R.e.m. Monster

[ecktronic]

I know most of yous will have heard of this album as it was quite a big album, released in 1994.
The question though. Has anyone noticed how FEKIN bad the guitar tones are on this album. Gaddss.
I mean the first songs guitar tone is far too mid rangey making it unlistenable!!
A couple other tracks they try some heavy dirty distortion, but it sounds FEKIN terribe; muddy and farty. Gadz.
Is it just me or has anyone noticed that the guitar tones stink?

[Blue Bear Sound]

The whole album sound quality is kinda iffy IMO, certainly compared to their later ones -- the music itself is good though!

[dwillis45]

I have a theory about long-lasting “supergroups/artists” such as REM, Neil Young, Bob Dylan,The Stones, Bruce Springstein... (add your own). The first EP and sometimes the first album goes unnoticed; the second album skyrockets them to the top: the third album (which most people assume is the second album) is labeled as the “sophomore jinx”; and albums four through nine establish the band for posterity and show both consistency and some innovation in artistic direction. However, by the time the band has gone through ten albums, ten tours, two managers, twelve studios, twenty engineers, two producers, and untold artistic differences, things take a turn for the worse. Usually, this means a bout with Jesus, Krishna, country music, or perhaps whatever musical flotsam and jetsam are floating around their musical universe. Bob Dylan paints his face white, Neil Young plays punk and then tours for Reagan, and the Boss develops biceps. The end results seems to be anywhere from two to four ghastly albums. But wait, that’s not the end of the story. There’s a new decade, a new generation of musicians, and a rediscovery. There’s the new critically acclaimed album,media attention, and legions of new supergroups who site the aging artist/group as one of their primary influences. Oh, yeah, there’s also heart failure, aneurisms, and detox and,inevitably, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And so it goes.

[Fishybob]

I love it... you're about as cynical as me!!!

[ecktronic]

Good indepth (could be true) answer there dwillis45, but kinda straying from the point a little!

[dwillis45]

Originally Posted by ecktronic

Good indepth (could be true) answer there dwillis45, but kinda straying from the point a little!

Sorry for straying but my Scottish ancestors (from Sterling) were all strays! You are right about the guitar tones. As one reviewer cogently sums it up:

"With their previous two records, R.E.M. ceased touring and became a studio based band, focusing on intricate and acoustic based arrangements that would have been difficult to successfully recreate in arenas. When they decided to tour again (an unfortunate decision in hindsight), they purposefully created a loud and aggressive album that would be fun to recreate live. In many ways, Monster, the resulting album, is the most atypical of R.E.M.’s records, trading in the sincerity and restrained arrangements of the rest of their oeuvre for a sound that’s equal measures of seventies glam and nineties grunge. At times this record works really well, with Buck generating some great guitar noise with layers of tremolo and reverb on anthemic, sleazy, decadent songs like ‘What’s The Frequency Kenneth?’, but a lot of the material is too flat to really make an impression. In fact, Monster holds some unofficial record for being the most rapid accumulating album ever; on the back of a previous excellent previous album and impressive leadoff track/first single (‘Kenneth’), the rest of the album is largely disappointing by R.E.M.’s standards, belying their usual work ethic.

[chessrock]

REM have certainly made their fair share of crappy-sounding records.

Some good ones in there, too, for sure. But I've heard more than one REM record that's made me thing: "They actually paid someone to engineer and mix that?"

[ecktronic]

Just goes to show all us non profit making engineers still have a chance of getting somewhere, although not much at all!
Im gutted as I just got envited to do some work experience at a real nice studio but i might have to turn the offer down since I broke my heel two weeks ago and acnt walk for another 4 weeks. Fekin nightmare!!!

[chessrock]

Originally Posted by ecktronic

Just goes to show all us non profit making engineers still have a chance of getting somewhere ...

You could also look at it the other way around, too. If people are willing to pay that kind of money and spend that amount of time getting crappy recordings, then we're truly doomed!

Non-profit making. I like that. Maybe I could apply for non-profit organization status. Then I could solicit donations and stuff. That would be cool.