Page 1 of 2

Worst production on a commercial CD release?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:35 am
by S2M
VAPOR TRAILS - Rush

Hands down....anybody in agreement? Major, major clipping. Distortion...etc. Can't even put the volume up past 3 without causing all of the above.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:37 am
by mikemarrs
the last two metallica albums had various issues.

the journey album evolution sounded like it could've been produced better,songs were great though.

Re: Worst production on a commercial CD release?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:41 am
by Jana
StocktontoMalone wrote:VAPOR TRAILS - Rush

Hands down....anybody in agreement? Major, major clipping. Distortion...etc. Can't even put the volume up past 3 without causing all of the above.


Absolutely agree.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:59 am
by Behshad
Yngiwe Malmsteen - War that ends all wars
Great songs , HORRIBLE production.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:01 am
by WalrusOct9
Are we talking about mastering or production? Because those are two entirely different things.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:58 pm
by Ehwmatt
Vapor Trails is terrible, so is Generations. Two of my least favorite. There's a lot of thin mastering on stuff from the 60s and 70s, some 80s, but the production isn't bad per se.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:08 pm
by larryfromnextdoor
uncle redjoe is gonna beat me up .. but VAN HALEN 3 sounded .. well ,, just not well..

Image

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:11 pm
by Rick
larryfromnextdoor wrote:uncle redjoe is gonna beat me up .. but VAN HALEN 3 sounded .. well ,, just not well..


Yeah, that album did nothing for me. I think it's their weakest effort.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:15 pm
by S2M
WalrusOct9 wrote:Are we talking about mastering or production? Because those are two entirely different things.


I understand that they are technically two separate things, however, production is a form of produce, and in producing Vapor Trails they dropped the ball......bigtime.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:16 pm
by larryfromnextdoor
Rick wrote:
larryfromnextdoor wrote:uncle redjoe is gonna beat me up .. but VAN HALEN 3 sounded .. well ,, just not well..


Yeah, that album did nothing for me. I think it's their weakest effort.


iknow.. i just cant get into any of it.. "how many say i" just seems out of tune or something..

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:14 am
by Tomulator
Revelations

Yuck.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:20 am
by epresley
Black Sabbath "Born Again"

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:02 am
by Duncan
Shy - Once Bitten Twice Shy. Potentially one of the greatest AOR albums of all time made practically unlistenable.

----------------
Now playing: Brendan Benson - Eventually

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:21 am
by Ehwmatt
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


Certainly not benchmark audiophile material, but worst you can think of? That's pretty harsh. What makes it that bad for you?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:26 am
by The_Noble_Cause
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:01 am
by swataz
epresley wrote:Black Sabbath "Born Again"


OMG, yes....

You stole my entry!

Second on that list is "Sin After Sin" by Judas Priest.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:18 am
by kgdjpubs
Two Fires - Ignition
Bob Catley - Spirit of Man

Generations simply sounds like a masterpiece compared to these...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:36 am
by Tomulator
Ehwmatt wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


Certainly not benchmark audiophile material, but worst you can think of? That's pretty harsh. What makes it that bad for you?


The opening guitar riff is mud, mud, MUD!

Can't believe they released that crap. And that's just the beginning.

The remakes...besides being a total ABOMINATION, are HORRIBLY produced.

Just "amatuer" for a band of Journey's stature.

Can you tell I have opinions on this ?

8)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:37 am
by Tomulator
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Thank for the correction

8)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:38 am
by Ehwmatt
Tomulator wrote:
Ehwmatt wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


Certainly not benchmark audiophile material, but worst you can think of? That's pretty harsh. What makes it that bad for you?


The opening guitar riff is mud, mud, MUD!

Can't believe they released that crap. And that's just the beginning.

The remakes...besides being a total ABOMINATION, are HORRIBLY produced.

Just "amatuer" for a band of Journey's stature.

Can you tell I have opinions on this ?

8)


I don't even consider the remakes as part of the album. They are indeed horrendous. I assume you're talking about the NWA opening riff... not the best sound, but I blame Neal scooping his tone too much these days a lot more than I do the production. My biggest gripe with the production is the backing vocals needed to be brought up.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:38 am
by Tomulator
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Compared to WHAT?

:shock:

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:48 am
by The_Noble_Cause
Tomulator wrote:
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Compared to WHAT?

:shock:


If we're talking strictly about Journey, I'd say Revelation sounds light years ahead of Arrival.
Which, at times, was muddy and didn't have Augeri up front.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:18 am
by jrnyman28
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Compared to WHAT?

:shock:


If we're talking strictly about Journey, I'd say Revelation sounds light years ahead of Arrival.
Which, at times, was muddy and didn't have Augeri up front.


Again I totally agree!


Funny no one has mentioned Red13! I remember being surprised by the raw mix on first listen, but I have listened to it so often now that I no longer notice.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:28 am
by brywool
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Compared to WHAT?

:shock:


If we're talking strictly about Journey, I'd say Revelation sounds light years ahead of Arrival.
Which, at times, was muddy and didn't have Augeri up front.


Generations was sonically worse than both of these. I liked the tunes mostly, but the production just sounded funky. Tommulator doesn't seem to like ANYTHING that can be construed as 'anti-Perry'. He's just kinda like that. I will agree that I wish the Never Walk Away guitar riff blasted a bit more. It sounds like he's using a transistor amp on that riff.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:08 am
by Don
I thought I was the only one that felt NWA sounded muddy. It sounds like it was produced apart from the rest of Disc 1.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:10 pm
by Tomulator
brywool wrote:
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:
The_Noble_Cause wrote:
Tomulator wrote:Revelations

Yuck.


RevelaTION, not tions.
Disc 2 notwithstanding, I think Shirley did a bangup job.
Sounds good on everything from my car system to even the old discman.


Compared to WHAT?

:shock:




If we're talking strictly about Journey, I'd say Revelation sounds light years ahead of Arrival.
Which, at times, was muddy and didn't have Augeri up front.


Generations was sonically worse than both of these. I liked the tunes mostly, but the production just sounded funky. Tommulator doesn't seem to like ANYTHING that can be construed as 'anti-Perry'. He's just kinda like that. I will agree that I wish the Never Walk Away guitar riff blasted a bit more. It sounds like he's using a transistor amp on that riff.


Excuse me but, exactly WTF does this discussion of production quality have to do with SMFP?

Shut up and stick to the topic. My feelings about the current lineup of "Journey" have NOTHING to do with my opinions on the mix/production of the music.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:11 pm
by WalrusOct9
Revelation was pretty muddy, I was pretty disappointed with the sound given Kevin Shirley's involvement. His albums generally sound so crisp, I couldn't figure out where it went wrong. Still better than Generations though.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:13 pm
by verslibre
StocktontoMalone wrote:
WalrusOct9 wrote:Are we talking about mastering or production? Because those are two entirely different things.


I understand that they are technically two separate things, however, production is a form of produce, and in producing Vapor Trails they dropped the ball......bigtime.


Yes, it would be nice if Vapor Trails sounded like Snakes & Arrows, but it doesn't. I've never had a problem with it the way 60-70% of other Rush fans do, probably because the music's so good. Alex has stated that it was never their intention to put it out like that, and (Alex did not say this) if anyone has to shoulder the blame for the end result, it may well be Geddy -- even though he also was less than happy with what was released. Alex has also revealed that sections of music that ended up on Vapor Trails were "imported" (my word choice) from files recorded on a multitrack digital recorder, and that in lieu of attempting to recapture the energy intrinsic to "the moment," they elected to mix those bits into the album proper. In my opinion, they were successful.

You either like Vapor Trails or you don't. Keep in mind we almost got no more new music from Rush. A few years earlier they were as good as done following unfortunate tragic events that Neil suffered. Considering what they've done on the last two CDs, I'm glad they didn't hang it up. Test For Echo would not have been a good way to close a career.
:wink:

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:49 pm
by cscott
Two cuts come to mind - "open up your eyes" from Tonic on the Lemon Parade album just reeks of distortion For that matter, the rest of the album is pretty bad too and I love Tonic. But the worst offender ever, is " I just wanna make love to you" by Foghat. The vocals are so distorted that it sounds like his mike is plugged into a Marshall Stack. I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional as distorted vocals ala Stone Temple Pilots wasn't in vogue back then. I'm amazed that either of these ever made it out for public consumption. Next time you hear either of these songs, you'll immediately know what I'm talking about.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:03 pm
by Tomulator
cscott wrote:Two cuts come to mind - "open up your eyes" from Tonic on the Lemon Parade album just reeks of distortion For that matter, the rest of the album is pretty bad too and I love Tonic. But the worst offender ever, is " I just wanna make love to you" by Foghat. The vocals are so distorted that it sounds like his mike is plugged into a Marshall Stack. I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional as distorted vocals ala Stone Temple Pilots wasn't in vogue back then. I'm amazed that either of these ever made it out for public consumption. Next time you hear either of these songs, you'll immediately know what I'm talking about.


It absolutely WAS intentionally done that way.

Ahead of it's time.

8)