Favorite Reference CD's?

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Aja
Abbey Road
Dark Side of the Moon
No Fences
Anything by Harvey Reid
 
"The Best of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra"
Stevie Wonder "Songs in the Key of Life"
John Fogarty "Blue Moon Swamp" (Bob Clearmountain mix)
"Aja"
"Revolver"
Earth,Wind and Fire "Best of,Volume 1"
 
Is it any surprise that Steely Dan is the most common entry on this list?
 
Tool - Lateralus
Police - Synchronicity
various tracks off Journey Into The Ambient Groove - Phase 3
Peter Gabriel - Us & Passion
 
prediction for the near future:

When Dave Matthews finds the producer that can really do the band justice... .....we will have another brilliant album.
Not that his past releases werent great, but "his" perfect production is still out there.
 
I'm so glad that "Puzzle" by Dada was mentioned. That record doesn't get nearly enough credit.

"Mule Variations" is also a fabulous choice if you're looking for something adventurous and not standard.

c7sus, go back a little farther with Counting Crows to "August and Everything After". That's some of T-Bone Burnett's best work, IMHO.

RE: Floyd -

Many Floyd records are listed here, and I would ordinarily be the VERY last person to lob criticism in their direction, but I must say that they never quite got the drum sound right. As sonically amazing as everything else on Floyd's mid-70s-early-80s output was, the drums retained that nasty flatness that makes all Bonham-lovers wince.

For any of you using the Roland VS series, you need to hear "Thistupidream" by BE. It was recorded on a VS-1680 and is a fine example of using that machine to its fullest.
 
Madonna - live to tell & Rain
Anything by David Foster
Sting - seven days & shape of my heart
 
The best album is the album you know best and have heard on many systems.

Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
 
"And this, in particular, is what makes Mr Grohl so fascinating. Because he too, just like us, is a huge fan of classics as mentioned above, and because he too is widely regarded as being one of the few drummers around nowadays who can come close to people like John Bonham..."

John Bonham????? Are you kidding me? Grohl's dums on the Nirvana cd's had a good loud sound, but his playing was straight forward 4/4 with little flash in the fills. I think you're giving this guy way too much credit at least in the drumming department. I like some of the Foo Fighters tunes, I read somewhere he plays all of the instruments in the studio and only has his band for live performances? His singing is "ok", his drumming is "ok", his guitar playing again is just "ok", but where he is good at is writing simplistic radio freindly tunes. And THAT is what impresses me the most.

Rock bands with excellent drumming:
Tool - Rush - Godsmack.
 
Rush / Moving pictures

Everything is phat on that album but very well balanced. Terry Brown is a genius!!
 
Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I did not think a good reference CD has anything to do with how much you like the music, or how creative the songwriting is. Isn't the sole purpose of a "reference CD" to test monitors? Isn't that why Aja is so popular - not because it is great music (which it is) but because the mix is so well done that you can really hear subtle differences depending on what monitors you listen on?

I am asking this because I am reading some very different opinions that seem to be coming from different ideas of what makes a good reference CD.
 
neirbo,

I see your point, and was wondering the same thing myself, except that different music styles call for different production approaches. So it's fairly logical that one would pick a CD that was similar musically to what one would like to produce, since the production approach would be similar.

For instance, if I want to write some big, reverby ballads (which I often do), I would pick some mid-70s Elton John, Simon & Garfunkel, or maybe Dido to use as reference points. But that production would be rather preposterous on, say, a straightahead Sheryl Crow rocker or a punk record.

But I do concede that on this board, we tend to start by talking about recording, and end up talking about whether certain bands suck or not.

I think the participants in this thread have been remarkably civil, however. No one's brought up the APC debate, at any rate. ;)
 
Can't go wrong with Steely Dan! Another one I like to use is Queensryche's "Empire".
 
Progressive metal cds I use

MONTE said:
Can't go wrong with Steely Dan! Another one I like to use is Queensryche's "Empire".
Click to expand...

I'll concur with the Steely Dan stuff... no doubt, KILLER production.

For those of us that lean towards the metal end of the spectrum music-wise.. here's a list of some of the better produced stuff that I use for reference. Some of this was blatantly copied from a buddy of mine's response when I asked him the very same question.

Dream Theater - Images and Words (snare sample replacement notwithstanding). Too bad DT has never sounded as good since imo. :-(

Balance Of Power - Ten More Tales Of Grand Illusion
This disc is drum trigger CITY! On a good system, this one sounds like they're in the room with you.

Adagio - Sanctus Ignis Listen to 'The Inner Road'. Skillfully layered with every instrument clear as a bell. 'Nuff said!

Shakra - Moving Force Quite simply THE best recorded hard rock/melodic metal disc I've ever heard. Fat in your face monster production.

Sonata Arctica - Silence Easily one of the best produced euro power metal discs I've heard. No muddy double bass. Everything has great clarity and separation

Primal Fear - Black Sun Talk about KILLER bass drum sound! The reigning masters of pure power metal with a masterwork of production.

Liquid Tension Experiment - LTE2 Great production for an all instrumental effort without having to deal with vox. Nice tight bass and drums and in your face guitar and keys.

Hope that helps. I'm sure most of you haven't heard of at least half of these bands, if not more. Do yourself a favor and check out what you are missing if you are even somewhat inclined towards metal where the musicians still remember how to PLAY their instruments.

Shred 'til yer dead,
Jeff in Houston

PS - I'm really surprised you mentioned "Empire". While I enjoy listening to it, I think it is one of the most brutal early digital cd recordings. All the "S" sounds and cymbals are really over the top. It isn't so much that this is out of the ordinary from cds of this time period... just that this is one I am pretty familiar with that really illustrates the sibilance and stuff. Anywho... not a slam, just IMHO.
 
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Here's one you all probably haven't heard much of:

Susan Ashton - Awakened by the Wind

Its a country-esque album (which I'm not a fan of), but the production work on it is stellar... VERY minimal effects... more emphasis put on balance and tone of the instrumentation. Very very well done IMHO. I highly recommend taking at least a listen to it to get an idea of how good production can be without pushing too many "unnatural" effects etc. There's is even a song on the album where the drums are simply someone pounding on boxes... but the sound is phenomenal. Good players too... Chris McHugh, Gordon Kennedy, Tommy Simms, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Jerry MacPherson etc.

Another good reference disc would be Splender - Halfway Down the Sky (produced by Todd Rundgren)

or

Tonic - Lemon Parade

Velvet Elvis
 
Here's another one for the list...

Supertrammp's "Crime Of The Century" is another fine example of a stellar recording!
 
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