What are some of the most "poorly engineered" albu

Jitters · Post by **Jitters** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:44 pm

Growing your ears can be a bitch sometimes. I put an old Kiss album on for shits and giggles (Love Gun FWIW) and instead of the usual transport back to adolescence, all I could do was pick the record apart.

electric sound of jim · Post by **electric sound of jim** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 6:06 pm

it's probably not that "hi-fi", but the first velocity girl album for sub pop is one of the worst mixed records i've ever heard. i adored it so much when it came out, but after pulling it out the other day i couldn't sit through it.

CraigS63 · Post by **CraigS63** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:19 am

Jitters wrote:Growing your ears can be a bitch sometimes. I put an old Kiss album on for shits and giggles (Love Gun FWIW) and instead of the usual transport back to adolescence, all I could do was pick the record apart.

What happens when you listen to "Hotter Than Hell"? That one sounds bad on LP, 8 track, AND "remastered" CD.

Jitters · Post by **Jitters** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:30 pm

I'm afraid to find out!

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:05 pm

What about "Hot As Hell," by Complete? I mean, it's no "Hoogie-Boogie Land" or "Beautiful Sunrises," but c'mon!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Jitters · Post by **Jitters** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:10 pm

Engineering is the least of those guys problems.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:59 am

wow that was so thoroughly abysmal i am at a loss for a suitably pithy comment.

i have a few of those old kiss records...haven't listened to them in decades but i remember the early ones especially sounding really dire. wasn't garges' main man eddie kramer behind the boards for those?

speaking of EK, i know he was behind the board for anthrax's 'among the living', which they recorded at compass point and surely spent a fortune on. it sounds retarded. the SOD record they did in one weekend with alex periales sounds way better and they probably spent maybe $500 on it.

gegonut · Post by **gegonut** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:52 am

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.

Also, I find it difficult to listen to David Gilmour from the Eighties. I love the songs, but the production is so sterile at times, I can't get past it.

centurymantra · Post by **centurymantra** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:58 am

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.

gegonut · Post by **gegonut** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:40 am

centurymantra wrote: 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 actually don't mind the instruments too much. I have a soft spot for really bad recordings in certain cases (like Ulver's "Nattens de Madrigal"). It's the vocals. They drive me over a cliff. I can't believe it ever sounded like a good idea to crank his horrible voice that high up in the mix.

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:58 am

'Never Mind the Bullocks' is basically two mediocre musicians playing very basic, straight ahead rock so they probably figured Lydon's vocals/lyrics were the only thing redeeming about it.

I do love that record, even if they were a manufactured band.

Esmo · Post by **Esmo** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:31 pm

The new Tom Waits live album, Glitter and Doom Live, sounds surprisingly bad to me. There was a podcast of a concert from the tour on NPR that sounded substantially better. It reminds me of a audience bootleg of a mid 90s Phish concert; too boomy and covered in crown noise.

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:50 pm

[/quote] For instance, I enjoy MGMTs Oracular Spectacular in a musical sense, but it seems to cause me so much hearing fatigue that after a few songs I have to switch over to something else. It's so overly compressed, the lyrics are garbled, and the saturation/distortion just seems to be the worst kind in all the wrong places. (I wonder if the vinyl was mastered differently? Doubt it.)

As another example, Radiohead's track "Idioteque" from Kid A also is one of the harshest sounding "popular" recordings I've heard. Some would say that's the point of the song given the lyrics, but it just sucks because I guess I have overly sensitive ears

[/quote]

Well, I can understand the sense of over-compression, but the actual ear fatigue you describe sounds to me like more a possible issue with your monitoring situation. I could listen to "poorly mixed" music for hours on a decent sounding system (though I wouldn't enjoy it). And even in my stock truck sound system 'Idioteque' is a pretty great sounding track.

Anyway, just this man's opinion.

lightandmind · Post by **lightandmind** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 1:34 pm

I'm going to re-post my reply to this thread because I really feel that it deserves a 2nd chance:

The Cocteau Twins' "Milk & Kisses" record. Perhaps the most beautiful music ever created, hidden behind a cheesy production, digital guitar multi-FX ran direct in, and DAT tape. If you can stomach it, then with the help of a little imagination you can hear what music in 2024 will sound like, should we choose to embrace what makes it a truly remarkable & significant form of emotional communication.

http://www.last.fm/music/Cocteau+Twins/_/Eperdu

Absolutely breathtaking.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:00 pm

noted.

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