Post by orangefiltersky on Jun 9, 2016 12:48:48 GMT
Jeff's usual method for producing a demo is to record a single verse and chorus which he'll then use as the base for a song when he revists this later in the studio with the rest of the band. If my source is correct, Latitude 88 North never went beyond the initial demo stage, while the core group did appear on Surrender, though both are clearly extended in their finished forms by copying and pasting shorter sections, so it's possible that Surrender wasn't recorded as a demo first, but rather created during studio sessions (as happened with quite a few other tracks I could think of, such as Don't Bring Me Down to name just one example). I certainly don't hear Kelly on Surrender, but there are a few elements throughout Latitude 88 North that are characteristic of Richard's style, not to mention he suggested the slight addition to the chorus lyric that changed it from being a travelogue to something far more commercial. I've also read that Jeff originally tried recording Latitude 88 North with the same placeholder lyrics about a rocker named Johnny later recycled for an interim rewrite of Motor Factory, which eventually became Rock 'N' Roll Is King.
And very importantly: JL said (or wrote?) he "finished" the song in 2007. He did not say that he recorded the song in 2007.
Just listen to the overall drum sound: JL created a very distinctive drum sound from George Harrison`s "Cloud 9" onwards with a typical signature snare sound. Just check out "Zoom" again. Even on the Beatles` "Free as a bird" there`s this typical snare sound. So I would be extremely surprised if the drums on "Latitude" were recorded in or around 2007. The sound of the snare drum here is much softer than anything JL has produced after 1987.
Compare "Latitude" to another "finished" song from "Flashback" (2000): "Love Changes All" has a very similar drum sound which very probably wasn`t recorded at the end of the 1990es.
And the vocals on "Latitude" sound a bit younger to my ears than, say, "Zoom" (very much so when he sings "Now I`m left out in the cold" or "And as the dawn begins to break"). But even on AITU JL still doesn`t sound like an old man at all, so I cannot be sure about that. At least some of the harmony vocals could be new recordings.
The only thing I`m almost 100% sure about are the guitars. No way they were recorded in 1977.