new chili peppers "by the way"

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wes480

wes480

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just got this a few minutes ago....so, no comment on the material...i'm sure it's fine...

but, man...i am sick of the production on this and californication.

I swear...in my walkman, in my car, on my nice stereo....

californication always sounded like it was clipping becuase it was so damn loud and compressed. and this I can already hear the same stuff...like this "crackle" at certain passages...

so freaking frustrating....listening to track 2 right now, around 2:20 or so....

crackle crackle crackle...

and I know my equipment is good. heh.

my question is why the HELL would they do it. whatever.

this album is terribly recorded....signal chain wise it sounds nice....the instruments themselves etc...the *recording* is good...

but the mix/mastering job is just terrible. why do they insist on walking the "thin red line"
 
Like I said in the other Peppers thread: I am disapointed in By The Way, as well as concerning sound as songs:(

I know what you mean with the mixing stuff, but that's a mattezr of taste I guess. Many adore that sound, but I'm not a great fan of that crispy compressed sound either.

Dear Peppers, please return to your BSSM period
 
completely agree

Definately,

compare the mix of BSSM and Californication, and they are miles apart...

Californication and By The Way have basically fallen into the "louder is better" type album. It has absolutley no dynamics whatsoever.

I also had thoughts about the clipping, although i said to myself... no way - this is a pro recording!

Obviously - this is a chimp behind a $1m neve.. :)

on a music point - I think they've turned a little rubbish - their old stuff was a LOT better...

d
 
Californication was recorded in mostly mono, with little panning, and little reverb. They recorded for about 5 weeks. I think Jim Scott and Rick Rubin just wanted to get it all down fast. It was a different approach. May not sound as good, but people bought the album didn't they. The RHCP style has changed greatly over the years. It is much more mellow now. Now much we can do about that.
 
I guess with age - comes maturity - comes easy listening

(sorry for all you 'older' home wreckers...)

But that doesn't excuse poor production. Even in a rush there are producers that could have done a better job of mixing and mastering the album.

To me the whole album (both of them - althouhg BTW was listened as MP3) sound like they are running so hot that they are a nats bollock away from clipping.

Personally, this does not appeal to me. If they wanted to sound mellow, then dynamics would have played a more important. Along with allowing the instruments own dynamics and timbre to come out in the mix.

Even with BSSM the instruments natural timbre was 'allowed through'. And there is no way BSSM can be considered as a Mellow album :)

As for people buying the album - yes, they did. But i think most people bought the album without really listening to it. Obviously you don't listen to a whole album then buy it. I understand the laws of the universe :)
Californication was the first release in AGES since One Hot Minute, and people, like myself, rushed out to buy Californication - just because it was a new Chili's album...


But then, If asked for my desert island disks, Californication or BTW wouldn't even come close. Although in all fairness... BSSM might not be on that list either, but it'd be considered...


Anyway, just my 0.0005 euro's worth...

d
 
Well, as far as californication..i like the disc song wise.

And, there are a few things on by the way that are growing on me...

my problem really isn't so much with the music but with the recordings.

that damn clipping.....i don't make a habit of questioning the pros...but, I am doing it now, for the record. heh...

when you play this album...esp. loud....you will hear borderline clips...digital distortion. ick!
 
off course it's all a matter of taste, I don't find myself in a position to critizisesomeone like Rick Rubin:).

I liekd the songs and arrangements on the Californication album. Stuff like 'Other Side' were arranged sober but very beautifully I thought. And also then I liked better the funky rock stuff froim BSSM, but I thought it was interesting that they tried something new.

But now I'm bored with that poppy mellow stuff. The few uptempo songs on By The Way aren't interesting at all. And ok, again the rest is beautifully arranged maybe, but I don't feel emotionally touched by it.

I can understand that Flea an Frusciante liked to evolve and got tired of that funky rock uptempo stuff, and that they consider their new albuim as a milestone. But I really would have been 100 times more emotionally touched when they wouldn't have gone this mellow poppy way.
 
Most bands mellow out as the band gets older. Its hard to be angry and rebellious when you are succesfull and rich...I think thats why the Ramones never really slowed down, they never got rich. I sure do miss the old stuff though.
 
-opinion-

Peppers blow dead goats since BSSM.... I mean Flea still gets points but the groove??? ...and who the HELL ever thought Keidis can SING???!?!?! At least Joe Satriani had the brains to STFU after listening to his attempts, Anthony needs to return to hardcore rap and leave singing to those with intonation skills. :)

-resume reality-
 
Though Keidis has his qualities, I got some live takes of him (like live in Russia) were his singing was really out of tune, not on the right place for a group the size of the Peppers.

Bdgr, you maybe have a point. I got a FANTASTIC performance of the Peppers of the 'Yertle The Turtle Medley', recorded in 1990 in Holland. They sound just too good to be true: funkpunkrock with a hard edge, they were all at their best.

They played the same medley on the woodstock 2000 festival. It didn't soun 1% as good as the one from 1990. I mean, the notes were their, but their 'rage' seems to have faded.
 
The video is one of the best I've seen since the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."

Yes, Rick Rubin's production is pretty tired but he sells CDs. I'm guessing it's him again.

I love RHCP. John Frusciante is a gifted guitarist. Not many bands get three or four really good guitarists but he's the best of the bunch they've had. BTW, yes, I loved Hillel. John is just so artful and tasteful.

Steve
www.piemusic.com
 
It must be hell getting Kiedis' vocal tracks right in the studio. The dude can't sing. Maybe the invention of Autotune was what enabled him to sing on RHCP material. I saw them live a couple of years ago, and he just could not hit those notes. Same with every TV spot I've seen with them.
 
there was a woodstock 2000? i always thought 99 was the last one. hmm...

I heard them at 99 and I didn't think kiedis had any singing problems. Maybe he just gets stage fright at some concerts, kinda of like a spasm or something.
 
I'd have to say that One Hot Minute was their best attempt after BSSM, I never thought Dave Navarro really fit the band that well but it's a pretty good album better than californication and by the way in my opinion.......I think they experimented more

but I think they are a pretty cool group though.....I'm just a little surprised at the direction they are taking now.... but who am I to criticize them


Adam
 
speaking on the peppers, are they from arizona? does anyone know?
 
Axis said:
there was a woodstock 2000? i always thought 99 was the last one. hmm...

I heard them at 99 and I didn't think kiedis had any singing problems. Maybe he just gets stage fright at some concerts, kinda of like a spasm or something.
Click to expand...


sorry,mistake I made: I meant the 99 festival off course.

I think btw that Frusciante is so great due to his functionality; The tandem Flea-frusciante is on it best on songs like 'Give It Away': check that cool, simple slide bass rif and the funky stuff Frusciante does on top of it. Sober, but oh so effective.
 
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