The first time a song is played on radio is usually an acid test of all the production decisions made during a project. I think it came off rather well. The sound retained its punchiness, despite all the compression that usually is applied in radio airplay. So on the eve of the radio premier of "Kung Ayaw Mo Na Sa Akin" on the radio this morning, I was reminded of one of the issues regarding my production framework in a discussion on a local web-board.

Part of my pre-production homework was to listen to the band's two previous albums. This was one way of finding out what makes the band tick. I had only heard some cuts off these albums, either on TV/Radio, or in record store listening stations. I also sought the views of Angee, who was present in all of their albums. So I was prepared for comments from listeners who have drawn comparisons between previous works. Yesterday, I saw such an exchange of contrasting opinions in Pinoyexchange.com. While it did not erupt into an an argument, it did bring out some interesting points about the role of the producer in a project.

From what I gather, Rico Blanco did a lot of the pre-production, and piloted the band through most of the instrumental work for the 1st album. Angee and the band said that Rico was not only very meticulous, but had a very clear concept of how to handle a 3-piece band. Its a pity that the album was put in hold for so long by the record company they were initially signed to. When the work resumed under EMI, Rico was no longer part of the equation. I would have wanted to hear what would have happened if Rico got a chance to finish it. In his absence, Angee picked up the pieces and literally muscled his way through the record industry until EMI finally picked it up. Angee was determined to let the world hear the band's music, and it was his persistence that made the album a reality. The band was in good, or should I say great hands under Angie's guidance. Not only did he understand Rico's original concept, but he infused his own impeccable musical taste. So when I first heard Mariposa on MTV, I shouldn't have been surprised that Angee played a big part in it. It was a great album, and everyone knew it. It was beautiful in its relative "simplicity".

Sophomore albums are just as , if not more difficult than the first. One has to walk a thin line between coming up with something "new", and yet build on the qualities that made a first album work. Everyone talks about the sophomore jinx as the kiss of death, and it takes balls to even consider working under such pressure. So I consider Raimund and Buddy's efforts as heroic. The textures were richer, and the performances were more vigorous. In my mind, this sense of fearlessness was the right approach, at the right point in the band's career. While some other bands end up either wimp out by going soft, or just repeat themselves for their sophomore efforts, Raimund, Buddy, Angee and the band pulled out all the heavy production artillery and came out smoking. It used a very different approach than "Sa Wakas", and it too worked.

I've heard one comment that Tele-Arawan is a bit more laid-back than previous albums. This is true to a certain extent. I think this impression comes from the fact that the carrier single is less manic. On the other hand, I've read another comment that, upon hearing "Kung Ayaw Mo Na Sa Akin" on radio, the listener found the music unmistakably Sugarfree, but couldn't quite figure out yet if and how the sound differed from previous albums. But don't worry, everyone will get their chance to either love, or hate the album when it comes out on the 24th.

Whereas in the past albums each instrument could be heard in its own discrete space, on this album we allowed certain sounds to fuse, therefore creating the illusion of a larger, more massive sound. For example, most of the guitar parts are actually 2 to 3 different guitar-amp combinations that were intentionally stacked on top of each other. We had to take extra effort to make sure that the overall sound never got crowded. So its like the sound was made to emanate from a larger space. This spaciousness is most evident in songs like "Pinakamagaling Na Tao Sa Balat Ng Lupa" and "Wag Ka Nang Umiyak". Another issue had to do with dynamics. Most pop music is engineered to have a minimum of dynamic range so that listeners don't have to keep twiddling the volume control when the volume gets either too loud or too soft. But I felt that dynamic range is important because it adds an extra dimension that I feel is missing in most pop music. Angee said it has been a while since he mastered an album without having to reach "brick wall" loudness levels 100 percent of the time. But this was necessary to retain the apparent spaciousness of the sound. I've heard too many albums (both local and foreign) in which mastering compression has robbed the mixes of their punchiness. But I am happy with how Angee has managed to maintain the vibrance of the sound while evening out the wilder dynamic swings.

On the one hand, having had different production teams for each Sugarfree album may play in to the hands of self-styled critics who are obsessed with furthering their own hegemonic agenda. But everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, it doesn't bother me that there will be those who will prefer one of the previous albums to Tala-Arawan. All I was concerned with is that we delivered a recording that stands on its own merits, yet cannot be mistaken for anything else but a Sugarfree album.