Guys, that vocal timing thing was an accident. After listening to the other submissions, I realized it.
That being said, I NEVER thought it sounded out of place. In fact, from a producer's POV, I would MUCH rather have heard that timing than what was really there. I moved something over to the right at the first and just took it for granted that that's the way it was supposed to be. I stand by it whole-heartedly from a producer standpoint. It is WAY more interesting that way, if you can get out of the conventional (I've heard it a thousand times my way) mode.
From an mix engineer's prospective... I'm embarrassed. I would expect pissed clients and a quick recall!
All of THAT being said...
I like compression on vocals. Period. Most of my favorite records (yes, even old ones) have heavily compressed vox. I like the sound.
If I had more time, I would have honed in on the de-essing a little more. There was a lot of shit around 9-10k in that vocal. I did a lot of automation before it hit the compressor. Not a very good mic technique from the vocalist IMO.
The second thing... the bass guitar. I don't know how many takes that was, but somebody needed to throw that guy a tuning fork. It sounded nice when I autotuned it... WAY too many artifacts, so I ditched it.
Very cool overhead sound. Although the drummer was killing the cymbals. Other than that it would have been perfect for me. Good tuning, especially on the snare.
I didn't leave my mix dark, so much as flat. Don't get me wrong it IS dark, but when I listened on my iphone, desktop speakers, truck, monitors, etc... it sounded good all around. If you adjust the treble and bass on the stereo it doesn't go wacky, so I think it could easily be fine tuned.
Like the little "Do Ya" hook, so I brought back for the fade. I didn't like how it just dropped off at the end.
Cool song.