legionserial
New member
Arch Enemy's 'Doomsday Machine' is another metal album that sounded awesome. The quality of their follow-up was a massive, massive disappointment after that.
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Harley Quinn
New member
Absolution by Muse
The Bends by Radiohead
One of my favorites at the moment is Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine. Still a bit lo-fi like his earlier work, but with a bit of a polish.
The Bends by Radiohead
One of my favorites at the moment is Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine. Still a bit lo-fi like his earlier work, but with a bit of a polish.
witzendoz
Senior Member
Anything by Portishead, broke all the rules about what recordings should sound like.
Great sounding albums, Both studio albums by Jellyfish.
Alan.
Great sounding albums, Both studio albums by Jellyfish.
Alan.
circusfreak
New member
I could not agree more with all the mentions of Portishead. Stunning.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Tool - 10,000 Days, Lateralus, Aenima??? Tool's production is second to none, they have the best singer in rock today, AND they have a rhythm section that could make Rush blush.
Speaking of - Rush's album "Snakes and Arrows" has flawless sound.
As far as VERY new suff - the Window 23 lp by Stateless was called "the closest thing to perfection" by DJ Shadow.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Tool - 10,000 Days, Lateralus, Aenima??? Tool's production is second to none, they have the best singer in rock today, AND they have a rhythm section that could make Rush blush.
Speaking of - Rush's album "Snakes and Arrows" has flawless sound.
As far as VERY new suff - the Window 23 lp by Stateless was called "the closest thing to perfection" by DJ Shadow.
kidkage
Bored of Canada
true I assumed someone would mention those.
"If you make an assumption, you will be an 'ass' and the 'ump' will 'tion' [pronounced 'shun'] you"
kidkage
Bored of Canada
I've only heard a few songs off of 10,000 Days it's amazing of course.
I do own Lateralus and Ænima though and they're AMAZING.
Billy Howerdel's other band, Ashes Divide's debut album is stunning as well.
Talented humans for sure.
Can't wait for the new album from [Tool and/or A Perfect Circle]
I do own Lateralus and Ænima though and they're AMAZING.
Billy Howerdel's other band, Ashes Divide's debut album is stunning as well.
Talented humans for sure.
Can't wait for the new album
cashcohen
Jewnior Member
Oh man, I don't generally go for metal, much less death metal, but I love that album.
Angela Gossow may have something to do with it. I totally attracted to and scared to death of her all at once.
legionserial
New member
Oh man, I don't generally go for metal, much less death metal, but I love that album.
Angela Gossow may have something to do with it. I totally attracted to and scared to death of her all at once.
Totally with you on that one. I always wondered if she screams like that in the sack, that would be simultaniously terrifying and arousing.
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
A couple spring to mind:
Anything by Alison Krauss. Recording quality is usually excellent. Performances are usually excellent. Awesome use of space.
Someone mentioned Pet Sounds . . . but I preferred Holland.
I have to say, though, that it is difficult to identify great sounding CDs without your personal preferences getting in the way.
Anything by Alison Krauss. Recording quality is usually excellent. Performances are usually excellent. Awesome use of space.
Someone mentioned Pet Sounds . . . but I preferred Holland.
I have to say, though, that it is difficult to identify great sounding CDs without your personal preferences getting in the way.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
Yeah, I understand the "comfort zone" thing... plus you've already spent the time to weed out the good stuff from the era you're most comfortable with... it's a chore to weed out the new good stuff, but it's worth it. I just spent $150 on CDs the other day from Ameoba Music. 2/3 of it is going back to the store for store credit. Sure, I'll lose some money, but hey, it's a risk I am willing to take to try out some unknowns.
It's a bit like someone saying "leave your wife of 37 years for a younger more vigourous model....". Blimey, could I be bothered - having put so much in, to have to go through the whole gamut again ? Especially loving the wife and being, yeah, comfortable. I did enjoy discovering obscure artists back in the day, and I still dig Amalgam as much as Deep Purple, if you get my drift.
I generally have a very wide head musically, I like pretty much most genres (except Ragga and C&W). But I know what I like and with close to 800 albums, possibly more, I'm no longer into new discovery ! There again that may change in 15 years. Right now I'm too busy writing and recording ! But these are the benefits of being an approaching middle aged farty type !
(I've been mightilly impressed by some of the stuff I've heard coming out of HR though.).One other quick thing. I never think of how sonically good an album is because unless they really are terrible (and only two are) I'm only interested in the songs. My ears just don't have that fine detail antennae. As long as I can hear them, they sound OK to me !
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legionserial
New member
Yeah, good sounding production is something I only really notice with good music. If the album sucks, I'm simply not going to pay enough attention or listen to it enough, to be able to comment on the quality. Shitty music gets thrown back on the shelf, never listened to again, and chalked up as regretful mistake.
And even if the production is shitty, if the music is really good, it doesn't stop me listening. I was hooked on Death Magnetic when I first got it. Still love it, still listen to it a lot. The mastering sucked, but the songs are awesome, and that's the main thing.
And even if the production is shitty, if the music is really good, it doesn't stop me listening. I was hooked on Death Magnetic when I first got it. Still love it, still listen to it a lot. The mastering sucked, but the songs are awesome, and that's the main thing.
J
JoeDouglas
New member
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Nigel Godrich did a fantastic job, the whole record sounds so warm and the listener can't help but be immersed in the sound. It doesn't get any better than "Reckoner".
Nigel Godrich did a fantastic job, the whole record sounds so warm and the listener can't help but be immersed in the sound. It doesn't get any better than "Reckoner".
noisewreck
New member
Good point legion. Hadn't thought of it that way.
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Greg_L
Banned
Lotta crappy shit mentioned in this thread.
C
clntgn
New member
Kind of a tough one for me since I've only been learning to record for about two years, but there's a lot of choices producers made that I just liked.
I think maybe one of my top ones is Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. Its always been one of those albums that I don't really like to blast at full volume, but its great for a quiet drive home, because it just really breathes well to me. There's a lot going on, but its in the background. There's that backing sound effect that carries through about three of the songs or so, that seems to help the whole thing flow together.
Another one is Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. This is sort of an unconventional choice. If you listen to the album on headphones, you pick up a lot of odd things that really just make the album for me. A lot of it feels like they just left things in there, such as them talking to eachother in the studio, recording the talkback from the mixer (See "Don't You Evah"). Its a lot of stuff I don't hear in most pop records.
And my final one, is probably another sort of unconventional choice. American Football's self titled album always gets me. Its another late at night album that I've listened to a lot. There's nothing special being done in the mix, and maybe that's why I like it. Its certainly not a raw recording, but there's little to no distorted guitars (all of them are clean and possibly even recorded solid state, although I have no idea what gear they used other than what was shown in one live show). I think its the simplicity that's what gets me the most about this album.
I think maybe one of my top ones is Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. Its always been one of those albums that I don't really like to blast at full volume, but its great for a quiet drive home, because it just really breathes well to me. There's a lot going on, but its in the background. There's that backing sound effect that carries through about three of the songs or so, that seems to help the whole thing flow together.
Another one is Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. This is sort of an unconventional choice. If you listen to the album on headphones, you pick up a lot of odd things that really just make the album for me. A lot of it feels like they just left things in there, such as them talking to eachother in the studio, recording the talkback from the mixer (See "Don't You Evah"). Its a lot of stuff I don't hear in most pop records.
And my final one, is probably another sort of unconventional choice. American Football's self titled album always gets me. Its another late at night album that I've listened to a lot. There's nothing special being done in the mix, and maybe that's why I like it. Its certainly not a raw recording, but there's little to no distorted guitars (all of them are clean and possibly even recorded solid state, although I have no idea what gear they used other than what was shown in one live show). I think its the simplicity that's what gets me the most about this album.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
A recorded statement on sale for people to buy is supposed to sound at the very least, acceptable.
H
Harley Quinn
New member
+1 for Transatlanticism. Fantastic album! Plans is also very good, a lot of very subtle things happening in the backround.
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blackwings1
New member
How about the Vicious Delicious album by Infected Mushroom ? Agreed, it's mostly synths rendered in ableton live, but you can hear everything so distinctly...
My ears are young, and need directions towards a good mastering. Am I heading in the right direction guys ?
My ears are young, and need directions towards a good mastering. Am I heading in the right direction guys ?
M
mattdee1
Active member
I have a hard time thinking of what to say in this thread because how much I like a CD rarely has much at all to do with how "pristine" the recording is. If I like the songs, I like the album--the end. Conversely, if the songs don't do it for me, I don't care how sparkly and perfect the production is.
I will say that, even though I'm not all that crazy about the album as a whole, I always thought Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms" sounded really good--if a bit dated these days.
I will say that, even though I'm not all that crazy about the album as a whole, I always thought Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms" sounded really good--if a bit dated these days.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
In the 70s and early 80s, there was jazz label called ECM that did these really clear recordings. I remember back in '84 my friend and I noticing the clarity as being something of a standout. I wasn't always enamoured of the artists though. Having said that, Eberhard Weber's "The colours of Chloe" is a fantastic album, with many surprizing and inventive moves. And Gateway's self titled LP {featuring John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette} is a schizophrenic slab of jazz and rock. You wouldn't think Abercrombie (a number of musos didn't rate him at all), double bassist Holland (I used to joke that if he got together with Trapeze/Judas Priests' Dave Holland and the Holland brothers that wrote in the 60s for Motown, they could've called themselves "The Netherlands") and non slam drummer DeJohnette {also a very versatile pianist} could 'rock out' but on the final track, "Sorcery I" [or Sorcery 1, I have never known which] they knock out one of the heaviest metal jazz fusion pieces ever committed to vinyl. On the same two days they recorded the LP, they also recorded as sidemen for ECM labelmate, the sitar player Colin Walcott, "Cloud dance" which is also a very good and clear album. But in saying that, like I said earlier, I don't consciously think about how well an LP/CD or song is recorded.
But the OP did ask, so.....
But the OP did ask, so.....