Evan McNaughton
New Head-Fier
I was listening to Green Day and I noticed it was quite a bit quieter than some of the other rock bands I listen to. I think it's less of a volume thing and more of a loudness thing. I know mastering protocols have changed a lot over the years, and the loudness you aim for depends on the media your putting the music on (for streaming services it's around -13 lufs.)
The more I listen to their albums the more I almost start to get the feeling that their mixes are "stylized" for lack of a better term. I understand that the mix has a huge impact on the overall sound, but this is unlike what I've heard other groups, especially other rock bands like Guns and Roses, whose mixes feel much more "practical" than "stylized" as if they were just going for a clean mix while Green Day's mixes tend to feel like they lean into a more muddy, gritty, and narrow mix with vocals that stay very centered through many of their songs, only really using wide stereo effects to draw attention to something( a mixing style that fits punk rock very well if ever there was one.) It only really caught my attention because the 2 albums I was listening to "Dookie" 1994 and "American Idiot" 2004 were made 10 years apart with nearly completely different teams, the only exception being Rob Cavallo credited as a producer on both. 10 years is a long time when it comes to things like mixing and mastering protocols and especially when so much new technology becomes available in those 10 years. Yet these 2 albums still sound very similar in terms of mixing and mastering which really makes me wonder just how much time and effort went into these mixes and masters. Then again I could just be reading into something that's not there.
I'm interested in knowing, is anyone else noticing this or is it just me?
The more I listen to their albums the more I almost start to get the feeling that their mixes are "stylized" for lack of a better term. I understand that the mix has a huge impact on the overall sound, but this is unlike what I've heard other groups, especially other rock bands like Guns and Roses, whose mixes feel much more "practical" than "stylized" as if they were just going for a clean mix while Green Day's mixes tend to feel like they lean into a more muddy, gritty, and narrow mix with vocals that stay very centered through many of their songs, only really using wide stereo effects to draw attention to something( a mixing style that fits punk rock very well if ever there was one.) It only really caught my attention because the 2 albums I was listening to "Dookie" 1994 and "American Idiot" 2004 were made 10 years apart with nearly completely different teams, the only exception being Rob Cavallo credited as a producer on both. 10 years is a long time when it comes to things like mixing and mastering protocols and especially when so much new technology becomes available in those 10 years. Yet these 2 albums still sound very similar in terms of mixing and mastering which really makes me wonder just how much time and effort went into these mixes and masters. Then again I could just be reading into something that's not there.
I'm interested in knowing, is anyone else noticing this or is it just me?
