album is great, but "Leg's", "Paranoimia", "Peter Gunn" & "Camilla" are the standouts for me.

Regarding "Leg's" I was always annoyed that the full 12" mix was not on here. As for "Paranoimia", I strongly prefer THIS OG mix without Max Headroom. (Adding him was a bit of a gimmick)

Buy an original. Yes this pressing is a nice thing to own but compared to a mint original it's simply lost it's soul. The sound is rather flat, almost brick wall. There are some dynamic improvements but compared to the original, it's simply not as warm sounding.

More sawtooth than sign if that makes sense sonically.

It's almost like they wanted to clean it up to make it sound like a modern release. In some ways it's worked but in others (the most important ways) it doesn't. The sound in most places is harsh and way too clinical.

Why do people want to bring more resolution in to things when it's simply not needed. It's like putting an EQ on something that simply doesn't need it.

The original release however has this lushness, a velvety sound with ambient dynamics to die for. And it still holds up as a modern sounding and dynamic release.

I'm sad that this release is not as nice as I would have liked. I bought it on a whim to give my original a rest.

One positive is that the vinyl of this pressing is flawless and the package is really nice. But it's also basic, no nice embossing on the sleeve like the original. Not an expensive thing to produce these days so I'm disappointed that they didn't take that extra step.

My advice, buy an original.

Excellent repress and great packaging quality. A first class piece of musical art in the history of experimental electronic music. Brilliant and crazy.

in visible silence/art of noise double vinyl

SIDE 1

opus 4
clear and bright and strange the words ring out the same but echoing and familiar introductions
paranoimia
teas made ? teasmade bing! funky breaths over funky beats in a vacuum.how can we hear this sound?
eye of a needle
cocktails in spaceship crusher lounge .xylophone sounds instant and introduces the crooner sample nicely.
brushes and all details shine lovely..cash register and ping pong entertain your ears…
legs
brash jazzy and sort of annoying..sounds like it could have been on “daft” maybe one of the first tracks made for the album then?
slip of the tongue
slides in unexpectedly as somehow the legs are sucked into a long plastic pipe and away to oblivion..
backbeat
boop bip electric mice sing us a tune of farewell to side one..and as we think its over piano comes back and a final hip hop bounce to flip us over..

SIDE2

instruments of darkness
foreboding speech from the ghosts of apartheid into a sonic assault on the ears..
peter gunn (featuring duane eddy)
from the wilds of unknown african future to the old wild west of the past … the vocalists can’t seem to form actual words but maybe thats for the best.
camilla
seductive sliding bongo drums lure us into a dreamy night where the unspoken whispers lead to where the boys want to but ..”boys don’t”..or could they if they wanted to?
the chameleons dish
a bit stabby and intense after that relaxing vibe but hey …wake up its LEGS part 2 !
beatback
more bubbly beats to the fadeout and end of the original album..a finale feeling with echoes of the bips on side a..

SIDE 3

and what have we here??
hoops and mallets
toilets flushing in space and a metronome ?hints of something else is it paranomia or just paranoia fades out.
something always happens
does it?is the art of noise paranoid? questions and a vocoder answer with more questions..what about you > this may be true??!
why me?
i don’t know yet..but maybe its that guitar you keep twanging way before SAW made it fashionable.has a vaguely new order feel to it as well.
a nation rejects
in the jungle the animals awake and ask us to stop the slaughter..lovely atmospheric track.sad and wistful.lovely to hear those celesta tings reminiscent of moments in love.
backbeat (reprise)
just the synth bed and a smoother rise into the tune now on this third excursion..hammond all the way …
world war 11
blocks on blocks of sound march in..and then leave promptly
the first leg
are we in church no..theres definitely a sampler in here legs themes play in and beats beat on and we know where its going.not legs but perhaps ankles this time around.
happy harrys high club
tune in the radio to that manic beat ..for just moment or two
chameleon 4
a variation i guess on the hammond dabbling ..and it seems to briefly lose the plot
bedoo bedoo
seamlessly segueing in i’m momentarily confused but still there..as son laugh at me ..
nice nude samples abound now and I’m entertained by these laughing samples and guitar plucks till we go a bit depeche mode with the Q sound until its time to flip again.

SIDE 4

whats left?
is it left field ?

Panic
yes it is..longer legs reprise fish ..ish…much drier mix now ..feels more 2018 for sure production wise.
Second legs
back into this stockings for this ..samplers were still new then so forgiveness is needed and welcome .
trumpton boogie
the tongue slips back in for more deeper frenching whether you like it or not..
chameleon 1
the cd was dirty perhaps
a nation regrets
return to the rain forest with a more boxy mix a little more dry and demo sounding but still nice.
peter gunn extended
back into that fifties vibe with an eighties spin and the percussive parts stretched out as they did in those days. nice to hear the sections still clean and bright mix.
paranoia extended
yes it is/thank you and goodnight.
what a great re release !!

A faultless pressing , Paranoimia (My Favourite Art of Noise track) has never sounded this good

In the mid Eighties there was a CD rental shop near where I lived. This was the first (and only as far as I remember) disc I got fined for not returning on time. All arty, showy, avant-gardy and unashamedly 'moderne', this was a new experience for me in electronic listening music. A truly fun, imaginative and breezy album I will always associate with Summer, car stereo and £1.30. For me the best album of their curiously uneven output.

The treat and real reason to buy this is to finally have all the B-sides and remixes* on CD for the first time, all properly transferred from the master tapes. My only complaint is what took you so freaking long?

There was nothing wrong with the original CD masterings, and the new one is hardly different, just slightly less dynamic. EQ is the same, to my aging ears. The unreleased demos are a mixed bag of unnecessary insights into the creative process, as always.

*Well, you don't get the 7" edit of Peter Gunn.