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badly produced albums by Popular artists

post #1 of 45
9/1/10 at 7:57am
Thread Starter 

Black Sabbath- Never Say Die

 

I always wonder how come this album's production (1978) is so bad and their debut album (1969) is crisp

 

Rainbow- Rising

 

It seems Martin Birch didnt do a good job like he did in Machine Head years before, in this album, the drum sound has too much midrange , I think.

 

Plant and Page- Walking into Clarksdale

 

Steve Albini's work doesnt seem to impress me here since the sound is so muddy, the drums are drowned in heavy bass.

(Led Zep's debut album- 1969 has a classic prodction though)

 

There are many and I know i am forgetting a lot.

 

Your picks please!

 

thanks in advance.

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post #2 of 45
9/1/10 at 9:28am

Bob Dylan's Street Legal sounds muddy for me. 

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post #3 of 45
9/1/10 at 11:31am
Thread Starter 

The Who- By Numbers

great album but muddy tho, the drum sound gets drowned at many times. Glyn Johns?

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post #4 of 45
9/1/10 at 12:28pm

Dave Mathews Band - Big Whisky and the GrooGrux King

I found this way too compressed something I haven't seen in most DMB releases.  Over production and compression is something I've come to expect on Pop idol stuff, but not DMB

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post #5 of 45
9/1/10 at 12:34pm
Thread Starter 

UFO- makin contact

 

Their debut and most of their 70's albums were produced fine but this!

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post #6 of 45
9/1/10 at 1:06pm

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town.  I'm only a mid-fi kind of guy, but when I bought the vinyl album (an all-time favorite, despite the shoddy vinyl pressing and a so-so transfer to CD) in 1978, I was disappointed at the quality of the sound (admittedly, mostly due to badly recycled vinyl with lots of pops and crackle, even on the first play).  Soon to be rectified by the mammoth reissue of Darkness this fall -- remaster of the original album, two CDs of unreleased material, and three DVDs ... unless the mastering is somehow as overbearing as ...

 

... the sonic assaults that are Springsteen's more recent Magic and Working on a Dream.  Without getting into whether the material is pleasing to me, the sound  of these two CDs is so harsh that I wouldn't listen to one all the way through.

 

Check out the old school dynamics of Darkness on the Edge of Town compared to some of the highly compressed contemporary stuff, by too many artists to mention in one post.  Who's Next or Katy Lied (to cite two other 1970's albums) it wasn't, but the unobtrusive production of Darkness at least helped tell a story in a way that complemented the song writing and playing -- and allowed for repeat listening.

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post #7 of 45
9/1/10 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 

Sting in the Tail- Scorpions

 

it is too obvious that this CD is a victim of the so called Loudness war, another name for Loudness war is " Metallica- Death Magnetic "

 

 

Emotional Rescue- The Rolling Stones-- seems dull compared to  the earlier Some Girls which is kind of trebly.

Its only Rock n Roll- The Rolling Stones---too much bass, not much clarity??


Edited by Pachikara - 9/1/10 at 1:44pm
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post #8 of 45
9/1/10 at 3:32pm

I absolutely hated Death Magnetic, such a terribly produced album.  The overall loudness of the album kills the instrument detail that Metallica is capable of. 

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post #9 of 45
9/1/10 at 6:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pachikara View Post

Black Sabbath- Never Say Die

 


Amazing production compared to

 

Black Sabbath Born Again.

 

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post #10 of 45
9/1/10 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pachikara View Post

UFO- makin contact

 

Their debut and most of their 70's albums were produced fine but this!


Really don't understand that one at all.

 

UFO 1 is the worst sounding production wise album of their 20 studio albums.

 

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post #11 of 45
9/1/10 at 6:07pm
Sadly, the Flaming Lips are compressed all to hell. I wish they'd put out SACD versions that weren't brickwalled.
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post #12 of 45
9/1/10 at 7:59pm

pretty much anything by rick rubin since 2000.

he produced some good albums in the 80s and 90s, but since then... boy.  terrible.

 

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post #13 of 45
9/1/10 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

Sadly, the Flaming Lips are compressed all to hell. I wish they'd put out SACD versions that weren't brickwalled.


Yup - I really hated how horrible Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots sounded. Some really great songs are just ruined by the harsh clipping and compression artifacts. I would rebuy a better version of this (SACD, CD, DVD, DVD-Audio, digital only, anything) in a heart beat.

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post #14 of 45
9/1/10 at 8:14pm

Black Holes and Revelations, by muse... it does have a terrible sound. 

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post #15 of 45
9/1/10 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWuss View Post

pretty much anything by rick rubin since 2000.

he produced some good albums in the 80s and 90s, but since then... boy.  terrible.

 

Some say its him others say its Greg Fidelman.

I remember reading something about Rick saying it wasn't me it was Greg.But then it was okay so why do you let Greg work for you still?

He also mixed/engineer Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication and Slayer World Painted Blood which some consider up there with Death Magnetic as one of the worst ever.

 

But generally I would think its the engineer/mixer who puts the final touch or brickwalling on it.

 

A producer generally works with directs the band on the music's sound or lets do this or sound like this or try this.


Edited by mibutenma - 9/1/10 at 8:38pm
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