Best Sounding Album of all time

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim Walker
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Rush "2112"

My vote goes to the Rush album "2112". In my opinion, everything is exactly where it should be. The drums are so warm. The guitar tones are perfect. The bass guitar goes hand in hand with the drums. The performances are perfect too. The warmth of rock music like this in the 70's blows me away.
 
The best sounding album of all time is Free's Fire and Water.
 
well, not the best album of all time, but yellowcard's ocean avenue sounds pretty bad ass.
 
Slightly unconsidered response but I've just been listening carefully to Norah Jones. I love the way Arif Mardin kind of produced that to sound as if it hadn't been produced; if you closed your eyes you could think she was on a little stage playing it live for you. Everything is beautifully understated, and so rather than jumping out at you it just sucks you in. I don't really like much commercial stuff but I think that record is just gorgeous.
 
What about Devo's "Freedom of Choice"? The tones are so fat, it's like a nice squishy hot fudge sunday! :-)

It's one of those records that is loud, sounds really good, but is very simple at the same time. Fun stuff!
 
peopleperson said:
The best sounding album of all time is Free's Fire and Water.
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Wow. I love Free, and Paul Rodgers is the best ever. I never thought of this as a best sounding album. But it kicks ass.

I'm going to go with "Moving Pictures" by RUSH. Not my favorite album, but the production is sweet without being over produced. The drum sounds are so clean, and the bass as well. Everything is tight on that record.

Jeff Buckley's Grace would be a close second.

The Beautiful's "Storybook" is awesome. (not many people know of this band, 1992 out of New York via Texas)

tim
 
Monkey Allen said:
I hate to say it, but Michael Jackson's 'Don't Stop Til You Get Enough', I have heard, is the greatest produced song of all time. It sure does have a good sound.
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The mixing quality on alot of Michael jacksons stuff is pretty spot on apart from maybe sounding a little too in your face at times and a little bit distorted. Could be too much boosting at mastering though. (talking about album Dangerous mostly). The snare is the snappiest snare I have ever heard in my life.
 
Tim Walker said:
Wow. I love Free, and Paul Rodgers is the best ever. I never thought of this as a best sounding album. But it kicks ass.


tim
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Yeah, I'm a sucker for early 70's production. You can add all the Humble Pie LP's from that era too. Such good sounds.
 
More recordings I'm a huge fan of are all the Frank Black and the Catholics records. It's pretty much all live to two track recorded in his mobile. There's way more character on those recordings than if they would have been legitimately tracked. Go check out "Dog in the Sand".

To hell with the Pixies, I've already heard all the songs they're playing. Bring on another FB and the Catholics LP.
 
The Cure- Paris

They have always sound better live, Boris drums never sounded so dame good ;)
 
Nirvana's InUtero and Weezer's Pinkerton, yeah yeah, I know..Nirvana. These two albums have an incredible raw sound, which doesnt sound poorly in raw form (ie the stooges, and sex pistols lp's). And of course..Pet Sounds..amazing.
 
Tough question. The first thing that pops into my mind is Metallica's black album.
 
johnsuitcase said:
What about Devo's "Freedom of Choice"? The tones are so fat, it's like a nice squishy hot fudge sunday! :-)

It's one of those records that is loud, sounds really good, but is very simple at the same time. Fun stuff!
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Mark Mothersbaugh is a freaking genius...as is Josh Freese. Definitely an underrated band.

Oh, and some of the other posts reminded me of the other album (besides OK Computer) that I somehow forgot to mention...Jeff Buckley's "Grace". Pure genius. Not too many engineers/producers would be brave enough to allow the kind of dynamic swings that are found on that album.
 
Another vote for Jeff Buckley's Grace.

I was listening to it last week for the first time in about 2 years. WOW

Hallelujah gives me the chills.
 
I vote for Two Against Nature by Steely Dan. This CD is so tightly and so closely recorded, and the orchestrations are so spare and so narrowly defined, that if any of the musicians made even the slightest mistake you'd hear it. Few bands besides the Dan of Steel could pull that off.

Don't get me wrong, I love Floyd and Radiohead and many of the other bands listed here. But a lot of those groups play over a background of "filler" sounds that create their moody and atmospheric soundscapes. I don't think they use it to cover their mistakes, of course, but with all that sound in the mix its harder to appreciate the band's virtuosity. You don't get that kind of thing on Two Against Nature.

Another really superb CD (from a recording standpoint) that I don't think has been mentioned here yet is Bonnie Raitt's Silver Lining. Again, it's recorded and orchestrated in such a way that you can really apprecitate the musicianship.
 
All American Boy

Just to spin the question a bit, I don't know if "best recording of all time" is answerable, but in terms of the recording that influenced me the most because of its sonic quality, I would say Rick Derringer's "All American Boy" was THE pivotal recording for me. It's been a long time since I had that LP, but I think Bill Szymczyk engineered that one. He also did Joe Walsh's stuff, which I also liked a great deal.

If my spinning the question disqualifies my answer, then I'll say "Two Against Nature" or "Everything Must Go" (favorite song: "Pixeleen") by the Sam Donaldson orhestra.
 
"Eep Opp Ork Ah Ah" by Judy Jetson and Jet Screamer. Gotta love the curcular drum kit!

:D

G.
 
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Wow. :eek: It is AMAZING how much diversity there is on this board.

My vote is for Type O Negative's Life is Killing me. It's not likely anyone on this board has it, but the detail, clarity, depth, Dimention, isolation, everything.... is as close to perfect as anything I have ever heard. Even if you dont LIKE Type O, that album is an engineering work of art.
 
Pinkerton

My favorite sounding album of all time is Weezer's Pinkerton. About 6 years ago I got really into Weezer (no, I'm not emo!) and when I heard Pinkerton compared to the Blue album, it just blew me away.

I've sinced moved away from Weezer quite a bit but I still strive to get a recording like that. The thing that really gets me about that album is the drums. I love the way they sound. Big bass drum and big guitars with nice feedback, plus I can hear the room it was recorded in. Any album that I can hear a room on, I seem to enjoy. It gives the album breath and life.

On the flipside, my favorite performer/musician/band leader is Frank Zappa but all his studios albums are a little too dry for me.
 
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