I wonder if Live twice had been produced by steve lilleywhite as Dive in was and who Darius looked on as his mentor - how it would have done.

Quote from an article re Jason Mraz a singer whose album has just been produced by steve in the states and who is now touring the states and europe.

 

"Steve is so unconventional in his method of recording and producing," Mraz said of Lillywhite in a statement. "He goes into each album he produces with no preconceptions whatsoever. In a sense, he became a member of the band, adding an experienced ear and voice to our thought processes. He knows how to bring the best out of the players and capture a solid live take which becomes the belly of the track.

 

"Over the course of recording 'MR. A-Z,' Steve taught me many things that will resonate throughout my recording career, but there was one particular thing that makes a lot of sense in this current scenario. 'An artist should never have to explain what the songs are about,' he said. 'The listener will determine that for themselves.'"

 

 

 

I think Steve understood Darius and he lost a great mentor when he left. :( I still think if Darius had received the radio support things may have worked out differently. Whether things would have been different had Steve produced Live Twice, I don’t know, I only hope they’re different for his 3rd album.

 

 

 

IMHO it was the fact that Steve Lillywhite was M.D. and promised to helm the album himself that made Darius sign the licensing deal with Mercury in the first place. With Steve gone there was no desire to stick with the company.

 

Stephen Lipson may be a good producer but you only have to compare the two albums to see that Darius had very little input into Live Twice. His name is all over Dive In as songwriter, musician, backing vocalist, producer and of course the final humour from Steve Lillywhite "Steve Lillywhite Ex-Producer, Darius Pernickety Producer.

 

I don't have the box for Live Twice handy - is Darius mentioned in any capacity other than songwriter and vocalist?

 

Perhaps Steve Lipson is more used to vocalists who don't mind doing enough to get writing credits but once they have, don't want to work organically and prefer to leave the finished sound to the producer.

 

There's no doubt in my mind that Mercury put a lot of pressure on Darius to rush out Live Twice from the moment he returned to the studio to please his father.

 

No wonder Darius is determined not to tie himself to any record company before he has finished his 3rd album in his way and in his time. Once bitten, twice shy.

Darius mentioned when he left mercury that he had felt a big loss when Steve left, didn't he mention losing the captain at the helm of his ship?

he was a big influence and I expect Darius learnt a lot from him.

Edited April 11, 200619 yr by prettyinpink

I'm not sure about his advice to keep the best tracks on the album and never release them as singles.

 

For really established people like U2 etc., that's probably a very good idea but I'm not sure if it was the right tactic for a young singer/songwriter

that was very odd wasn't it, in light of the fact everyone else out there was throwing the best of everything they had out there to promote themselves, releasing their very best material, there are some real gems on the albums that didn't see the light of day, not even a performance outside the dive in tour. Other artists make the most of showcasing all they have, using the very best, not that CB et all werent great, but so many chances of showcasing more songs were missed, especially when I hear people saying they have only heard of Colourblind to this day and when on so many occasions I was thinking "not Colourblind again". not because I didnt love it, but because he had so many other lovely songs he could be singing! and the public just werent hearing them!

What got up my nose was that it didn't matter what other songs Darius sang at big charity shows such as Tickled Pink, the only one the TV ever showed him singing was Colourblind.

 

That happened on the coverage of Live and Loud and shows of that type too. They'd have everyone else singing their latest single or album track but not Darius!

My guess is that if Steve had been producer for live twice Kinda love would not have been the lead off single and would have been done differently.

Does anyone think Steve Lillywhite will be involved in any way with D's 3rd album?

Sorry not read through the thread and the post isn't Darius related, but just saw the name Steve Lillywhite and thought I'd mention that he picked up the Grammy for Best Producer this year, for U2's How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb and Jason Mraz's Mr A-Z albums.

Sorry not read through the thread and the post isn't Darius related, but just saw the name Steve Lillywhite and thought I'd mention that he picked up the Grammy for Best Producer this year, for U2's How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb and Jason Mraz's Mr A-Z albums.

Thanks for the info SS :)