Brandon Flowers - Never Get You Right (Dynamic Edit)

This is what I like to call a ‘dynamic edit’ of “Never Get You Right” by Brandon Flowers! *The Desired Effect* as a whole basically follows in the footsteps of the heavily dynamically-compressed masterings (not to be confused with data compressed, which concerns MP3s and such) The Killers seem so accustomed to releasing.

Because of this, I attempted to make this album more dynamic using a program called “Perfect Declipper”, which can not only help alleviate clipping, but also much of the dynamic range compression that occurs during mastering! As such, many of the artifacts of dynamic range compression and clipping, including hiss, are much less noticeable, and the result is much more dynamic. In this case, I was able to turn the dynamic range of the album from 4 into 10.

In my edits, it’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the "Perfect Declipper" program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to "declip" an album as one would be unable to "unbake a cake", I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix.

While I find the album to be quite compressed dynamically in its mastering, its mix for me I’m incredibly happy with. Coming off the heels of listening to Panic at the Disco’s *Pray for the Wicked* and The Killers’ *Imploding the Mirage*, this album is honestly a breath of fresh air in how its able to pull off a loud aesthetic right. While recently commented that I hope their upcoming record is mixed more in the vein of *Sam’s Town*, *The Desired Effect* also provides a great blueprint. (Everything depends on the compositions of their next record, of course.) This album is how I feel *Imploding the Mirage* should have been mixed, rather than that thin compressed mess that actually came out. This album pulls off that stadium-sized self-importance that would have worked spectacularly for anthems like “Caution” and “My Own Soul’s Warning”. But alas, the chances of *Imploding the Mirage* being newly mixed are incredibly unlikely. Live and learn, I guess.