Recorded 1996-1998 by Jay Bozich at La Luna and Mark Sten at home
Mixed by Jay Bozich and Mark Sten at Sound Impressions
Released in December 2001 as Reptilicus #005

   Like I said, most Oblivion Seekers albums were largely written, rehearsed and ready to record by the time the previous album was 
released. High Noon took longer to assemble because the songs were finally coming more slowly.  The writing had been driven by 
obsessions that were beginning to ease up, and besides, how many ways are there to say "Baby Please Don't Go"?
We recorded basics for Haunted and There She Goes at Concert Sound's warehouse in early 1996, just before the company downsized 
and moved out. Then we waited for a year until Band Version #7 was finally stabilized and ready to record.  I made a deal with 
Monqui's owners to borrow their 1500-seat concert hall (the popular but now-defunct La Luna) and use it as a temporary studio 
on their off-nights.  We set up onstage and recorded 11 more basics in November of 1997.  Then I relaxed.  I spent three years 
fooling around with it - dubbing it in the dining room, mixing it with Jay, and ultimately tweaking it in Ventura with the 
legendary John Golden, a widely respected mastering engineer who showed less interest in work than in telling stories.  
They were good stories, too.  But he was still telling them after two hours, so I finally claimed that it sure felt like 
dinnertime, and left him alone for 90 minutes while he went ahead and got the job done.  That's why he gets the big bucks.

END OF THE LINE - This was a driving rhythm track where the drums and the rhythm guitar both sounded like living shit, leaving 
us not much to work with.  I tried to overwhelm the problem with aggressive guitar dubs that I turned up too loud, aiming for the kind of 
lopsided mix that made the early Muddy Waters singles on Chess sound so jarring and raw.  I think it helped, but mostly I wish the cut 
had sounded better in the first place.

HIGH NOON - The Oblivion Seekers never had much luck with emptiness.  I cluttered too many songs on the first 2 or 3 albums with 
overdubs which ended up diluting some powerful basic tracks that were stronger as rough mixes.  Simplicity isn't easy.  I 
can only think of three songs featuring genuinely live trio mixes - nothing but bass, drums, and one piano or guitar, with 
no other instruments added except for the solos.  Those are Witness, I Hear Bells, and There She Goes, and they don't sound 
empty, which may be a knack in itself, but I was still looking for a chance to sound empty when High Noon caught my ear as 
a solid two-man performance that felt self-sufficient and barren at the same time, with nothing but a sparse drummer and one 
lonesome guitar.  (Plus a couple dozen miscellaneous overdubs, but it still sounds empty.)

GOODBYE - For being about a minute long, this basic was deeply messed up. Ralph and I had to tape over both of our rhythm guitar 
parts, but not with rhythm guitar parts because the groove successfully eluded us every time we tried to overdub it. 
Eventually we nailed up a few decorations and left the bass and drums to carry the beat.

SLAVE - Necromancer was the first album that came out sounding the way I wanted it to, like the RIAA curve of my youth, 
maybe, or an old Seeburg jukebox with a more articulate high end.  The High Noon LP sounded even better.  I hired Jay Bozich
to mix it, and he turned it into an adventure.  Jay is more open to the kind of strange ideas that avoid most studios, where 
condescending professionals have made them feel unwelcome.  All recording engineers are brought up to see themselves as flexible 
and imaginative, which usually means they have no idea how many ideas will never occur to them.  Like the compression idea that 
Jay tried out on Slave, which just kept sounding better and better as he crushed the mix further and further out of shape, until 
finally I grabbed him by the throat and screamed "More ideas!  Absolutely!  We need every idea you've got!  Don't stop now!  
Think of another one!  Do it again!"

HIGH NOON - Musician's Credits

Mark Sten, Robert Parker, Ralph Porter. Jeff Larson, Tina Purdy, Angela Crepeau, Heidi Hellbender, Rebecca Kimball, Rob Landoll, 
John Moen, Brian Berg, Roger Conley, Cory Burden, Mary Sue Tobin and Lucinda Beth Williams

BASIC TRACKS

*        Drums - Parker / Bass - Jeff / Guitars - Ralph & Sten
#       Drums - Parker / Guitar - Sten
K       Drums - John / Bass - Berg / Rhodes piano - Sten
B       Drums - Cory / Bass - Roger / Rhodes piano - Sten

OVERDUBS

All Keys - Sten
*   1.  AMERICAN STEEL = Gtr solo - Ralph / Bass - Sten
*   2.  END OF THE LINE = BGVox - Sten, Tina + Beth / Gtr Fills - Ralph + Sten
*   3.  FALLEN LAND = BGVox - Tina, Angela, Heidi + Beth / Gtr Fills - Ralph + Sten
*   4.  SLAVE = Lead Vox - Angela / Gtr Solo+Fills - Sten
K   5.  HAUNTED = BGVox - Angela / Gtr Solo - Sten / Gtr Fills - Ralph + Sten
#   6.  HIGH NOON = BGVox - Angela / Sound FX + Gtr Fills - Sten / Sax - Mary Sue
B   7.  THERE SHE GOES = BGVox - Tina + Rebecca
*   8.  UNWANTED LOVE = BGVox - Tina + Angela / Gtr Fills - Ralph, Sten + Rob /
                Gtr Solo - Ralph
*   9.  BRING ME THE DEAD = BGVox - Tina, Angela, + Heidi / Gtr Fills - Sten + Rob
# 10.   STOP = Fem Vox - Tina + Angela  / Gtr Fills - Ralph + Sten
# 11.   BLACK WATER = BGVox - Angela + Heidi / Gtr Fills - Sten / Sax - Mary Sue
* 12.   WINDS OF HEAVEN = BGVox - Sten / Gtr Fills - Ralph, Sten + Rob /
                Gtr Solo - Rob
*  13.  GOODBYE = Whoops - Angela, Heidi, Stella + Madeline / Gtr Fills - Ralph + Sten /
                Gtr Solo - Ralph