I'm not quite sure what to make of this "teaser" for Ulrichs new album... The sound is universally murky and the severely distorted, everything including the kitchen sink, mix of sounds, goes further down the path set by his last CD outing and jarrs with this listener, preventing me to access the music quickly... Repeated listening does bring its benefits, however and after a few goes, I think I've now "got it" enough to thoroughly enjoy what's on offer here.
I read that Ulrich was trying to mix 100 individual tracks (in places) into two and this may be the reason for the cluttered up sound. A decent playback system is going to be essential if any sense is to be made of it - less is often more dear boy...
The two remixes are interesting, but don't add anything in my view to the originals - "On My Own" in its original album version being one of my favourite US tracks. To be fair, I've had a soft spot for Robin Guthrie's guitar sounds, but feel he should have been there at the original recording & mixing stage, rather than adding and altering bits way afterwards.
I'll still buy the new album though, hoping that the sound will be a bit clearer, as Ulrich is a master at what he does and I've also read that the new album needs time to appreciate it, for the music to insinuate itself into the listener. I just think his music doesn't need such a complex mix and works best going straight to the heart without bypassing to the Brain first....