What's your favorite "poorly"-recorded LP or track
Moderator: cgarges
'nebraska' will stand up in history as the greatest recording springsteen ever made. there's nothing kitchy or retro in that album - it's dodged the issue of being dated to a time - most likely because, initially - it wasn't intended to be an album (as i understand it). the band recorded a version of 'atlantic city' - that should be enough for bruce, or anyone else .
'either or', whilst not being the most lo fi or poorly recorded album of all time - surely is the most important record (to me) i've ever heard.
'either or', whilst not being the most lo fi or poorly recorded album of all time - surely is the most important record (to me) i've ever heard.
-
- ass engineer
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:46 pm
- Location: Cincinnati, OH
- Contact:
Agree with Minor Threat, Pavement and GBV and I'll throw in Jesus Christ Superstar; the rock opera version w/ Ian Gillian of Deep Purple as JC. I love this record (I'm a sucker for concept albums and rock operas) but man, it has to be one of the worst engineered records ever.
Ever try to make a lo-fi record on purpose? I definitely believe that with some bands, a lo-fi sound is the right approach, production-wise. Bear in mind that I don't equate lo-fi with shitty. For me, it's more of an anti-slick sound. Way anti. It's a difficult approach. Maybe like a good actor playing a bad actor?
Ever try to make a lo-fi record on purpose? I definitely believe that with some bands, a lo-fi sound is the right approach, production-wise. Bear in mind that I don't equate lo-fi with shitty. For me, it's more of an anti-slick sound. Way anti. It's a difficult approach. Maybe like a good actor playing a bad actor?
My studio link is http://www.ultrastudio.com
- NarxistDan
- alignin' 24-trk
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:15 pm
- Location: Portland
Indeed. Very hard not to come across as a bad actor.It's a difficult approach. Maybe like a good actor playing a bad actor?
A blend of "hi-fi" and "lo_fi" (with Bono's voice at one end of the spectrum and Tom Waits' voice circa Mule Variations at the other) can be a fun approach. I usually find I end up with mud very easily trying to be to hip and lo-fi with everything. However, if everything sounds like Radioshack records except the bass and vocals which are more traditionally "good" it's easier for me to get a sound I like. Too much on either end of the spectrum is boring.
I hope you're right about history's take on springsteen. Definitely the least time-stamped of his records, although I don't mind the production on Asbury Park, or E Street Shuffle nearly as much as the later stuff.rcj wrote:
'nebraska' will stand up in history as the greatest recording springsteen ever made. there's nothing kitchy or retro in that album - it's dodged the issue of being dated to a time - most likely because, initially - it wasn't intended to be an album (as i understand it). the band recorded a version of 'atlantic city' - that should be enough for bruce, or anyone else .
'either or', whilst not being the most lo fi or poorly recorded album of all time - surely is the most important record (to me) i've ever heard.
Careful mentioning 'e/o' on a tapeop forum thread about anything "poorly recorded". You never know who's reading.
Rehearse More
Edit Less
Edit Less
- ;ivlunsdystf
- ghost haunting audio students
- Posts: 3290
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:15 am
- Location: The Great Frontier of the Southern Anoka Sand Plain
- Contact:
I am bumping Sly Stone's "There's A Riot Goin' On" because it is amazingly lo-fi for something that was recorded on a major label in a completely 'real' studio by an established superstar in 1971. There is a track about halfway through called "Spaced Cowboy" where the compressed, multitracked hiss and electrical hum is practically as loud as the music for the first eight bars of the song. It is unbelievable.
For being 'poorly recorded', though, it is absolute ear candy on headphones. A lot of thought went into the lo-fi-nesse. I highly recommend it for those with jaded ears. I have been listening to it all week so it is currently running through my head.
FWIW, I have a great affinity for the goofy sounds of the 1970s Bruce albums. "Darkness at the Edge of Town" in particular has just the right amount of timestamping in the form of boxy drums, stray bits of hiss, etc. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
For being 'poorly recorded', though, it is absolute ear candy on headphones. A lot of thought went into the lo-fi-nesse. I highly recommend it for those with jaded ears. I have been listening to it all week so it is currently running through my head.
FWIW, I have a great affinity for the goofy sounds of the 1970s Bruce albums. "Darkness at the Edge of Town" in particular has just the right amount of timestamping in the form of boxy drums, stray bits of hiss, etc. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
- Jeff White
- ghost haunting audio students
- Posts: 3263
- Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:15 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- Contact:
Speaking of ear candy, Kelley Stolz's Antique Glow, in particular Perpetual Night, is one of my favorite headphone masterpieces.
Jeff
Jeff
I record, mix, and master in my Philly-based home studio, the Spacement. https://linktr.ee/ipressrecord
Really? I love the sound of JCS. It definitely sounds "dated", but in this case, I think that's a good thing.Ultrastudio wrote:I'll throw in Jesus Christ Superstar; the rock opera version w/ Ian Gillian of Deep Purple as JC. I love this record (I'm a sucker for concept albums and rock operas) but man, it has to be one of the worst engineered records ever.
- centurymantra
- buyin' a studio
- Posts: 916
- Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:02 am
- Location: Michigan
- Contact:
Good to see some props to that Kelly Stoltz 'Antique Glow' record (even though I personally wouldn't consider it poorly recorded). I love that recording and it has seen MUCH airplay around here. I have been a little dissapointed with the recordings he has done since. Not that I don't enjoy them and concur that there are some good tunes...it's just that he really hasn't been able to match that vibe and get those textures and flow of the Antique Glow record...IMHO.
Also had forgotten about the Wipers. Those are terrible sounding records...lifeless, anemic, hollow and grey. Prime example of NOT good lo-fi. I know it's not fashionable to bash the TapeOp heroes that are The Wipers, but those early records are one of those rare cases where the terrible, dull, flat patina of the sound just bars me from enjoying the music. The Wipers rock...no doubt about it, but I can't listen to 'em...it's just depressing. It's like trying to have a picnic on an overcast day with light rain and a cold front moving in. Don't matter how good the food is on the table, the shivering, wet clothes and depressing ambiance just take over.
*makes note to self to try listening to those records again over the weekend*
Any record by Billy Childish, BTW, is a prime example of lo-fi done right and with pre-meditated intent.
Also had forgotten about the Wipers. Those are terrible sounding records...lifeless, anemic, hollow and grey. Prime example of NOT good lo-fi. I know it's not fashionable to bash the TapeOp heroes that are The Wipers, but those early records are one of those rare cases where the terrible, dull, flat patina of the sound just bars me from enjoying the music. The Wipers rock...no doubt about it, but I can't listen to 'em...it's just depressing. It's like trying to have a picnic on an overcast day with light rain and a cold front moving in. Don't matter how good the food is on the table, the shivering, wet clothes and depressing ambiance just take over.
*makes note to self to try listening to those records again over the weekend*
Any record by Billy Childish, BTW, is a prime example of lo-fi done right and with pre-meditated intent.
__________________
Bryan
Shoeshine Recording Studio
"Pop music is sterile, country music is sterile. That's one of the reasons I keep going back to baseball" - Doug Sahm
Bryan
Shoeshine Recording Studio
"Pop music is sterile, country music is sterile. That's one of the reasons I keep going back to baseball" - Doug Sahm
- ;ivlunsdystf
- ghost haunting audio students
- Posts: 3290
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:15 am
- Location: The Great Frontier of the Southern Anoka Sand Plain
- Contact:
AWWWWWWWW no fair dude! That album was recorded very much to resemble the style of the S. African contemporary stuff he was diggin' when he wrote those songs and recorded it! (Or, maybe I've just heard it so many times and dug it on so many levels that I no longer notice the heinousness, which is significant by today's standards, of the drum sounds)Embryo Electro wrote: Paul Simon - Graceland
Again with the drums. It takes gated reverb to a whole new level.
- tonewoods
- buyin' a studio
- Posts: 886
- Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:48 pm
- Location: Orcas Island, WA
- Contact:
cgarges wrote:Yeah, I was gonna say just about any studio recordings that Eddie Kramer did.LVC_Jeff wrote:Are You Experienced, Hendrix. Sounds like crap. Terrible fades and edits and panning. But is oh so good.
Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
And I thought I was the only one....
Listen to the raw tracking of "Axis" on that 4 CD Hendrix set they released awhile back, and then listen to what it turned into....
Oh well....
I'd nominate Buffalo Springfield's first record for "most botched recording" of any decade...
And how about the live stuff on "Having a Rave Up" by the Yardbirds? Sounds like they hung a mic and called it a day....
Guess I'm dating myself.....
"You see, the whole thing about recording is the attempt at verisimilitude--not truth, but the appearance of truth."
Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests