Smashes Album - Detroit Rock City 88 Remix

Detroit Rock City (Remix)

Presenting less of a hatchet job than the previous “remix” for “Double Platinum” had done, the 1988 remix restored 10 seconds of the guitar break section which follows the second chorus. Like the 1978 “remix” the 1988 version also deletes all of the audio storytelling sound-effects, except slightly during that guitar break where in the original 1976 recording further acceleration of the car could be heard. On the 1988 version this has been muted and as a result almost sounds like rain. Ace’s guitar solo is restored to its full 1976 version, unlike the 1978 “remix” which cut it down in length by 10 seconds and then flowed into the chorus at the end rather than the third verse.

Like the “Double Platinum” version the song omits the car crash and ends with a modified chorus: “Get up / Everybody’s gonna move their feet / (Gene) Get Down // Get up / Everybody’s gonna leave their seat / (Gene) Get Down.” As a result of the modifications, the 1988 remix is something of a better attempt than the 1978 version had been, retaining more of the structure of the original recording without the additional effects. As a result the track length is 3:45 versus 3:35 for the “Double Platinum” version, and 3:42 for the original “Destroyer” recording with the sound effects at start and end manually removed.