Post
by soundguy » Fri May 09, 2003 12:33 pm
As much of a Bill Botrill fan as I am, I think that really it was Tchad Blake that made sheryl crow a superstar. That second record really put her on the map. the record that followed was great, but the last one, with its succint combination of auto tune on a singer who definitely DID NOT need it and the shit mastering job Bob Ludwig did on it really canned any attention I had left for her.
I have particular loathe for Phil Spector. If you listen to what is on the tapes for all things must pass, the recordings are totally solid, but the job that guy did mixing the record is nothing short of shameful. That record has some of the greatest jams on it, and with all the reverb and other nonsense spector threw on there, the record has absolutly no definition and is just a wash of mess. Its really a travesty. I was hoping when it got rereleased they would take that bullshit off of there, but instead of remixing it, there was some line from george in the notes discussing how it seemed cool for the time or some nonsense like that. If anything, I would describe that record as a very small sounding thing, the reverb on EVERYTHING just sucks all the life out of it. There is a special spot in hell reserved for Phil Spector for his work on that record and one beatles record, but I guess he's got bigger things to worry about right now.
as for The who, no doubt the performances are amazing, but that record doesnt strike me as any bigger sounding than anything else done by John's contemporaries at the time. Great record, but IMO, the guitars on live at leeds are about 100 times as big.
ZZTop rhythmeen is a cool sounding record, but unlike The Sweet Tea or the Sheryl Crow LP, I think it just sounds that big because of the mastering job done it, the record doenst have all that much texture to it, once you've heard two songs, youve heard the whole thing. Mastering huge, in this day and age especially, isnt anything to be proud of, comparing that top record with the last Rage Against The Machine, last Sheryl crow, last two chili Peppers, Audio slave, last Queens of the Stone Age, they all sound the same, they all have no headroom, they all are shroud in distortion, they all hurt my ears and I think are mastered for shit.
Sweet Tea and Sheryl Crow are huge because of what was put on a tape, not from what was pumped off a tape in the mastering process. both those records are insanely huge, and you can crank them LOUD, try that with any of the new school of mastering stuff. painful.
dave