Kevin's Watch

Does anyone else not like Phil Spector's producing?

I didn't like it a bit on The Ramones' End of the Century album at all.

He also ruined Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man.

I guess it worked well with the type of music he was doing in the 50s & 60s, but I think it removes any sense of energy or drama from the music.

Definitely. I think the wall-of-sound sounds sort of stale.

and speaking of brilliant...arrangment, production...

King Crimson





Trey Gunn, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, and Pat Mastelotto

I posted this in Cail's previous thread about best-produced albums:

Cheap Trick: Dream Police -- a common criticism of this album is that it's too polished and lacks the energy of the band's Live at Budokan release. Well, I say that's hogwash! Back in '79, Dream Police was the album that showed this 8-year old kid how exciting and gorgeous a rock album can sound.

Simple Minds: Street Fighting Years -- depending on your point of view, this was either SM at their sublime best or pretentious worst. Released in '89, this album is to me a grand (and grandiose) commentary on the angst and turmoil of the Eighties.The album was produced by Stephen Lipson and Trevor Horn (of Yes), and what they provide here is a wide-open sound. This was the band's first digital recording but with analog mixing, so SFY retained a certain "warmth" in its sound that was perhaps lacking in other early digital efforts from the '80s.

Radiohead: Kid A -- Heh, I've already blabbed on about this album in the Radiohead thread. Everything about the production just seems impeccable. Huge sound, yet an intimate feel.

Btw, I just happened to buy the 25th anniversary re-issue of Cheap Trick's Dream Police. Still lovin' the album after all these years.

Also love the production on U2's Nineties albums: Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop. From what I've read here in Vespers, I know that many of you don't care for post-Eighties U2, but personally I found the band much more interesting, both musically and visually, after it "re-invented" itself for the '90s and beyond.

Guess you'd like some mention of classical/folk stuff, Lucimay, so...

The Planets! I've been listening to it so much for that dissection of mine that I'm almost sick of it, heh. But there's no doubt that a good recording of this work can really show off your stereo system. I mentioned James Levine's version with the Chicago Symphony, a 1989 digital recording. It packs a punch, and still outshines newer versions that I've heard. I use Mars from it as a reference test track.

In the World or Folk or Celtic section (depending on which store you're in) I adore Loreena McKennitt. She built her own studio and produced her own albums. I think her masterpiece remains 1994's The Mask and Mirror. The sound is dense and intoxicating, blending Western and Eastern musical styles. When I first listened to this album, I was totally mesmerized. It was like being taken to the Land, or some other far off place. (Fellow Watcher Iryssa is a fan of McKennitt as well, but she hasn't been around for a long time.) The Mask and Mirror was re-issued in 2004 in remastered sound (along with McKennitt's other albums). I use Santiago from the CD as another reference test track.

Alan Parsons rules! (as I've said in another thread) Dark Side of the Moon, Abbey Road, I Robot, Pyramids, Eye in the Sky---list goes on...

...definately agree with Loreena McKennitt.

if you want well produced grunge, try Screaming Tree's Sweet Oblivion. never before or since has the band sounded this good. with a sheen to rival Nirvana's Nevermind.

heheh, take Lucymay to bring in a Crimso reference ... Well, I happen to agree. Most Crimson albums irk me because, although the music is absolutely fantastic!!!! there always seems to be something amiss the way everything is mixed. "Power to Beleive" changed that for me. This is nearly a perfectly mixed/produced album from them.

And speaking of Eno! ... Brian Eno is a production GOD! Everything he touches is brilliant and sounds imaculate and perfect for the artist/band. So far, of all the albums he has had his fingers on, I would have to say the best produced is Bowie's "Outside 1.0". Absolutely stunning. Turn off the lights, put the headphones on (or turn up the speakers) and lay down and just listen ...

...no arguement at all with Eno.