Sanoja: The Sound. Hothouse Highlights.

On the nights of these recordings the threat of posterity hung in the August heat. Perhaps The Sound had played more inspiring versions of these songs than the ones captured here, but we were close to top form and at least our minds were concentrated. After the first night we received a cassette which seemed to suggest we'd been playing too fast. Doing the songs at a measured pace was always hard to contain as the adrenalin of the situation and the power of the music really kicked in - sometimes It just feels right to shift into a higher gear. This sounds fine at the time to you and the crowd that you're pulling with you but rushed and at times ridiculous when you listen to it later. Tempo had always been a problem and we were particularly conscious of it during these dates. The second night we deliberately paced it slower. Most of the versions on the album come from the first night, however, because the cassette had been copied onto a slightly slower machine. We had in fact got it right the first night as I realised when selecting takes from the master tapes. Craig Leon, who had co-produced the first Ramones album (credentials enough for me!) mixed the album with me in Holland. 16 tracks were mixed in two days, which is fast. The powerful drum sound was achieved using gates and harmonisers (a method we employed at gigs anyway), guitars and keyboards were left virtually raw, so it really does represent what the band sounded like in the latter stages of it's existence