Away from being one of modern prog rock’s most celebrated songwriters, Steven Wilson has remixed a glut of classic albums – a task he once said was “the equivalent of polishing the Sistine Chapel.”
Since giving King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King a new sheen as part of the band's 40th anniversary celebrations in 2009, the Porcupine Tree man has taken on other projects for the likes of Yes, Guns N' Roses and Steve Hackett, among many others.
But his work revisiting select portions of Black Sabbath's catalog hit a rather sizable snag, and it forced him to take a new approach, particularly with Vol. 4 , where his remixes were limited to six of the original album's 10 tracks.
“The tapes were lost,” he tells Noise11. “That's a classic example, and this has happened a few times over the years with me. The will to do it was there. The record company wanted to do it, the manager wanted to do it, I wanted to do it.
“And then they couldn't find the tapes.”
Of course, Sabbath had notoriously bad luck with tapes. During the sessions for 1975’s Sabotage, recording engineer David Harris mistakenly wiped the original master of The Thrill of it All during production. His error was immortalized on the record's liner notes, with Harris credited as “tape operator and saboteur.”
However, not all hope was lost for Wilson. He was able to get his paws on the record, just in a less traditional sense.
“What they did find,” he says, “was some outtake reels of the band running through different takes of the songs. So we did what we could, which is I mixed these outtakes, which I think are fascinating if you're a fan of that record.
“To go back and hear the band running through many different takes of 'Supernaut' or 'Wheels of Confusion' — there's some great, great stuff there.”
Wilson had better luck when remixing its 1976's Technical Ecstasy, which would prove to be the penultimate album of Ozzy's first tenure in the band.
“Unlike Vol. 4, multitracks for all but one song from Technical Ecstasy were located,” he writes on his website. “So this time new stereo remixes were made, along with alternate mixes which remove many of the more symphonic overdubs, incorporating instead alternate guitar solos, vocal takes, and other overdubs not used in the original album mix.
“Additionally, there is an outtake of 'She’s Gone,' which, in contrast to the orchestral album version, is for the full electric band, including Mellotron choir, making it sound closer to the ballads from earlier Sabbath albums.”
Wilson's experiences with remixing and remastering classic albums have given him unique insights into the works as well as the talents of the artists involved. Speaking to Sound on Sound in 2019, Wilson said he learned a lot about Robert Fripp's genius when remixing their superlative debut album. He believes a lot of their aural excitement comes from one key factor of the recording process.
His latest remix project has put Pink Floyd's iconic Live at Pompeii album under his sonic microscope, and he's spoken at length with Guitar Player about the project.
And as far as new music is concerned, he says that writing his latest solo album, the expansive, epic whirlwind that is The Overview, saw him trying to redefine the modern guitar solo.
