“Tiles,” “Fence the Clear,” and “Presents of Mind” have been re-mastered with bonus tracks and include expanded artwork, liner notes, and additional photos. InsideOut Music will release the discs as part of their Special Edition series on March 1, 2004 in Europe and March 16, 2004 in North America. The “Presents of Mind” Special Edition is only available in Europe (and possibly as an import elsewhere).

All three of our previous CDs had lapsed into “out of print” status with the exception of “PoM” in North America (Magna Carta). With “Window Dressing” scheduled for a spring release the time was right to re-introduce our back catalog into the marketplace. We tracked down the original artwork, sifted through hundreds of photos, and mulled over bonus track possibilities for each CD while Terry Brown worked on the “WD” mixes. Having settled on four (4) songs – previously released only on the very limited Standing Pavement demo cassette from 1990 – we arranged to have Terry record vocals and bass guitar to bring them up to date and work his magic mixing the new versions… altogether an ambitious undertaking due to the short timeframes and the ongoing “WD” workload. We also selected additional bonus tracks that were previously released only in Japan, plus a couple mixed-but-unreleased demo versions, and some bootleg video.

We transferred the songs from tape to Pro Tools and shipped them off to Toronto – where Terry began working on the mixes over the Christmas holiday. I made a few minor adjustments to the lyrics (they were written a very long time ago you know!) without really “changing” them and Paul set about rehearsing the songs. Tiles used to play “Calling Out” and “World Sunset” live in ‘94/95 so these songs weren’t complete strangers. “Forging a Newer Trend” was new to both Jeff and Paul as was “Opportunity” for Jeff. Paul had auditioned on “Opportunity” in 1993 (in the studio) so we kept his original vocal intact.

In early January ’04 the whole band traveled to Toronto at various times to complete the bonus track recording and “Window Dressing” mixing. Paul and Terry worked alone and completed all the vocals before the rest of us arrived. We spent a day tweaking the “WD” mixes and started Jeff on his four bass parts. Everything went smoothly – even after several lengthy dinner breaks and “we’re almost done” celebrations. The week before – the initial “WD” mixing review – Jeff and I had dinner with Terry and Kim Mitchell to thank Kim for his stellar lead guitar playing on “Capture the Flag” (in lieu of money…). Although we missed Pat’s extensive knowledge of Kim’s career with Max Webster and on his own, Jeff delivered an impressive variety of stories and anecdotes and kept us entertained. Just ask Terry!

InsideOut felt that it was money well spent to master “tiles” from the original mix down tapes – from “scratch” you could say. Even in the digital realm the equipment used to edit the running order together and the mastering process itself have greatly improved from ten years ago (16 bit to 20 bit to 24 bit…). So, we started with the original tapes and put together a brand new program. I took the opportunity to review the different mixes we had archived – in case something cool was passed over the first time – and chose alternate mixes for Analysis Paralysis, Trading Places, and Supply and Demand. Granted, the differences are subtle – and if we didn’t admit to switching versions probably no one would notice. But in each case the vocals seemed to “sit” in the mix better – they weren’t quite as “loud” (sorry Paul). In Analysis Paralysis there’s even a little more guitar! Also included are the Europe/Japan version of Dress Rehearsal – with the original guitar intro – and a new version of Scattergram’s edited fade and outro jam.

Peter Moore was once again hired to master “WD” – and having originally mastered “FtC” and “PoM” he seemed the likely candidate to work his magic on “tiles” and also attempt to improve upon his earlier works. He has since rendered his opinion as to the results: “tiles” is improved by 20%; “Fence the Clear” about 5%; and “Presents of Mind” also about 5%. I think he has sold himself a little short. There is a vast improvement in “Tiles:” less tape noise, greater clarity, and a new “openness” in the drums. Certainly there is even a little more clarity of sound in both “FtC” and “PoM” to the point where Pat wondered if we had remixed a few songs (no we did not!).

So there you have it. Reissues are annoying for the fans that bought the original versions – we’ve all been there. But the new versions are technologically updated – and sound better! A lot of work was put into the expanded liner notes, artwork, graphic design, re-mastering, and bonus tracks – it’s not simply a money grab. If you bought our cds the first time around – thanks! If you like them enough to buy an updated version – then thanks again! If once is enough, that’s cool. If you’re just now discovering us and buy our back catalog, we’ve made it the best that’s available!!

Chris Herin, Feb 2004
Detroit, MI