Chris Reed and the Anime Raiders
THE LONG GOODBYE
159 minutes 17 seconds of music over 2 discs and 33 songs
Yes, that's a lot of music. Principal recording began at Crash Pad V, the studio Chris built in his San Francisco home, in early 2001. It progressed rather slowly as Chris experimented with his new gear. He talked with Jim, Jason, Lee and Kyousuke over time about the project, and they began work on arrangements. In 2003 the entire concept was flushed out as a double CD with six thematic parts and over the spring all the parts were recorded.
Chris moved briefly to Hawaii and started mixing the album. Hawaii didn't work out, so he came back and continued mixing the album, adding parts and honing the arrangements. The others came back for re-takes and vocals and the album was finished January 24, 2004.
This album was recorded digitally, and not as loudly as some albums are these days. We're musicians and we believe in using the full dynamic range of instruments. Chris played almost every instrument he owns at one point or another (which is saying something). Jim plays Fender guitars, while Jason plays both Fender and Rickenbacker basses. Lee played Alesis keyboards. Kyousuke's drum kit is something he built himself - although we rented an electronic kit for the song Suki Sa.
The one exception to this is the song Reunion, which was recorded Live at a small concert in San Francisco. Jim's brother A.J. sat in on guitar for that song. We used samples from three songs: The Door's "Riders on the Storm", The Cure's "Same Deep water as You", and Chuck Mangione's "Friends and Love".
The backup for the album takes up 61 CD ROMS.
There are two versions of the album. One available on the web (click HERE) which features only 10 of the 33 songs, without thematic cohesion. The full (and official) release can be found HERE.