What are some of the most "poorly engineered" albu

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:27 am

did you know james is the world's foremost authority on zz top? s'true.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:39 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:did you know james is the world's foremost authority on zz top? s'true.

That's pretty much the case, yes.

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:51 pm

dwlb wrote:
MoreSpaceEcho wrote:the vinyl of 'zen arcade' must sound awfully different from the cd i have here but i'll take your word for it!
I haven't heard the vinyl, but I suppose it's possible the CDs were made with the "vinyl" EQ curve still applied. I have an REO CD that's like that. One has to crank the bass knob all the way up on the stereo for it to sound even vaguely normal. Fortunately I have the vinyl of that album as well...

Also, SST is very cheap -maybe because they have no money. But I've been trying to acquire a NEW copy of Metal Circus for about three months now. Every one that's come in has been warped as hell. Is SST's warehouse the back seat of Greg Ginn's car?

Anyway all my other Huskers vinyl sounds great, though I still doubt anyone on this forum would call it "well engineered."

EDIT: I wouldn't say the vinyl sounds "awfully different," but just different enough in ways that matter very much.

timh · Post by **timh** » Tue May 10, 2011 4:54 pm

has no one mentioned Harvest yet?! the first time i heard that album i was just confused the whole time. i mean...when you can hear Neil step up to the mic mid-way through the second word of "Are You Ready For the Country?" what was that? and everything's all weirdly hard-panned and what not. i mean...a lot of that stuff adds character and ive grown to LOVE it, but it was a little weird at first.

st0pg@p · Post by **st0pg@p** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:55 pm

maybe Bob Dylan's STREET LEGAL

there's great songwriting on there (of course) and terrific performances by everyone, but it's a little bit dense of a listen. I feel like my cassette copy sounds better than the vinyl (possibly my vinyl is from the original issue and the cassette from the 80s/90s remix) ... but neither one especially sparkles in the way that, say, Infidels does, or even Saved or Slow Train have distinct and intentional sounds.

nobody, really · Post by **nobody, really** » Mon May 30, 2011 9:56 pm

Okay, Still Life's last album, The Incredible Sinking Feeling. They are one of my all-time favorite bands, and sonically they are usually rad. then this comes out and I was like.... sad face. especially the bass is all sub so you can barely hear it, which pisses me off cuz those melodic bass lines are always a lovely part of their music. power trio! the vocals have some bad verb and are way too loud, and the drums sound like they were recorded with one of those $179 drum pak mic kits. sorry guys! really, though, what happened to how Madness and the Gackel sounded? I love the way that album sounds.

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:45 pm

timh wrote:has no one mentioned Harvest yet?! the first time i heard that album i was just confused the whole time. i mean...when you can hear Neil step up to the mic mid-way through the second word of "Are You Ready For the Country?" what was that? and everything's all weirdly hard-panned and what not. i mean...a lot of that stuff adds character and ive grown to LOVE it, but it was a little weird at first.

1970s Neil always sounds amazing to me - the epitome of what dirty, sloppy rock music should sound like.

highway51 · Post by **highway51** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:05 pm

Bob Dylan modern times and alot of the modern dylan and I'm not crazy about the new Leon Russell Elton John album, when I buy albums by these guys I should be able to hear them.

themagicmanmdt · Post by **themagicmanmdt** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:30 am

i had to get rid of electric ladyland due to the sound of it

has NOTHING to do with it's adventurousness -

or the flying pan

or the phase/flange (which is the best part)

but it's FAR from a transporting experience, which is what it's aiming to be

of course, it's all subjective, engineering is here to serve the artist's intentions to the best it can

'ladyland' is hendrix FULL BLOOM, the cosmic alien here to blow our minds

but all the record does is annoy on many levels

i'm not a 'kramer' basher, as I feel Zep II is AWESOME. Axis and Experienced are wonderful in that Kramer/Hendrix crazy kinda way, but Ladyland is..... unforgivable. Weakest drum sounds from one of the best drummers ever. I keep wanting to CRANK the record hot, but then I'm forced to turn it down due to bullshit engineering.

Like the blistering kazoo level on Crosstown Traffic. One of the great amazing Hendrix songs. But, WTF.

And, regarding a past post on Blonde on Blonde being piercing - I think that's what Dylan was going for - now, blasting 'Obviously 5 Believers' mono mix - that's what I call a boogie.

JefffM · Post by **JefffM** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:12 am

thunderboy wrote:
"Nice take, Mr. Plant; I'll just clean up those pitches and we'll move on."

Sounds like that could be a quote from "Raising Pitch" er sorry - "Raising Sand".

JefffM · Post by **JefffM** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:34 am

iamthecosmos wrote:
centurymantra wrote:
gegonut wrote:I vote for the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bullocks ..." I had that album hyped up to me for years when I was young ... then I couldn't even listen to it.

I was recently watching one those "Classic Albums" making-of documentaries on this record, and they revealed that Sid Vicious really couldn't play the bass guitar at all, so they basically relied on some thick chunky guitar overdubs from Steve Jones to cover the low end on the record. This may have something to do with it.
I think Glen Matlock actually played on the record. Must dig out 'England's Dreaming' and check.

Also, it's 'Never Mind The Bollocks...'. Pedantic maybe, but a fairly significant difference!

Matlock definitely played on "Anarchy In The UK" as it's the same as the single version.

Supposedly Jones played bass on the other tracks but even if it wasn't him, it was definitely a bass not "chunky guitar ovedubs" - you only have to listen to it.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:13 am

Don't know if it's been said yet, but, the early Queen albums were crap. phasing all over he place, dull tracks, ugh.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:57 pm

Ladyland. Yeah. Definitely.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:26 pm

I'm definitely jumping on the bandwagon late, and admit that I only skimmed the first 12 pages of this thread (!), but:

>>>>Not an album, but I hate the sound mix on the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. Fantastic music, great vocal performances, but the vocals are so out in front that the band about vanishes and definitely loses much of its power.<<<<

I agree. I've _always_ prefered the original cast album to the movie soundtrack.

Also, I heard U2's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" for the first time in years, and I couldn't believe how crappy the drum sound was, even if you discount the whole "80's drums" thing.

GJ

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:35 am

The U2 drums were pretty raw. But, I think there's a documentary about how they recorded that album out there somewhere. It's pretty good. They had whatever they had around to record with. Rush used to do the same stuff but Neil's drumming overpowered any technical deficiencies.

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