This is a song I wrote several years ago.  I probably posted it at the Song Forums site, back then.  I asked the band if they would consider, "Scandalizing" this song and they said yes.  I stripped the song down to the original drum, bass and acoustic guitar tracks.  Everything else is new and fresh, including my Lead Vocals.  I love what Reece and Sean have added to this song and I feel it came out REALLY nice.  

Thank you both for taking this one on; it was one of my personal favorites.  All comments are welcome.  
 
Performed by Scandalous Grace:
Michael Hanson- Lead Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar,Electric Rhythm, Drum programming, Mix and Mastering.
Reece Bain- Piano and Backing Vocals
Sean Peifer- Electric Rhythm, Guitar Solos and Backing Vocals.
 
 
https://soundcloud.com/michaeljhanson/hanging-by-a-thread-12
 
Lyrics:
 
Verse 1:
Here I am again, hanging by a thread
Like a candle burning, brightly from both ends.
Like a puppet I am, dangling by a string.
Once again I’ve gone and, messed up everything.
 
Chorus 1:
Your love makes me feel like, I’m brand new.
When this world comes calling, all I really need is you.
 
Verse 2:
Wandering all alone; through the wilderness.
Looking for my home, in a place like this.
Guided by your light; trying to stay the course.
Like a compass pointing, upward to due north.
 
Chorus 2:
Your love makes me feel like, I’m brand new.
While this world keeps turning, I will tightly hold too you.
 
Lead:  2 measures.
 
Verse 3:
Here I am again, hanging by a thread.
Like some yeast that’s rising, from unleavened bread.
Make me new again, blemished by these stains.
Like a little child I’m standing in the rain.
 
Chorus 3:
Your love makes me feel like, I’m brand new.
As this world keeps turning, all I’ll ever need is you.

Nice song Michael.
 
Maybe my ears are shot today but the lead vocal sounds too fx'd (almost 'telephone' like) in the intro section.
 
Maybe that's what you wanted?
 
Tom fills sound a little to far back in the mix.
 
Other than those personal prefs, good mix.

Hey Ed, thanks for listening and commenting.  I will look into those 2 items.  Maybe automate (dial back) any compression or FX that I have at the beginning on the Lead vocal.  
 
The beginning is pretty intimate I realize, until full band kicks in.   

Hi Mike, 
Here's my comments:
 
Really like the song. You did good on the vocals and arrangement.
IMO, the song title seems strange based on the chorus "All I Really Need Is You".
Seems like you are not really hanging by a thread because of what you feel in the song.
 
The acoustic guitar, especially in the intro and verse 1 seems like it has been pitch corrected or maybe quantized. I seem to hear some artifacts/phasing. There are other places in the song where some instruments are not in tune with eachother. 
 
Vocal compression is too much. Ed's comment was good. I like the breath in your voice but it all seems squashed. Reece did nicely on the BU vocals. He blended well. 
 
Jimmy
 
 

Hi. Nice song, Michael. I agree with the vocal and toms advice. Other that that, a good mix which I enjoyed.
All the best.

There's some really good stuff there guys.   Nice solid song.  Love the country groove to it.
 
Nits: I have to agree with the comments above regarding the instruments and vocals. I think the vox are boxy sounding.... like the EQ is off and yeah... compressed with no space around them. They don't sound open.
 
 
 
The lead guitar is well played and quite impressive. However, the tone is not a good fit. The song is a mellow groove and the lead comes in with a shredder's tone... lots of highs. Relax, Sean,  get a warmer tone, and play from the heart. Make it pretty like the song is pretty. Flashy playing doesn't fit well in the solo. Think "Carlos Santana" vs "Statrianni" ...
 
Right before the solo starts, I hear some instruments that sound out of tune. Easy fix.
 
On that intro..... yeah, it's totally possible to be intimate and yet still have a nice open sound.
 
Personally, I don't really use much compression in my mixes, preferring a very light touch on the compressor in the master buss only.  Use EQ sparingly but use it effectively to carve out a clean sparkling vocal.

These are nits.... but I think important things to be aware of.
 
Great re-do of the song. I don't recall hearing this one before and I really like it for a whole multitude of reasons.

Thanks guys, based on your comments I worked on a new Mix last night and have just uploaded it to Sound Cloud. Hopefully, this fixes some of the nits.
 
On the Lead vocal, I turned off Izotope Nectar, which was giving the vocal that Breathiness.  What the Lead Vocal consists of at this point are Large Condenser mic, Tube Pre, a little CA2A and a touch of Vahalla Plate reverb.  
 
The acoustic guitar is basically the same signal path as the vocal, but I dialed the CA2A back just a touch to try to open it up a little more.  
 
I will address some of the other comments, each specifically, in the next couple of posts.  

Jimmy,
 
Thanks for the listen brother and I am glad you really like this song.  
 
On the song title.  Man, I respect your opinions greatly and always have.  On this issue, I am going to respectfully disagree with you. I wrote the entire song based around the idea of this song title and I used the words in the opening verses of the song.  I repeat the title in the closing verses of the song, just to re-emphasis the title and the main theme of the song.  To me, this title is just way more interesting that "All I Really Need Is You".  Basically, it is the reason, for why I really need you.  
 
On the acoustic, its just me lightly finger picking.  No pitch correction, no timing quantenizing.  The verse is made up of 4 different alternating D chord, type patterns.  I don't even know what some of the chords are, I had to make a chord tab chart for Sean and Reece to follow.  
 
I made changes to the Lead vocal and Tom's, per what both you and Ed were hearing.  Thank you again for your comments and again, I greatly respect your opinions.
 

Zarrg,
 
Cool forum name, bro.  Thank you for listening and confirming some of the issues.  I hope you have a chance to listen to the changes I have made to the vocals on the mix.  
 

Herb,
 
Thank you for commenting.  It’s been a while since you commented on one of my songs and I greatly respect your opinions.  Hopefully, I have fixed some of your concerns with the “boxiness”, of the vocal.  I am not sure what else I could do with it at this point, other than retrack the vocal.  I dialed back the CA2A compressor a bunch and it only has a touch of plate reverb on the vocal at this point. 
 
I to use way less compression than I used too.  I try to only apply what is needed to keep the peaks from really getting out of hand. 
 
The fact that you really like the song means a bunch to me.  I greatly respect your song writing abilities.