Dance Gavin Dance re-release 'Acceptance Speech', now sounds better

Dance Gavin Dance have re-released their first album with Tilian, 2013's 'Acceptance Speech,' and it has never sounded better!

With the exception of their debut 2006 EP, 'Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean,' 2013's 'Acceptance Speech' LP is the only Dance Gavin Dance record to not be produced, engineered and mixed by studio wizard Kris Crummett. While Kris did actually master that now-six-year-old album, it was Matt Malpass (All Get Out, The Cinema, Tides Of Man) who donned the producer/engineer/mixer cap back then. And while I don't want to speak too ill of Matt's work on Dance Gavin Dance's fifth album, but frankly, everything could've benefited from better know-how on the faders and behind the boards. Which is what's just happened with 'Acceptance Speech 2.0.'

Released last week as a remastered version, as well as an instrumental version, 'Acceptance Speech' has honestly never sounded better. It sounds like Kris has gone back and nutted out a brand new mix of the original stems for these 11 songs, returning to the band's first effort with singer Tilian Pearson and applied his current knowledge and work-flow to the record; now finally bringing these tracks further in line with the fuller sound and larger feel of their solid three full-length releases since 2013. It's louder, smoother, with plenty of subtle changes and improvements.

Yet the biggest change that's made me immensely happy is the tighter vocal production behind all of Tilian's parts. The difference is night and day, really: his vocals no longer sound paper-thin and hollow, like they don't belong on this particular record, but now they sound super-charged and really glued-in, better matching Will Swan's colourfull and techy guitar work and Jon Mess' aggressive ranting and screaming. And it all aids the song-writing, which is what a good mix and master job should do.

Truly, this is probably how this record should've been from the get-go. This is the 'Acceptance Speech' that you once knew, it just now sonically sounds infinitely better than its original take. Hell, just compare the original and newer version of the title track. Then go check out the record's bangin' opening song, 'Jesus H. Macy,' below:

After a wicked solid-out run of Australia in March 2019, DGD are returning our way for Good Things later this year!