Death by Production

[Martin]

I've always loved Journey's Infinity album but think the recording is horrendous. It's flat and seems to have no dynamic range. None of the remasters have ever fixed the root issue. I believe the original recording to tape was flawed and no amount of remastering can ever fix it. Very unfortunate because I LOVE the album.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nXaVrTJaduzi9fm7tak1iN_GJ_OmpiZ0I

Martin

 

[escape2]

I find it impossible to listen to the recent Angel Olson stuff, this is rare for me, the All Mirrors album is horrible on everything I've played it on.

What do others think?

Agreed. Sounds rather tiring to my ears. I can't sit through the entire song.

 

[Jimbob54]

The OP track just sounds like bog standard country pop to me , with some affectations towards alternative music with the fuzz guitar (maybe fuzz bass too? ). Im sure they have executed exactly as intended. Not my cup of tea.

 

[bluefuzz]

I was never a big fan of The Smiths but, before he went off the deep end, Morrissey had a sharp wit and some catchy tunes and the band was pretty tight. But I've always found the production of The Smiths albums singularly unlistenable. All the horrors of the eighties studio tropes without even being interesting. Pretty much their only decently produced material was their John Peel sessions, presumably produced by some anonymous BBC engineer.

 

[Soniclife]

I was never a big fan of The Smiths but, before he went off the deep end, Morrissey had a sharp wit and some catchy tunes and the band was pretty tight. But I've always found the production of The Smiths albums singularly unlistenable. All the horrors of the eighties studio tropes without even being interesting. Pretty much their only decently produced material was their John Peel sessions, presumably produced by some anonymous BBC engineer.

Love the Smiths, to me although they are not great recordings, typical 80s indie lable standard, but they sound better on better systems, and I can turn the volume up without wincing, so they are way better to my ears than yours it seems. I expect the line between poor recording and unlistenable is a personal one.

 

[Puddingbuks]

Many songs of Feist are ruined for me because of ridicilous lo-fi effects on her beautiful voice. Terrible!

 

[Haflermichi]

I find it impossible to listen to the recent Angel Olson stuff, this is rare for me, the All Mirrors album is horrible on everything I've played it on.

What do others think?

I have to agree with you, although in this case it's clearly an "artistic choice"(probably the producer) to do the effects and deliberately make the material have a specific sound. Producers are like that. Since they're not the musical talent, and never will be, they want to make things sound different as a way of putting their stamp on the material.
However, I have to disagree with you on this song.
I'd never heard of her before your post and this one song has knocked me on my ass. I've listened to it a dozen times since yesterday.

Yes, the production is what it is. But I can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

What an incredible song. In this case it doesn't matter what system I've played it on. It's the song that matters.
I'm sorry it's "impossible" for you to listen to. But I thank you sincerely for broadening my musical horizons and posting it!

 

[watchnerd]

I can't tell if her vocals on the chorus are distorted as fuck or is it just clipping or something.

I’m surprised this was even a question.

i probably have half a dozen ProTools plugins that produce similar lo fi effects.

 

[Soniclife]

I have to agree with you, although in this case it's clearly an "artistic choice"

Agreed, it does not sound accidental as such, but it's had a bit of an additional battering from the loudness war as well.

However, I have to disagree with you on this song.
I'd never heard of her before your post and this one song has knocked me on my ass. I've listened to it a dozen times since yesterday.

I do like the song, it's why I posted it. The album was very well reviewed when it came out, and made lots of best of the year lists so I'm surprised it totally passed you by.
http://www.anydecentmusic.com/articles/poll-of-polls-2019.aspx

What an incredible song. In this case it doesn't matter what system I've played it on. It's the song that matters.
I'm sorry it's "impossible" for you to listen to. But I thank you sincerely for broadening my musical horizons and posting it!

I've tried listening to it again today from Tidal, it's not as bad as I remember, I might be able to get past the SQ now. Do try the album if you haven't already, the opening track is similar, but better than the title track.

 

[Soniclife]

I think I can hear distortion in some places though it is fairly subtle. In general I think they should ease up on the bass.

Distortion is pretty audible on this one, mostly when all instruments kick in.

I hear no real problems with this. FWIW last time I went to a hifi show this album as getting heavy use in the dem rooms, particularly Hey Now.

 

[LightninBoy]

I find it impossible to listen to the recent Angel Olson stuff, this is rare for me, the All Mirrors album is horrible on everything I've played it on.

What do others think?

It is terrible. Its everything awful in 80s pop productions, with none of the charm.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

From the youtube-comments (not me): "This way this album is produced is so ingenious. (...). It's beautiful to me, like a lullaby within black metal, if that makes sense. Everything from the production to the composition to the songwriting borders on perfection,(...)"

So it seems the production is intentional, but it has the consequence that I have not managed to listen through the whole album once, although i like other albums of this band.

Another excerpt from youtbe-comments: "This piece of art will get to the people who deserve it."

What do you think?

 

[shal]

My proposal:
Half Moon Run - Call Me in the Afternoon
The official version :

And a session at the BBC:

The BBC session is a lot better. A very good performance.
The official is boring..... overmasterized
Musicians are equal good in both , it is not the problem
And in the BBC they are still in the control , so the difference is not due to the power of a "live"

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I hear no real problems with this. FWIW last time I went to a hifi show this album as getting heavy use in the dem rooms, particularly Hey Now.

It's more evident in the CD version but there is digital clipping all over the place. It's clearly audible to me and I can also see it in the waveform.

Since the signal doesn't reach 0dB FS (track peaks at 0.859894 according to Foobar), I think it happened in some earlier stage.

What do you think?

Sounds like randomly distorted noise in a tin can to me. *chuckles*

The BBC session is a lot better. A very good performance.

Agreed. Sounds more punchy / clearer to me.

 

[Soniclife]

and the vocals are not nearly as dirty as the instruments

The instruments are oddly crunchy sounding to me, without knowing what I'm talking about they sound like they have been digitally manipulated to excess, the equivalent of too much clarity slider in Lightroom.

 

[LightninBoy]

Metallica has a couple of infamous albums with productions issues. First was "And Justice for All" where they basically removed the bass guitar from the mix. Yes, it was artistic choice. But even in high school I knew it was a bad choice that sounded like trash ...

Then speaking of trash ... the snare sound on "St. Anger" sounded like a trash can ...

 

[Robin L]

I've been fascinated by Soukous since the mid-seventies. The brass sounds are notably distorted:

 

[Soniclife]

It's more evident in the CD version but there is digital clipping all over the place. It's clearly audible to me and I can also see it in the waveform.
View attachment 112961

Since the signal doesn't reach 0dB FS (track peaks at 0.859894 according to Foobar), I think it happened in some earlier stage.


Sounds like randomly distorted noise in a tin can to me. *chuckles*


Agreed. Sounds more punchy / clearer to me.

My ripped CD version (which is what I listened to before I posted) looks different in audacity, I cannot find any of those flat spots.

 

[JIW]

Based on a previous post of mine, I nominate the recording of Fauré's first violin sonata and Richard Strauss' violin sonata by Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax on Deutsche Grammophon in 2015, which to me is very loud and quite distorted and generally difficult to listen to at my typical levels for classical.

For comparison, the recording of the same Fauré sonata by Arthur Grumiaux and Paul Crossley originally on Philips and later re-released by Decca recorded in 1977 and re-released in 1990.

For the first 90 seconds of the first movement of the Fauré sonata, on the Perlman and Ax, the maximum sample value is -0.94 dBFS and crest factors (peak to RMS ratio) are 12.45 dB and 14.25 dB, while on the Grumiaux and Crossley, the maximum sample value is -3.37 dBFS and the crest factors are 20.03 dB and 18.42 dB a whole 6 dB lower.

 

[LTig]

I must be stupied - listening to this crap when there other threads with really good recordings I've not worked through yet.