Sounds great to me. I'd like a touch more volume on the bass but I'm a bass man so I'm biased in that respect.
Top job and great tune. Classic Pete!
lol @ pain in the hole.
If those are fake drums, you need to write a tutorial for the people that also use fake drums and can't make them sound real. They sound quite convincing to me. I thought they were real and was gonna praise the drummer and drum recording until I read they are fake. So instead I'll just praise you for getting them to sound like a human behind a real kit. Now that I'm really listening to them, really honed in, the dark crashes in the middle sound a little generic (1:28 to 1:38), but seriously, it's nothing to worry about. They're so infrequent and subtle it truly does not matter, and no one on earth would even notice or give a fuck.
The guitar lead needs to go away IMO. It adds nothing to the song, and to me sounds a bit cheesy. Put something else in there. But as it stands, if you have to have it, bring it up in the mix. It actually stands out worse by being too subtle back there. It forces the ear to zero in on it. Let it hide out in plain view.
The vocals have this super exaggerated off-the-mic room sound that to me doesn't sound very good when things are sparse, but once the mix fills in, it sounds really good, so I don't really know what to think about that. Did you change the vocal processing between sparse parts and full mix parts?
The rest of the mix sounds great to me. All of the instrumentation is clean and clear and balanced.
Very nice job overall.
I like it. Listening on headphones I don't hear anything out of place.
I really like the piano and the vocal/lyrics are awesome. I like the lead too honestly but that could just be me.
I thought it was well performed. Nice singing voice.
The mix was *real* quiet. Could use just a bit of limiting.
I liked the vocal tone a lot. The vocal and everything else was real dry, which I also like.
Actually the tone on everything is pretty good.
The only thing I didn't care for was the lead guitar. First it was a bit too quiet relative to the other tracks. I'd make it about as loud as the lead vocal. But it was a bit too wet. I just didn't think it fit with the rest of the song.
I really like this song a LOT, but I think it is still a diamond in the rough. I think most of the comments made are good ones. With some minor changes I'd buy this song in a heartbeat. I don't love certain parts of the lyrics but the story is told wonderfully with that perfect amount of mature emotion. The guitar solo has a lot more room for emotional conveyance but it is set up for a really beautiful passage.
Really great job. It's people like you I wish I could collaborate more with.