Top 5 Worst Recorded/Engineered CD's of 2002

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tyler657recpro

tyler657recpro

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I like dissing better than praising, so here we go. I'll start.

This isn't the worst album list, although some may qualify, just worst recorded.

1.'NSync - Celebrity
2.Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
3.Counting Crows - Hard Candy
4. John Mayor - No Such Thing
5.Avril Lavigne - Nobody's Fool
 
these are production/engineering/mix worsts for the year

My bands Cd! right at the top of the list
No doubt,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Foo Fighters,
 
I think the sound quality of Shakira's "Laundry Service" is pretty bad..... Talk about overcompressed!!!!

I can't give you 5 because I haven't bought many CD's from new artists!
 
RHCP By the Way was a total disappointment. Too compressed, distorted and lacking punch. I think we've come to expect more of Rick Rubin.
 
how do we know if it was the engineering, mixing,mastering,playing,etc. that messed up the sound?.......

we can say what the worst sounding record is, but lets try to not point the finger at what step in the process did it........
 
Most of the worst recordings started with a model where a singer should be.
 
It's true about the RHCP album... so much compression, that it's distorting.
Like Bruce, I didn't buy any new artist's album... I bought a Paladins cd for my mom, but they probably never heard of ProTools and Waves L2, so that might explain their authentic sound... :rolleyes:

I've talked to a mastering engineer some weeks ago about the current trend of overcompressing/limiting everything. He said that it is done, because if you don't do it, radio stations will compress it more, and then the overall sound of the song is less controllable.
When you provide an already 'flatcompressed' album, it will change less when played on the radio, because it will fit within the boundaries of their own compressors...

Anyway, fuck that, I'm giving my mixes dynamics!
(BTW, I got my RNC today, I love that thing...hmmm.....maybe compress a little here and there... ;) )
 
hey it aint just 2002..

the last ten years or whatever - it was like this. Nirvana made engineers (or the label execs who run their lives) drool and they all cranked the compression from then on, though I like Nirvana.

robin
 
One thing I just noticed, is all five of the CD's I mentioned were done with protools. I'm very dissappointed in the Counting Crows and RHCP.
 
anyone listen to in flames?

to me, their new cd sounds like it was recorded "normally", then played through a boombox and re-recorded with a mic to the boombox. it sounds HORRIBLE!

best recording - TODAY IS THE DAY!
(if you like that sort of music)
 
hey speed-demon, fuck the Paladins. I got into a fisfight with one of 'em once. kicked his loudmouth drunk homophobic ass too. fucking hipster poser pussies.
 
I think the White Stripes sound pretty god-awful, but I'm guessing their production method was intentional. Either way, it just sounds like a whole lotta' muck to me. I must be getting old, because a lot of the hipster Chicago crowd just digs them to no end. :D
 
I really didn't buy any CD's last year either. The last CD that I bought and expected to be great but wasn't was Tool - Lateralus. The overall mix was okay, but each instrument lacked flair. Totally opposite of Aenima where each instrument shined through with true character and pressence. The drums were especially squashed and that is a horrible thing to do to such a talented and dynamic drummer. Granted the CD is very dynamic when compared to other pop and rock releases, it just lacked the textures present on their previous release.

There were two very surprising releases in the last two years that caught my attention. System of a Down - Toxicity and Queens of the Stone age - Songs for the Deaf. I think the thing that really stands out about both is their stripped down sound when compared to a lot of other glossy productions. I was amazed purely by the gain acheived on Toxicity throughout the album. The entire album rides the edge of how loud you can print digitally to CD, IMO. Songs for the Deaf is just a wonderfully dry album. Even when it's saturated with tremolo guitar effects and synth it still comes off as being dry. It's tight and instrumentally demanding to mix that way since you have nowhere to hide if you screw up, but when it works it, it really works. QOTSA's new album is proof of that.

I'm not interested in pop enough to buy one pop cd, so I wouldn't know anything about that. Besides it would be pointless because I would just compare them all to old motown recordings and scoff at their shrill nasally sound produced by their teeny-tude, flavor-of-the-week pop sensations (uh-hum...Avril Lavigne).

Wow, I didn't really mean for this to turn into a super long post. Sorry! :p
 
tyler657recpro said:
2.Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
Click to expand...

I don't know about the new one, but the mix for Californication was apparantly quite excellent. They destroyed it in the mastering though.
 
Tool - Lateralus. Probably the most pop-rock-over-produced album I have at the moment. I get fatigued after the third track...way too loud, no dynamics.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slackmaster2K said:
Tool - Lateralus. Probably the most pop-rock-over-produced album I have at the moment. I get fatigued after the third track...way too loud, no dynamics.

Slackmaster 2000
Click to expand...

Too loud and not dynamic? Then You must think Toxicity is the worst album ever!
 
charliedango said:
Too loud and not dynamic? Then You must think Toxicity is the worst album ever!
Click to expand...

Indeed, I think they really blew it.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Ya know what I've noticed, is some of the more respectable artists have their mainstream hits with basically no dynamics, but then they put dynamics on their truly great songs. The ones that get no airplay, even tho they're better than the hits, IMO. For example, Coldplay - Amsterdam.
 
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