[redshifter]

metallica:
ride the lightning and master of puppets
am radio time. my friend tells me metallica wanted this lo-fi sound on these early records, so unlike their later effort like "black album", these were purposely lo-fi.

grateful dead:
shakedown street
this album has some of their most fun music, heavy disco and reggea beats. but again, it sounds even more like an am radio. i think the producer did it on purpose for some reason (how could he NOT notice?)

stereolab:
random transient noise bursts with announcements
my favorite lab record also has some of the muddiest sounding production, which i am assured by other lab fans in the know that it was intentional.

what albums do you have that have questionable production values done on purpose?

 

[Ebonyks]

The zwan album comes to mind very quickly

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ebonyks The zwan album comes to mind very quickly

i haven't heard, what's up with it?

 

[nanahachi]

Zwan thread by NotoriousBIG_PJ

i think the word is that Corgan wanted a loud, 70's style rock album, giving that lo-fi sound. I personally am not bothered by it, but it definitely doesnt sound as pure/clean...as other albums.

 

[cscott23]

the bass is purposely distorted on some of 50 (fiddy) cent's songs.

 

[KR...]

Most Punk, Black Metal, noise-core, etc albums are done as low-fi as possible to give them that raw sound.

 

[stereth]

Foo Fighters - One By One. Has anyone heard this album? From any source, the bass pounds out the rest of the spectrum. It's like watching a football game, when the crowd's cheering, and the commentator say something, and while he's speaking, the cheering just drops in volume. Now picture that happening four times a measure and you know how this album sounds. Done on purpose? I don't know; it probably appeals to bassheads because it's a punch in the stomach on a subwoofer. Makes you think the treble drops because you have such loud (and therefore good) bass.

 

[gloco]

well, to make the album as loud as possible they raise up all the "soft" spots to even out with all the loud portions of any song...hence, yeah, it's done on purpose.

 

[grinch]

i think this phenomenon is so ridiculous. all albums these days are compressed to hell so that they are as loud as possible, and then the radio stations re-compress them before broadcasting anyway!

soo stupid and i really wish less albums would be ruined in this manner.

i can't really think of any specific albums other than the zwan one as of recent times.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Led Zeppelin II

Very muddy sound. Bass drowns everything out.

Metallica Kill em all. Worse then RTL and MOP.

 

[usc goose]

Pre dookie green day, kerplunk and 39/smooth are kind of crappily recorded. I like the way they sound though. That and I think they were probably too broke at the time to do it "right".

 

[Noesis]

I have had the best luck with classical recordings.

It's listener demand too. In classical and genres like it, listeners tend to be more critical listeners.

Regards,
-Chad

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matthew-Spaltro Led Zeppelin II Very muddy sound. Bass drowns everything out. Metallica Kill em all. Worse then RTL and MOP.

yes, but did zep do that with zep2 on purpose, or did they just have a crappy producer?

 

[mkmelt]

Regarding the Led Zep II, are we talking about the original LP release or one of the CD releases? I own an LP reissue of this album and don't recall the bass being muddy. I'm going to have to pull out my original copy of II on reel to reel and see how that one sounds.

Also, don't forget the Who's album, Live at Leeds. The LP was mastered with all sorts of added noise to make the album appear to be a bootleg. There is even a note on the cover from the band or their producer to the record company stating that the surface noise is intentional and should not be removed prior to mastering the LP.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Quote:

Originally posted by redshifter yes, but did zep do that with zep2 on purpose, or did they just have a crappy producer?

I think I remember in a interview Page saying it was on purpose.