Favorite Sounding Records

[Aski]

Forgive me if this is in the wrong part of the forum.

This more just out of curiosity...

But what are some of your favorite sounding recordings? In any genre/style...I get a lot of engineering inspiration from great sounding records (imagine that...)

Personally, I listen to a lot of hard rock and I really like the sound of Tool's "10,000 Days" and "the Blue Record" by Baroness is really roomy, Zepplin type sounding vibe which is cool on a hard rock record.

I also think "Core" from Stone Temple Pilots has a great tone to it. Huge drums...

Feel free to tell me I have bad taste as well!

[Tomasz]

I get a lot of engineering inspiration from great sounding records (imagine that...)

Very cool... Here are just a few I am enjoying lately;
Witchcraft " The Alchemist"- sounds vintage
Graveyard-"S/T"-- again, vintage. sounds like it's exploding off the reels..
Oh, and just for fun, one of my favorite sounding albums (of 2008 anyway):
the reissue of Lucifer's Friend from 1970

Barkmarket's L Ron has a production fantasy factory value as well.

Wow. I have too many to list... time to go and LISTEN...

[Bob Stark]

Here's ten that I reference a lot...

Catie Curtis - Truth from Lies
Duncan Shiek - Humming
Brad Mehldau - Places
Heatmiser - Dead Air
Jonatha Brooke - Steady Pull
Los Lobos - Kiko
McKinley - Gracie and the Atom
Missy Higgins - More Than This
Thomas Dolby - The Flat Earth
Upper Left Trio - Three

I work on a lot of singer songwriter, jazz and pop music.

[Christopher McDonald]

T. Rex - Electric Warrior
Sam Amidon - All is Well
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Brad Mehldau - Largo

[Fredo]

Rage Against The Machine-Evil Empire is probably the best sounding album I ever owned. Mixed by Andy Wallace and mastered by Bob Ludwig.

[seaneldon]

Perhaps rather than rifling off lists, we can be more specific as to why a particular album or two pleases us on a sonic level.

Otherwise, this thread just becomes a pointless list with little reference.

[Halfway Competent]

"Battle Studies", John Mayer.

It's got a big, thick sound, and the handling of dynamics is superb. This is to say, it is dynamic, and at the pinnacle of a chorus or the resuming of vocals after a guitar solo, everything sits right where it needs to be in the mix.

Everything sounds fat and warm... The drums, guitars, bass... Well, everything except the vocals. They sound neutral or maybe a little thin. It all works in the mix, though. Brilliant.

[Halfway Competent]

Also, "I Wanna Be Around," Tony Bennett. Recorded by Frank Laico in 1962 at CBS' 30th St. Studios.

I love the song, "If I Love Again"... Partly for Tony's rich, sonorous vocal tone, and partly because the recording sounds far more recent than early 60s. Great clarity and dynamics on the vocals, actual depth to the bass, and a lush string arrangement.

As Frank told it, the reverb on the vocals is from piping audio through a speaker into a room they found in the studio (the studio was previously a church). The room was all concrete, narrow, tall, and long.

[Ryan Slowey]

Good question. The one album that always comes to mind first for me, is Radiohead's "Amnesiac". Everytime I listen to it, I marvel at the sounds and overall vibe of the recording. "Pyramid Song" is a constant reminder of how much I have to learn. I get chills when the bass and drums come in, not just because of the song arrangement, but also because of the sound. They sound incredibly natural, simple, and clear, with a touch of subtle compression that makes them breathe with the song. The interaction between the bass and the kick drum is perfect. The fullness of that piano is just incredible, and yet it never overwhelms the mix. "You and Whose Army?" is the other stand out for me. I love how everything sounds so dark and old, and harmonically rich, with a huge ending accented by some heavily saturated pumping compression on the drums. I could go on and on about this album.

ZZ Top's "Tres Hombres" has recently come into my life, and has been blowing my mind. I love the dryness of it. It's incredibly "tight" sounding. Everything sounds like it's sitting right on the edge of my speakers, and yet it does not lack depth. It's probably the punchiest sounding album that I can think of right now.

I'm also a big Steve Albini fan, so most things that I pick up with his name on it blow me away sonically. 3 albums that come to mind in particular are Neurosis's "The Eye of Every Storm", Nina Nastasia's "The Blackened Air", and Om's "God is Good".

Most recently I've been enjoying the sounds (and music) on Devendra Banhart's new release. I picked it up after reading the interview with producer Paul Butler in the new TapeOp. I think it's a fine example of a record that doesn't adhere to one particular sonic aesthetic, yet still retains a signature. There are radical shifts in sound not only between songs, but within them as well. Ranges from the extremely simple, to more complex without losing a sense of coherence.


"the Blue Record" by Baroness is really roomy, Zepplin type sounding vibe which is cool on a hard rock record.

Here here! LOVE that album. Sonically, it's a hell of a lot more fun and interesting than about 90% of metal releases in recent years. I'm hoping Relapse will put it out on vinyl soon.


phew... long post... hahaha. sorry.

[The Nick]

By far, it's Who's Next. It will always remain my favorite-sounding record - not only is the music fantastic, but Glyn Johns masterfully captured the group's energy. I just fucking love the huge drum sound that seems to push 1k hard to give phenomenal punch, the gretsch/bandmaster setup townshend used, grand pianos in mono double-tracked screams, modular sequencers.....Every time I listen, I feel like I'm getting kicked in the face by a mule when Moon comes in with a fill.

What makes this record so awesome doesn't necessarily have to do with the gear they used - it brings back some of the earliest memories I have of rock n' roll, and to me it epitomizes what I make music for.

I forgot to add: I searched for 6 months to find the first CD pressing of Who's Next - the one that supposedly didn't have ugly NR or excessive compression. Late in the fall I found it, and it was so interesting to me that the original 1984 digital transfer yielded a sound that was miles ahead of the so-called "remaster" that happened 11 years later. The drums hit SO HARD on the original, the bass is actually discernible, I can hear the reverb tails, the tape hiss - so good. The CDISC# is 32717 if anybody wants to find it. It was mastered by Steve Hoffman.

[Nikolai.Gabriel]

I think my favorite sounding the last years is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! I don't think it's the best music wise, some songs are really cool. And it sounds alive! What I like about the sound is that it's raw, but contained, It's not Tool "perfect" if i can say it like that:/ I don't like when the human element is gone form the sound. really cool that someone can produce something so polished, but it's not for me.

I also love the sound of the smashing pumpkins albums, not the new stuff. They have the coolest heavy raw guitar sounds i know of!

Matmos is also cool, but don't think i can put them in with the best sounding records, but cool different sounding records, yes:)

And then it's The Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night, I love the old school synth programming, simple. It's like the synths say, here i am, this is what i do, no more, no less, and i'm not a Pad. Love the overall feel of this album.

[burnthair donethat]

there are probably hundreds for the same amount of reasons but off the top of my head:

-Pierre Boulez directing CSO doing Bartok's Divertimenti and Symphonic Dances- i do a lot of orchestral recording and this is one of the ones i keep going back to for reference. the imaging is astounding and so is the clarity of each instrument. although there seems to be a lot of mics on it, it doesn't sound the least bit like the mono panned stuff i end up with most of the time.

-sheryl crow's globe sessions. everything i've heard that tchad blake does blows my mind and to a similar degree, andy wallace. the radio tuner effect on Crash and Burn that transforms into a melody element in the guitar gets me every time. i love the reverb he used to link the two and everything else about that album.

-chris botti's concert in boston. i'm not much of a fan of this kind of music but what allen sides did with the band vis-a-vis the orchestra was totally inspiring.

-steve albini's bleach. hard to listen to at times but never stale.
-viktor krauss' far from enough. one of those albums where there wasn't anything i didn't like. the contra bass hook(which he used only very sparringly and mostly towards the end) is just one of the grooviest things in the world.

lots more but then i'd be overstaying my welcome.

[Tomasz]

-steve albini's bleach. hard to listen to at times but never stale.

The Nirvana album, "Bleach" ?

That was recorded and mixed by Mr. Jack Endino... for $600, I might add.

[Mixwell]

Miles Davis [usually any Miles album]

But "Blue Miles" is one of my all time favorite albums. I am listening to it right now.

I like this album because it reminds me of using a drug. A listening drug.

[the shadow]

The Young Gods -TV Sky -cool drum sounds and all the guitars are samples-some more obvious than others.

Led Zeppelin -Presence- My favorite sounding Zep record. I know it's not the usual choice, but I actually like the drum sounds and the mixes more than the other albums.
And the songs aren't too shaboli either.

Praxis- Transmutation- I'm not totally sure of the title but it's the first album they did. Anything with Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell is pretty much guaranteed to be good. Plus it has Buckethead's best work and it sounds pretty good.

Deep Purple- Machine Head- A classic. Some of the greatest guitar sounds ever recorded. The anniversary/reissue cd has some cool mixes and remixes. I don't remember if the original was mixed this way, but on the cd there is some very interesting drum panning on a few of the songs(i.e. kick on the left,snare on the right,etc)
Honorable mentions to Burn, Made In Europe, even Come Taste The Band (with Tommy Bolin taking Ritchie Blackmore's place).

Pink Floyd-Dark Side Of The Moon- Maybe the best reverb ever recorded on a rock album.

The Who-Live At Leeds- The best live album ever recorded. Period. I'm very partial to the bass on the left guitar on the right and then switch it for side 2 method. They actually redid it for the special edition cd which was cool.

Miles Davis-The Complete Bitches Brew, The Complete Jack Johnson, Big Fun, Get Up With It- Anything from that early electric period is genius sonically and musically.

[Ryan Slowey]

Pink Floyd-Dark Side Of The Moon- Maybe the best *insert instrument, vocal, effect, etc. here* ever recorded on a rock album.


FYP.

[the shadow]

I forgot to mention R.L Burnside's A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey. R.L.'s band and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a room facing each other recording an album in an afternoon. A nasty raw sounding album the way every real blues album should sound. Also check out Cedell Davis-just as raw but more out of tune. The guy played slide with a butter knife. He was the real deal.

[burnthair donethat]

The Nirvana album, "Bleach" ?

That was recorded and mixed by Mr. Jack Endino... for $600, I might add.

one of my faves and i was mistaken all alongbthead

[Tomasz]

one of my faves and i was mistaken all alongbthead

Yeah.. Mr. Endino described this album as "way too good for 8-track"
I concur... Love the point of view of the lyrical content; elementary school..

[burnthair donethat]

$600!!??? i guess therein lies the secret to a great grungerecord.

[Mixwell]

Really cool things going on in this one.

Besides the lyrics of course.

Dreamed I was an Eskimo
Frozen wind began to blow
Under my boots and around my toes
The frost that bit the ground below
It was a hundred degrees below zero...

And my mama cried
And my mama cried
Nanook, a-no-no
Nanook, a-no-no
Don't be a naughty Eskimo
Save your money, don't go to the show

Well I turned around and I said "Oh, oh" Oh
Well I turned around and I said "Oh, oh" Oh
Well I turned around and I said "Ho, Ho"
And the northern lights commenced to glow
And she said, with a tear in her eye
"Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"
"Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"

Don't eat that deadly yellow snow.

[delay]

The Catherine Wheel - "Adam & Eve"

This was their last good record, and in my eyes their best. The sounds are massive, the organ is a beast unto itself, the guitar tones are polished but still churning. And by golly, there are real, live DYNAMICS! Who woulda thunk it. Ha...

The songs and production totally come together for me. The acoustics shimmer just so. Rob's voice sits right on top of the wall of sound, evocative, human, poetic and ever-so-personal.

Tim Friese-Green is such a genius.

This album deserves to post-humously get the credit it deserves.

And I just found this:
http://whatmusicmatters.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-i-miss-catherine-wheel.html

[bleen]

The Catherine Wheel - "Adam & Eve"

This was their last good record, and in my eyes their best. The sounds are massive, the organ is a beast unto itself, the guitar tones are polished but still churning. And by golly, there are real, live DYNAMICS! Who woulda thunk it. Ha...

The songs and production totally come together for me. The acoustics shimmer just so. Rob's voice sits right on top of the wall of sound, evocative, human, poetic and ever-so-personal.

Tim Friese-Green is such a genius.

This album deserves to post-humously get the credit it deserves.

Every word of this post is true. Insanely brilliant record.

[Dylansdad]

Miles Davis [usually any Miles album]

But "Blue Miles" is one of my all time favorite albums. I am listening to it right now.

I like this album because it reminds me of using a drug. A listening drug.

Man this reminds me In my young audiophile days my uncle who help build the first Digital telephone switches and was one of those early digsnobs was over I was demoing a SOTA turntable and had found a first pressing of Sketches of Spain. His jaw was on the ground after a listen to the CD and the album his coment "just Buy this F(*%ing thing" that how music should sound!

But for me Rumors for years Every time I listened to it I heard something new in that mix. It is the album that made me want too do this! Of Course the funny thing is over the last 12 years I have probably legally used more and better drugs than everyone used on that album!

[Tomasz]

Thought I'd revive this since new stuff comes along daily on the cyber-web.. Ah the days of waiting for tuesdays..
these however are not new, but shit i reference-
High On Fire- Death is this Communion- All elements of the mix are represented so well here and I can't really tell what is the "featured" instrument. they all seem to be, without diluting the others.. another Jack Endino masterpiece (IMO) (why didn't he do their latest, Snakes for the Divine?)
Mastodon's Crack the Skye... can everyone say "Dynamics"
And Corrosion of Conformity- "In the Arms of God"-Drums that sound real, huge, and dynamic.. of course it helps that Stanton Moore of Galactic fame lended his skills on the kit... He's an absolute monster

[Mixwell]

Corrosion of Conformity- "In the Arms of God"-

Dude that album kicks ass.

[Tomasz]

Dude that album kicks ass.

INDEED!
And since were talkin' metal/hard rock, I should say that if I'm tracking metal/hard rock, Rarely do i not A/B with "Morning Star", by Swedish "death-n-roll" creators ENTOMBED. Clarity, Separation, panning, depth, and TONE. placing that type of vocal on that sound, where it's clearly competing with the guitars (bass & 6-shooter) is quite a feat, though a few bands have felt like they have been beat down after hearing their "metal", so I use that "responsibly'.. ha

[Mixwell]

Changing the pace a little with something different I've been diggin.

http://www.melodygardot.com/

[phrenology]

I'd like to vote for what i'm listening to right now...Sufjan Stevens "Greetings from Michigan"...Listen to how much like a real life banjo the banjo recording on "Say Yes! to M!chag!an!" sounds...full of richness and depth but sits in the mix perfectly!

Beautiful. Everything that man touches is gold to the ears.

--Owen

[Nikolai.Gabriel]

Changing the pace a little with something different I've been diggin.

http://www.melodygardot.com/

Mixwell thanks big time:) this is fantastic, been listening to it all day, and i'm loooooving it!!!! absolutely fantastic! And the sound is also so amazing!

[Mixwell]

Mixwell thanks big time:) this is fantastic, been listening to it all day, and i'm loooooving it!!!! absolutely fantastic! And the sound is also so amazing!

Glad you like it as well!

I've been listening to her new album non stop.

[Ian_Edmon]

I don't know if there's any White Zombie fans out there, but I think that thier first major label album La sexorsisto, devil music, vol. whatever, is one of the best balanced mixes I've ever heard. Every insrument and voice has it's own special place. Sonically the instrument tones aren't all that great; they sound a little cheap, like they were playing through their "road beaters" (probably were). Over all though, the mix is steller! I recomend it to any metal fan.

[Tomasz]

I don't know if there's any White Zombie fans out there, but I think that thier first major label album La sexorsisto, devil music, vol. whatever, is one of the best balanced mixes I've ever heard. Every insrument and voice has it's own special place. Sonically the instrument tones aren't all that great; they sound a little cheap, like they were playing through their "road beaters" (probably were). Over all though, the mix is steller! I recomend it to any metal fan.

Yes!! I concur and am a fan of this record by them in particular.

Welcome to the forum Ian..
peace.. Tomasz

[antiearth]

South Of Heaven

[Langston Tunes]

Horace Silver Quintet - Song For My Father

There is something very special to me about this song, and I can't place it. But it sounds as good as it could ever sound because I feel the song was written from an emotional place, probably suggested by the title. In fact, the song is so beautiful to me, I care two shits about the engineering.

Kruder and Dorfmeister - K and D Sessions

I believe this electronic/downtempo double album is one of the best examples of what you can do "in the box" and with superlative ears, as it translates superbly everywhere I play it.

Simon Shaheen - Tea in the Sahara

Goosebumps for days...come to think of it, I should play this now.

[Sultan of Swing]

Melody Gardot- wow! good stuff.

I work with a lot of singer/songwriter folks, so a couple of songs I turn for sheer sonic excellence are "Sunny Came Home" by Shawn Colvin from A Few Small Repairs, and "Line 'em Up" by James Taylor from Hourglass. In the case of "Sunny", it's the outstanding arranging and playing by producer John Leventhal and Shawn's amazing vocal tracks and songwriting. "Line 'em Up" is just a shining example of wonderful playing, recording, and mixing. From Jimmy Johnson's wonderfully deep 5 string bass to James' warm vocal to Frank Fillipetti's mixes, I don't think you could do this genre much better.

Two records from the last decade I really like the sound of are "The Girl in the Other Room" by Diana Krall and "Songlines" by The Derek Trucks Band. Of course, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC's Back In Black... and the Black Album by Metallica. Ok, I'll stop now.

[Tomasz]

South Of Heaven

Yeah the trinity: Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, and Seasons in the Abyss.
Just wish there was more bottom end on all these records... you know like they really sound..

[The MexICAN]

The song "Murder Mystery" By Velvet Underground.

I love this mix and production. The panning makes the mix for this song, I believe there are three different vocals (monologues) going all panned differently and at different levels (ambience) and weird timing.

Also, Torche "Meanderthal" the guitars are f**cking heavy. I love it.

Those three Slayer albums are awesome, no B.S., just brutality. What a metal album should be. But Pantera's "The Great Southern Trendkill" has been one of my favorite albums since I was a kid for this reason. The way the album starts with the title track is just the perfect way to wake up in the morning.

[Danny de Matos]

Ry Cooder - 'bop 'til you drop' - album
Yes - 'owner of a lonely heart'
Johnny Cash - 'hurt'
Tears For Fears - 'sowing the seeds of love'
Prefab Sprout - 'appetite'
(Or any Great Lake Swimmers or Innocence Mission album)

[Danny de Matos]

Oh and...

Beastie Boys - 'sabotage'
Patsy Cline - 'crazy'
Steel Pulse - 'handsworth revolution'
Damien Rice - 'delicate'

[albert]

Blonde Redhead - Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

The first two that came to mind right now. . .