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Best Album Production?


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Interested to hear what album you guys think has the best production you've ever heard. You don't have to like the music, just the engineering.

 

My vote goes for "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac. Every instrument really seems to sing out on it. If anyone can point me to some reading material about the production on that album, I'd be grateful.

 

Any others?

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I know I'm young. ha. But here's my favorite production/ mix job: anything from the album "The Ocean and the Sun" by The Sound of Animals Fighting.

 

I love how glassy yet full sounding the guitars are.

The bass is leveled perfectly and really clear.

They actually rode the faders through-out the song to help make the song more dynamic. (seems to be a lost trade to my generation)

And don't even get me started on the drums. (beautiful, notice the change of how much ring is on the snare at different parts in the song)

 

I do love dark side of the moon too though. Alan Parsons for the win.

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It's all relative.

+1

"Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here" are milestone markers for me when it comes to new adventures in what is possible. Looking back at them now, I find myself thinking "look ma, I've discovered the tip of the iceberg!"

There's so-o-o-o much good stuff out there. For various reasons.

 

My favourite album that distinguishes itself by what they didn't do is "Vladimir Horowitz - The Historic Return to Carnegie Hall". Here's one of the truly great romantic artist/musician/pianists.... and Mr. Horowitz made them leave his performance mistakes in the post production.

The event was deemed Historic because he hadn't given a public performance in 10 yrs. and because it was "Horowitz". The recital was announced and sold out within a few hrs.

He walks out on stage to an extended standing ovation and you can feel the burden of expectation that is placed on him. He sits down to the Cmaj Bach/Busoni Toccata Adagio and Fugue. In the opening bar he falters.......... for all the world and history to see.

By the end of the Fugue one can see that the "King has Returned"... Why he earned the title... Why a brass tack was put in the stage where the front right leg of his piano was located to commemorate the occasion ... and why concert pianists often sought that tack as a reference to where they might place their piano.

Art alive. In artist and audience. It's refreshing for me to encounter someone who doesn't have to edit or censor their humanity.

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It's all relative.

 

Of course, but that doesn't mean people can't share their relative opinions.

 

If it were definitive, we would all already know the answer.

 

Some interesting choices, I was totally expecting Dark Side of the Moon to be mentioned a lot. While I can appreciate that Dark Side is better produced, I actually prefer the sound of Wish You Were Here, if that makes sense?

 

Fairly in-depth article about Rumours:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug07/articles/classictracks_0807.htm

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I haven't figured out why you posted it, but I did enjoy it!

The thing that makes the production of this song so special is that no matter what you are listening to it with, from a massive PA down to a 1/4 inch speaker on a portable device, it still sounds great. Even if it's barely audible in a noisy place, it still sounds great.

 

Besides that, it's a great song.

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It really depends on how you define best production, for me.

 

See, I really love that 'made in a garage' sound- which takes quite a bit of effort to get with my favorite genres of music, nearly always electronica. It's sort of like how the 'just got out of bed' rocker look takes hours to prepare XD

 

In regards to that, my favorite album produced would be Daft Punk's Musique- it's really breathy and airy.

 

Now, if you want sterile, loud, 'well-produced'? Britney Spears' Femme Fatale :P

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I haven't figured out why you posted it, but I did enjoy it!

The thing that makes the production of this song so special is that no matter what you are listening to it with, from a massive PA down to a 1/4 inch speaker on a portable device, it still sounds great. Even if it's barely audible in a noisy place, it still sounds great.

 

Besides that, it's a great song.

 

The key to making it sound good on all speakers is a perfect midrange, and I knew the song but haven't heard it in years. I gotta agree with you. I just listened to it on my laptop speakers and it was a great mix.

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The key to making it sound good on all speakers is a perfect midrange,

Bingo!

 

A lot of people starting out in production fall victim to the myth that it's the mastering engineers job to make sure a song sounds great across various playback mediums. It's only partially true. That goal needs to start with and encompass the composition, arrangement, instrumentation, sound design, recording and the mixing of the song. When you have all that stuff right, you can make miracles happen.

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The key to making it sound good on all speakers is a perfect midrange,

Bingo!

 

Lots of people smiley the s#!+ out of everything they do as well, I used to hate the 1k range with a passion, now I'm learning to accept it (I wonder how much of that has to do with age... the height of my 1k hatred was definitely when I ws a teenager).

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I guess another one of mine, and another live album (not sure why I have an affinity for Live Albums) has to be Ozric Tentacles - Live Underslunky circa 1992. Here's Dots Thots from the Album:

 

 

Even though I like/produce EDM I still listen to this album, and others by Ozric....good stuff IMHO , and well produced.

 

Andy

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