What is the greatest production job ever, then? The best produced / recorded / mixed / arranged record in the world...

"Good Vibrations" is a really great arrangement, but I don't like the way Pet Sounds era Beach Boys stuff actually sounds - there's little realism to the timbre of the instruments. Which I know is kind of what poor mental Brian was going for...

I'd agree with Lou Reed Transformer as a whole - it's full of loads of ambitious, risky production.

This album nearly 20 years on, still sounds inspiring. Sharp, intoxicating, textured, powerful, attention to detail, a real full on epic expansive sound.

No, really, I'd say maybe something by the Stones Roses?

Whats Goin' On is heaven on record to my ears. So that. Honourable mention to Outkast's Aquemini.

i have found that what he often seems to be aiming for a is a more-real-than-real sound, a kind of harsh simplicity which tends to remind me of the sound Hannett got out of JD (and, as observed, ACR). plus, Albini has his reputation for no monkeying, but he's not averse to adding a few sonic touches of his own. good recent example of this is the latest Electrelane album, one song off which even has a breaking glass sound that might even have been lifted off JD's 'Insight'.

that said, dadaismus OTM.

All The Things She Said

I am guessing this wasn't a serious suggestion, but for those of you who need to be disillusioned, Tatu's Horn-produced English singles are indisinguishable from the Russian originals aside from the vocals. It always annoys me that he gets any credit for their success -- they paid for his name and that's it.

Funny, as much as I love the album, I always find it slightly muffled. OTOH, I've been re-discovering 'More Songs about...' lately, which sounds so sharp and dynamic. I'm curious what the remasters sound like.

-- Le Baaderonixx de Benedict Canyon (baaderonix...), March 17th, 2006.

Fucking amazing - go get them!
-- Sick Mouthy (sickmouth...), March 17th, 2006.

__________

totally. MORE SONGS... is *jaw dropping*.

awesome!

'valentine's day' = the. best. production job. EVER

Dark Side of the Moon -- obviously.

Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers

Both of Kanye's records

A few Rick Rubins: Toxicity, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Raising Hell, Wildflowers

Fear of Music -- though all three Eno TH records are fabulous. But Fear if Music is the best of the bunch ... ethereal AND tough.

Revolver

Metallica's S/T

Kid A/Amnesiac

Also impressive to me is Wilco's A Ghost is Born. Surprisingly organic stuff from Jim O'Rourke.

And, say what you want about the precedent they set, but Mutt's productions of Back in Black and Photograph are pretty fucking fabulous.

And finally, the best-produced shitty album of all time: Efil4zaggiN

If we go by the latter, then you can give props to David Banner for his records and to the Flaimg Lips' for their last couple of efforts. Brian Wilson also falls under this category. Great arrangements that sound weird or haunting.

in my case, both! i'm a big fan of creative engineering/recording/mixing.

don't hate either of them but unremarkable-to-bad/wrong/weak/inconsistent production ALL OVER those two imho.

Just a thought. (Maybe for another thread?)

I'm going to have to respectfully, but very much disagree.

But the #1 honors obviously go to Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (with a close follow for In a Silent Way).

I'm writing an overview of her first six albums, singles and concert DVDs, despite the fact that I doubt anyone's interested in publishing

loveless
unknown pleasures
the downward spiral
36 chambers

?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c9/Jay-z-the-blueprint.jpg/200px-Jay-z-the-blueprint.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005G8NH.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

What I was trying to get at was that I don't think of those LPs as being production masterpieces, but that they were genius pieces of editing long performances down.

I guess the distinction between arranging (my criteria for 'production masterpiece') and editing is kinda academic. I'll have to think about this some more …

But for pure, clean engineering with some occasional kitchen sink goodies I've always been a big fan of Suzanne Vega's "Nine Objects of Desire" (produced by her husband, Mitchell Froom or something). The beginning vamp of "Headshots", perfect bass and drum harmony, is something I used to bring around to test out monitor and room response.

Rogerio Duprat (Os Mutantes and other great Tropicalia work)
Enoch Light (Free Design, his own awesome records)
Leonard Waronker (Harper's Bizarre, Van Dyke Parks, etc.)

Francoise Hardy - Voila
http://s62.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1FVBYNT6AJ8DK29RPT2X48RT92
The sharp sound of the snare and guitar in unision are really cool. The saxophone part is really interesting, not like your average pop/rock sax part. Then there are the Lee Hazlewood-ish (by the way, LEE HAZLEWOOD!) strings which take over the sax on the next verse. The whole thing sounds rain-slicked.

Roy Orbison - Blue Bayou
http://s62.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2NT89VA4WPVRB38NN78I6LON10
Oh hell, I get tired of describing the songs and am just doin' the ol' Why-Ess-Eye cop-out.

Gillian Welch's Soul Journey, especially the songs with drums.

Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball and Willie Nelson's Teatro - both examples of Daniel Lanois' sense of experimentation grounded in the feeling of a live recording in a specific kind of room.

Cowboy Junkies The Trinity Session - again, the sense of a live recording in a specific room (the difference between recording in a church and the 'church' button on a mixing console).

Grace Jones - Sly & Robbie recordings collected on Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions - for spareness, intensity, etc.

I completely disagree with this statement.

No way, this statement is one hundred percent accurate.

I didn't know this!

I don't understand that -- my copy of "200 KPH In the Wrong Lane" credits Trevor Horn with producing both the English AND Russian versions of "All the Things She Said" AND "Not Gonna Get Us".

Of all time? Obvious, but it has to be Pet Sounds.

Yes! I was about to say this. Sylvie Courvoisier's Abaton is one that stands out for me. The way every instrument sounds so full and clear and still blends; the way dynamics are brought out clearly without requiring you to keep fiddling with your volume knob, as too many modern classical and improv recordings do.

I know it's been debated around here but I love how most things on Tzadik sound for similar reasons - Derek Bailey's Ballads and Frith's Freedom In Fragments and Clearing are some examples.

I like how a lot of things on Nonesuch sound too - Frisell's last few and Pat Metheny's The Way Up in particular. Lush layers of acoustic and electronic sounds without any compromise of clarity.

Pan Sonic needs to be mentioned as well for the detail in electronic sound.

As pop records go, I agree with Tusk and "Babylon Sisters" and Radiohead. By the same criteria I think Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In the Sky" (and prob Moving Pictures; probably Pink Floyd too but I haven't listened in long enough) is really good too. I agree with Zeppelin from IV to PG. I actually think a lot of Beatles stuff sounds pretty dated in production, esp some of the stereo separation choices.

I like White Light/White Heat but best production job ever? Is that joke?

Currently at the best on the forthcoming album Herbert - Scales (K7). Possibly the most inventively produced album of the moment (and dance album of all time).

It's catchy, fun, intelligent, playful, soulful, meaningful and for the most part danceable in a manner with really no comparison. (Except maybe his 2001 offering "Bodily Functions" on K7.) A very ambitious -- yet seeming amazingly effortless -- record, a unique combination of big band orchestration and electronic elements, all executed with exceptional finesse, grandeur and attention to detail.

Herbert's persistence in sticking to a 4/4 dance beat so often leads me to suspect that maybe he just wants to force 99% of all contemporary house music producers to take a day job. Well, of course it can't be like that, because he's such a nice and reasonable fellow.

Please note the production techniques, sources of sampling, and all. For reference: http://www.magicandaccident.com/matthew_PCCOM.htm

At the moment he's light years ahead of the pack and in a full swing, but still getting better all the time. Believe me. Or maybe you want to hear it in from your kids in a twenty years time.

But seriously, don't let the genre label fool you. It's just one funky, smooth, glitcht, big band dance record about politics. And love, obviously.

Another candidate, but with a sort of reverse approach:
The Langley Schools Music Project.

How could anything with such seemingly low production values create such a thrilling, unique piece of timeless music? Hearing it gets me to tears every time.

-- ratty (ra...), March 18th, 2006.

otm, the drums sound like sleigh bells!

http://musikcafe.blogspot.com/

and leave comments

I not a tech head but have heard a few people like Coutney taylor taylor say that DR.DRE CHRONIC 2000 is best production ever

As far as an album that's got great enough production that I'd put it in probably the lower half of my top 20 is Mezzanine by Massive Attack. The multitracking work they did is really fantastic.

Of course, that's just a strictly "sound" judgment. I would have other picks for the kind of "production" stuff discussed on this thread. The 20-bit remaster of Elvis Costello's "Green Shirt" comes to mind first...

And I am always amazed at the way pre-60's engineers got everything onto a single track or two when I listen to stuff like that. (i.e. what Amateurist just said)

Modern-music-wise, I'd probably say Nurse With Wound's Rock And Roll Station or Muslimgauze's Farouk Enjineer, hahaha.

sparks - kimono my house
brian eno - before & after science
ice cube - the predator

and choice for top produced album that i'm not neccesarily the biggest fan of:

the joshua tree

those drums KICK my ASS every time. "jesus is waiting" sends me into convulsions of pleasure. everything on this record is so raw and dry and thick and monumental it's like HEARING ITSELF for the first time.

I would agree with Steely Dan except the snare sound (after the 1st 2 albums) is so, so mushy - an aquired taste I never aquired.

As for lofi, Bee Thousand by Guided by Voices has a magical recording quality that other lofi recordings (inc other GBV records), while often aesthetically pleasing themselves, can't *quite* match.

Anyway, the greatest production of time is of course ELO's "Out Of The Blue", closely followed by "Metal Machine Music"!!!!!!

And for creating a distinct sound and perfect mood, for making it sound lighthearted and flawless without even a hint at the amount of work that was involved. Song order, little details (piano changing pitch in Tonight, a slight delay in Electricity), cover art etc etc.

well said that man.

Bump.

Nick why do you need to bump three threads with basically identical subjects??

Sorry, FIVE threads

BAN

At the very least you could tell us what Nick S's opinion of the greatest production job ever, as of April 23rd 2008, is

In my opinion it's "How 'Bout Us" by Champaign

Assimilating and assessing available evidence to help formulate a coherent argument or theory >>>>>>> regurgitating available evidence in full.

Nina Nastasia - The Blackened Air

Yes I know it's an Albini engineered record, but it sounds exquisite and doesn't have that daft BOOM! drum sound that all the post hardcore kids want on their crappy little band demos.

Cos it's what I'm thinking about at the moment in light of another thread, so I thought I'd revive for other people to have a look too. I like the idea of using the archive more.

I'm reticent to pick a greatest production job ever, but if pushed... I might suggest Laughing Stock. For being both delicate and powerful, groovy and odd, harsh and beautiful.

Not sure what you mean there, Marcello...

And, you know, it's better than starting a dozen copycat polls with minutely altered puns for titles.

What are you burbling on about, madhut?

I would have liked you to analyse the discussions in those threads and post your findings with a cogent and well-balanced argument on today's thread as opposed to reviving them all and clogging up the top of the New Answers page.

^

i mean if you're reticent to say what you think about a thread subject, don't revive it, basically

Is it possible that people might sometimes bump threads because they are interested in what newer posters have to say on the subject, rather than necessarily venturing their own opinion?

But yeah, four in a day is kind of silly other than to go "SOMEONE TALK ABOUT PRODUCTION AND COMPRESSION AGAIN WITH ME!"

revive the best one, link to any others from there

Is it possible that people might sometimes bump threads because they are interested in what newer posters have to say on the subject, rather than necessarily venturing their own opinion?

sure, but the word "bump" is a much less effective way of getting to that than posing a new question or at least mentioning why you're interested. specifics of that sort will spark people better and also it's like, why should i put in the effort if all you're saying is "bump"?

It's 8 threads now. He's brick-walling us.

nick.. is everything.... all right?

Sorry, I just had a meeting and couldn't really elucidate at that point, but new I wanted to come back to these threads!

I've not revived eight, have I?

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kontakte

Guided by Voices - Sandbox

Yes, Nick - eight!

What is the greatest production job ever, then? The best produced / recorded / mixed / arranged record in the world... [Started by Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), last updated 7 minutes ago] 21 new answers
production v. arrangement - what's the difference? [Started by DV (dirtyvicar), last updated 11 minutes ago] 6 new answers
Strip away the production on Loveless and you are left with... [Started by frankE (frankE), last updated 12 minutes ago] 5 new answers
how important is the production/sonics of music to you? [Started by titchyschneiderMk2, last updated 21 minutes ago] 5 new answers
What is "good production"? [Started by Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), last updated 33 minutes ago] 7 new answers
The importance of mastering and the masterer. [Started by Viz (Viz), last updated 1 hour ago] 2 new answers
Production : How can one tell if a record is badly / well-produced? [Started by cuba libre (nathalie), last updated 2 hours ago] 26 new answers
let's talk about over-production/polished production [Started by weasel diesel (K1l14n), last updated 2 hours ago] 1 new answer

Oh.

Amelia by Long Fin Killie might be my favourite "modern rock sound".

If we're talking about producing in the sense of carving out a specific sound, I gotta go for 1 by Pole. Few artists have managed to come up with such a new and adventurous yet at the same time pleasant and oddly familiar sound on their debut record.

And if we're talking about more traditional band production, I think my all-time favourite is Rejuvenation by The Meters. That album sounds surprisingly crisp and clean for a 70s funk record, which I think is great in showing what great instrumental skill and sound each of the four Meters had. Yet it's an undeniably earthy and funky record too.

BUMP.

PE's Nation of Millions leaps to mind for me - so dense and detailed and explosive but insistent and accessible, maybe it's a cliche to say so now but it really sounded like nothing else before. It felt like a whole new way of making music that demanded a whole new way of listening to it, like I imagine someone really groundbreaking like Ornette Coleman might have sounded on first listens. I love how that era of hip hop really rewarded repeat listens - something new jumping out with each spin.

I'd also throw in a Psychocandy here - I hated it and wanted to hear it again right away, it just sounded so wrong-headed when I first heard it with teenage ears. It felt like mistake after mistake piling up: the voices in the basement, the drums all stiff and drum-machiney but scruffy and humanly imperfect, the ugly clangy treble, the screaming-beatlefan feedback drenching everything almost soggy... and unlike something like Nation Of Millions which was all about seeing how much you could put into 3 minutes and still have a pop song, Psychocandy was all about how much you could leave out and still have a pop song. I also think all the nothing in Psychocandy lets your popsong-trained head fill in the blanks. Even though they're not there, you kind of hear the shangri-la's girly choruses and glockenspeils and hal blaine fills in your head because the melodies tell you they should be there.

and maybe I'd throw in sly stone's Fresh album too - Riot is the one that always gets fawned over, but Fresh is the one I always come back to.

sorry, I guess these are kind of canonical choices. this kind of question does sort of invite you to reminisce over records that blew your head open - and the late eighties and early nineties was when my head was open to being blown. thanks, black hash, you were so much fun back then. I'll spare you grandpa's reign in blood revery.

Nation of Millions was famously produced "live", unlike any other examples on this thread -- the samples, scratching etc -- were all done in real time

hopefully i will see them perform it live at primavera

Yeah? I've never heard that before. I'm not sure it's the only thing on the thread like that though. Laughing Stock was recorded as live improvisation sessions and the edited together afterwards, much like In A Silent Way - i.e. not 'live' strictly, but not laying down one part and then recording others in isolation and overdubbing them. Also I'd imagine much if not all of Songs For Swinging Lovers was done live.

not really the same thing.

No, it's not at all, but there's an analogue there especially compared to how most records are produced (click track, overdub to hell).

I'm sorry, ILM. I've created a monster. :)

and maybe I'd throw in sly stone's Fresh album too - Riot is the one that always gets fawned over, but Fresh is the one I always come back to.

I come back to both, really. I think they're equals. And they both have gotten a lot of play from me in the last year or two.

ELO.

i actually think the sound on OK computer sucks. very digital and harsh sounding. i think ppl mean that they like the arrangements and instrumentation when they say it is a well produced record. i don't like the drums on that record at all.

I'm listening to this 50th anniversary Stax comp and damn those records sound great.

never mind the bollocks is a great sounding record.

espers II sound great to me for something newer.

I agree with Matt re OK Computer, but I don't think Radiohead have ever sounded 'nice' in terms of pure engineering / drum sound / guitar tone or whatever. Ditto Pink Floyd. It's too... sterile's the wrong word perhaps. I've got Lift To Experience on at the moment and THAT'S a good sound.

Been a long time.

Though it was recorded in a barn in one long day, the first Black Sabbath LP still sounds absolutely perfect to me (especially the Castle remaster). Drums, bass, guitar, vocals--each have their own sonic space carved out; things get much muddier on all of Sab's later records. Producer Rodger Bain deserves more credit than he tends to get.

But for BIG EXPENSIVE sound, I have always dug Sepultura Roots. Ross Robinson has committed many crimes, but this album just sounds so huge and raw at the same time. Really classic and really loud.

The Joshua Tree

69 Love Songs

those are the two

'country life' imo, atm.

Some Zapp albums, for sure

I love the whole production of Tusk. With some headphones you can easily distinguish everything that's happening in the room.

before and after science, especially the second side, sooooooo velvety good

Back in '87, I skeptically asked my new music-geek friend (with the brand! new! CEEDEE PLAYER) "What's the one album you'd put on the demonstrate the alleged magic of compact discs?". His reply was "Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Welcome To the Pleasure Dome"".

He added that he didn't even LIKE that record, particularly.

Surely that means something to somebody?

i'd place a lot of stuff already mentioned in this thread over it but dj quik's rhythm-al-ism

I'm constantly blown away by the sound of Abbey Road. It's not my favorite Beatles album by a long stretch but it's the one that, every time I listen to it, I hear new things in the mix and arrangements.

i'd place a lot of stuff already mentioned in this thread over it but dj quik's rhythm-al-ism

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 30, 2013 7:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my man!

100% agree of course. When testing out gear I use something like Rhythm-al-ism, Voodoo, Superunknown, Thriller, Spirit of Eden, Aja and Pole 'Steingarten'.

My favourite pure production job is probably Autechre's Draft 7.30, although I accept electronic music is easier to produce than live instrumentation (citation needed)

An example of how unusual or fucked-up production can completely make a record is Foetus - Hole, which is magic of another order

I agree with martin hannett on joy division. if you heard them before he came along, you'll know what an amazing job he did.

tbh, i don't really get the point of this thread, people just saying "x album sounds great!" greatest production job ever? what's the criteria? fleetwood mac rumors is produced well, and so is sebadoh's the freed weed, imo. should production be considered good if it serves the overall goals of the record? there's a ton of terrible sounding records that might be "well-produced", but who gives a shit about those, really? i don't have a lot of well-formulated ideas about this but i feel like there should be more fleshing out about the relationship between production and the music being produced, and how that relationship impacts whether the productions is considered "good"

it's so incredibly hard to pin down the greatest production job *EVER* but I do think of Super Ae as that kind of album

Roxy Music - Avalon
Boz Scaggs- Silk Degrees
any number of Al Green records

Al Green otm. I am always struck by how balanced his classic recordings seem.

alien lanes vs. falling into you

It's Tusk.

yeah probably, but this shit is meaningless if one doesn't elucidate their interpretation of "greatness"

I used to know a guy who used Dire Straits' Love Over Gold to test out new audio gear -- he knew every sound on that record backwards and forwards and could use it as a yardstick, or micrometer or whatever. I do remember thinking that was a great sounding record, but I haven't listened to it in 20 years.

there are so many great sounding records i wouldn't even know where to begin. so i won't. you guys should try listening to clssical records sometime! or movie soundtracks. they can be an eye-opener. or records from the 50's. a golden age for sound if there ever was one. let's just say guided by voices and dire straits wouldn't be my first picks.

Invincible by Michael Jackson is good for playing this game as it has one of the highest amazing production to so-so material ratios.

Ha, WmC, I remember Brothers in Arms being THE go-to album when measuring whether or not your new fandangled CD stereo player was up to snuff.

Jandek, Ready For The House

you guys wanna kick this one round again?

I think a big appeal of Stephen Wilson's music and projects is how well they are recorded. Kind of hard to knock the Floyd from their purch, but he's definitely going for that type of studio production.

Martin Birch's albums always sound great. His production is really the sound of heavy metal. It's too bad Metallica never made a record with him.

Connie Plank was a f-ing wizard. He recorded all sorts of music and all very well.

Was actually thinking this about "Spirit in the Sky" when it came on the radio the other night.

Insignificance by Jim O'Rourke and Naughty Boys by Yellow Magic Orchestra are two contenders for me. I'm always amazed at beautiful they both sound whenever I play them.

Another more obvious one is Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout. That 2007 reissue that came with the acoustic versions did such a great job of highlighting how perfect the production is. I noticed bits in songs I'd never heard before.

Manfred Eicher's ECM catalog...

found a download of the MFSL remaster of Murmur over the weekend and I'm listening to it right now and dang I am inclined to say Murmur though I wouldn't have yesterday.

Also

Gaucho
All The Pretty Horses
Tilt
This Nation's Saving Grace (get the omnibus edition if you don't believe me. The Fall's moment in production heaven)

top 2 related searches on Twitter when you type in Ghostbusters: Ghostbusters racist and Ghostbusters awful.

no, wrong thread pisces.

The remaster of Grace Jones's Nightclubbing is sonically the best thing I've ever heard.

Country Life sounds amazing to my ears. Particularly the snare.

xpost - was going to suggest Slave to the Rhythm.

http://neongods.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Van_Halen.jpg