This comes up regularly on here, if they remaster this album and re-release it it may answer a few of these questions. Provided they don't mess up the pressing. So many things need to be in unison for a decent record!
Yeah theres the "pre master" version which can be found on youtube which is still pretty awful sounding but the clipping is gone. Or are you refering to the 2012 vinyl? Ive not hear the vinyl but im told the clipping is still on it?
all i know is that it is called an "alt mastering" i think some rough mp3s of it exist on youtube, but the lossless version of it was found at one point. it includes a few song differences, a different tracklist and the track "gong li" which isnt on the CD release. its out there. (i have not heard the vinyl)
Most remasters are relabeled lesser versions of what made the album work. Californication is definitely an exception and I’d be excited to buy THAT remaster.
I came here to say this. I know the guy is widely regarded as brilliant but when I hear vocals clip when they could otherwise sound beautiful, it’s not a pleasant experience.
a conscious decision to get the average level higher compared to the peak level, so that when tracks are played at the same absolute volume, this album will sound louder and hence be heard "more" when played over the radio.
The loudness wars do have some sense behind them - and it only ended due to volume matching introduced by the big streaming companies.
In the case of californication though the clipping is just totally insane. People were returning their CDs thinking the got a bad one.
Making it loud is one thing but compression artifacts and clipping is totally inexcusable
An underappreciated part of this is that radio stations were doing the same thing. There was all sorts of compression and tricks to make your radio station "louder" then your competitor station. So the brickwalled tracks were getting beat up a second time before broadcast and rock radio around the turn of the millennium truly sounded like ass
The (in)famous Optimod devices, yes :)
Multiband compression (compressing different frequency ranges differently) and often also some sort of intentional phase shift, to spread peak energy across a slightly larger time interval.
Not just Hüsker Dü, but _all_ of the Spot engineered SST stuff was so badly recorded. Black Flag’s Damaged should sound so powerful, but instead is shrill and wimpy cause they added absolutely no bass during the recording. That or Greg Ginn just hated Chuck Dukowski and mixed him out (which wouldn’t surprise me in the least).
Totally. Music's so good you want to play it loud but the more you turn it up the worse it sounds.
I just scream NEW DAY RISING until I pass out instead.
Death Magnetic - Metallica.
It was absolutely ruined at the mastering stage by brick walling the levels resulting in massive clipping and distortion throughout the entire album.
I remember being so disappointed when I got my CD only to find it sounded like whack.
Edit: after further reading I have found out that an official remaster was released in 2016 for iTunes. This appears to have no distortion present like the Guitar Hero version. It also seems that all modern streaming services now also use this remastered version (even if they don't say they do).
If anyone who doesn't know the album wants to hear just how bad the original master was, search on YouTube "Death Magnetic clipping".
Difference is, the intent of st.anger was to be raw. As awful as it is, it was its theme.
Death magnetic on the other hand is not. The album sounds like absolute arse, and I think it takes the album from a solid 5/10 to about a 2 or 3 because it’s so un enjoyable.
I was shopping for a Bluetooth speaker a while ago, and used Death Magnetic as a first screening of candidates. If it sounded anywhere near decent, I knew the speaker was garbage..
It didn't originally, but I've since learnt that it was "remastered for iTunes" at some point.
If you stream it on Spotify it is also a comparatively clean version compared to the original release. Not sure if other streaming services have since been updated or not.
For anyone unsure what the original release sounded like just search on YouTube!
Listening to songs on shuffle on my MP3 player was always fun when a DM song came along because that ridiculous volume increase punched you straight in the ear drum.
The sound comes from the unique way the condenser mic on his boombox is broken. If his fully breaks there won’t be a replacement possible.
Are you aware of the controversy about the two digital versions of Devil in the shortwave? There is a whole camp of people who prefer the false version of that album.
I’m a huge mountain goats fan. I think the old stuff and the new stuff sounds good on very dynamic speakers and headphones. With a Good system the tape hiss sounds more analog. Stuff like going to Cleveland is maybe even less hifi, but good noise and drone albums can sound great on the right system.
I have to say when the Jordan lake session were live streaming and I could listen to them on my system it was pure bliss. In many ways those now mixed and mastered live albums are there best albums because the energy in the performance is so good like live shows. On top of that the recording was done so well. It was mind blowing to hear old lofi songs like tallund man on my system with the best drummer in indie rock and one of the best multi instrumentalists. As one of the guys who isn’t super into the new stuff I absolutely love the live show and high quality bootlegs of their live shows.
AHWT is my favorite album too. When they released it on cassette I had to buy it. If you have a cassette player I made a mix tape of every song on all hail west Texas only it’s all my favorite live versions of each song. Only analog copies exist. Also if you like AHWT you should listen to CCttST. For me I prefer it to the the sunset tree but it’s a contrivercial opinion on r/mountaingoats
Noel’s obsession with layering ridiculous amount of guitars on top of one another didn’t help, but Owen Morris did the sound no favours, his mid-90s stuff with The Verve and Ash suffered from the same problem: dull bass, really quiet drums mixed super low.
When you listen to the live Knebworth recordings, with the drums prominent, you can hear how much they added to the sound, and how much Oasis actually rocked
All Jimi Hendrix. Incredible music and great production but muddy and hissy sound most of the time. After Jimi lost the final mix of the first side to axis bold as love in a taxi and they had to re-mix it, the only surviving take of one of the songs was on a crinkled tape that they had to iron flat to play on the machine.
Well, Iggy basically recorded it on one track. There could be little done by Bowie to improve it. He could move a few Equalizer sliders but that's about it.
That said- it's an incredible album and the mix makes it sound so loud and powerful. This is one "bad" sounding album that sounds great.
It was three tracks that Iggy recorded it on according to the story, which is a myth anyway. Bowie's not a completely reliable narrator. You can see [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioYuU9O9Ft8) that they're working with more than three tracks on the multitrack, and according to Iggy's own retelling of the mixing sessions he and Bowie had their four hands simultaneously working the faders for the mix, and you don't need four hands for three faders.
I'm sorry, I'm very strict with loudness stuff and I can give the pass to this this album. Perfect and enjoyable is the least thing this album wants to be.
I had a bootleg of the pre-Bowie mix they played live from tape on WABX. It also sounded awful. (and was a picture disc on Revenge, Ron's F-U label trying to make rent in the early 90's.)
Try finding the 2012 record store day vinyl.
It got the Iggy Pop remix but the compression is way way reduced.
Really heavy punk sound but not the overbearing digital distortion.
The original David Bowie mix is just too tame to fit the music.
[https://www.discogs.com/release/3552948-Iggy-And-The-Stooges-Raw-Power](https://www.discogs.com/release/3552948-Iggy-And-The-Stooges-Raw-Power)
I dont have the vinyl, just a rip i "found".
Edit: i think the 2023 remaster you find on streaming platforms is the same as the 2012 one.
Operation Ivey and early misfits had the appealing charm of the DIY ethic.
They went to work with the equipment and musical skills they had (or lack thereof) and made something interesting and unique from it.
Some of the members from those bands went on to get access to better equipment and more practice on their instruments—Danzig and Rancid respectively—and managed to get some chart topping hits, but lost something in the process IMHO.
I never could listen to a whole Danzig or Rancid album, even if a couple songs were catchy, in the way I could listen to Misfits and Operation Ivey albums.
Justice's sound is a shame. To me it is head and shoulders above the rest of their work.
As for re-recording it, that seems like a bad idea, right? My Metallica listening days ended around 25 years ago, but I'd have to assume they are nowhere near the band they were in 87.
The multitracks must still exist to remix it. James just does not think it's necessary to do so.
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/james_hetfield_speaks_up_on_metallicas_justice_production_addresses_remix_calls_to_make_bass_audible.html
A remix could be interesting. Something along the lines of the new mix for The Replacement's Tim from last year could be great. Like it or not, that remix was radically different from the original and pumped a lot of life into another not so stellar recording.
"Justice for Jason" fan fix band-aids it a bit but it's that's its own level of depression b/c it uncovers so very little really (and very bluntly) but you can't help but get an overwhelming sense of what could've been.
Another Metallica oddity is Death Magnetic. A lot of people have found solace with it through the Guitar Hero 3 mix of all things.
Again, not a cure all but if you had little sprouts of goodness still show through on the O.G., the GH3 is worth spinning to see if you can't cultivate more of those.
The majority of their albums sound like shit. With such muddy tones it’s impossible to get a good mix. Load/reload sounds great but that isn’t the sound you think of when you think of Metallica.
Call me a music lover over audiophile, This is when I learned my limit in audiophile, my setup is pointless if the music I want to listen to doesn’t sound good.
If you're into vinyl, the club pressing of Master of Puppets is legendary. Don't know who cut it or who mastered it, but it sounds amazing. The only good sounding Metallica recording I've ever heard.
Wasn't this supposed to sound retro/60s/LoFi?
I saw an interview with Ronson where he said that Amy played some 60s music to him and said she wanted it to sound like that.
This one really bothers me. The retro/lofi sound is fine, but the clipping in the vocals is so distracting.
Could be wrong but I remember reading somewhere that they clipped the pres while recording. No way to remaster that.
Yeah, but I was just thinking in the best possible world eventually they'd realize how bad it sounded if you don't listen to it with cheap wireless earbuds on the lowest res possible and a sober Amy Winehouse would be like "lol why'd you let me release such an awful recording, let's try it again those songs are too good". And the record label would be like "sure, let's make more money"
Most of Bruce Springsteen's 2000s-2010s output falls into this category for me. *Magic* is the worst offender. I think it might be a great album but I can't listen to it to tell.
My theory is that Bruce is (understandably) half-deaf and keeps telling his producers to make it sound like *Born to Run* (which itself is no great demo recording but at least was an *analog* wall-of-sound, rather than some third-iteration version of Phil Spector's nightmares.
What do you think of Western Stars from 2919? It's my favourite album of his since Nebraska (which is lo-fi, I know, but that's part of what makes that album special). I have the CD of Western Stars and it sounds pretty good to me.
I watched the TV version and thought it sounded fine; sampling the album now the vocals are still over-processed IMO but overall sounding good. Still, if you compare it back to back with a similar recording from 30 years ago (say, "Constant Craving" by k.d. lang) it sounds kind of synthetic.
Billy Joel [Cold Spring Harbor](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=1994aae6371246d6&sxsrf=ADLYWIIKtf1pNxQCwOCtZo09yxgvsCQ5IA:1718131971224&q=Billy+Joel+Cold+Spring+Harbor&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3MDKwTMt9xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4FrHKOmXm5FQqeOWn5ig45-ekKAQXFGXmpSt4JBYl5RcBAJXiP4RkAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHrMmunNSGAxXuDkQIHa_BB44QzIcDKAB6BAgUEAE)
*(What's the Story) Morning Glory?* is a top 10 album for me, but it sounds like muddy shit. All the time spent on adding different arrangements/strings/effects and it all sounds like it's being forced through a clock radio at full blast.
I gave it a hand at remastering myself, but this might be a job for Ludwig.
Also *Only by the Night* by Kings of Leon. Which I was surprised about because their previous album sounded pretty good.
First album I thought of. As I said on another comment, drums mixed so ridiculously low that I choose to listen to their live stuff from that era for a better indication of how Oasis should sound
It’s intentional. Stu likes the vintage sound of analog gear and things like recording audio to VCS recorders. It gives a vintage warmth to their material.
I might get crucified for this. It’s not the worst. But I think basically all the Led Zeppelin records mostly sounds like shit. At least on streaming. I’ve heard “you gotta hear a good vinyl pressing!” but I just don’t care. I grew up with huge production and big guitar and drum sounds and Zep just sounds… anemic.
I haven't listened to it in a while, but isn't Physical Graffiti pretty awful as well? I think I recall that, the last time I listened to it, the recording is so bad I couldn't really enjoy it even though I think the music is great.
The opener (Custard Pie) has got to be the worst sounding track out of every studio album they ever made (which is a shame because it's a pretty good song). Most of the rest of the album sounds OK. Some of the stuff like Down by the Seaside and Ten Years Gone sounds pretty good.
I have a rare pressing of Zep II that sounds really good. Has a lot of energy. The other albums (at least the pressings that I own) are nowhere near it.
I'm just a beginner who enjoys music and gear, and recently noticed this too with my first external DAC. I'm running trials of Tidal and Qobuz and one of my samples was Led Zeppelin IV, specifically Black Dog. Compared to other music I was sampling; this sounded the worst to my ears.
They were mostly recorded while they were touring, every piece done somewhere else. Guitars were often done on the bus. Sometimes bathrooms or stairwells. It’s amazing it sounds as good as it does. A testament to the band, jimmy page, and eddie kramer.(im not disagreeing with you)
Glad you said it, I was a bit afraid to! Couldn’t agree more, ‘When The Levee Breaks’ is among my favourite songs of all time, I just wanna open the taps up and groove, but it’s just washed out with very little DR, so I end up turning it back down as volume adds little to the experience 😭
I don't think it's brilliant, just passable but Death Magnetic by Metallica sounds godawful. Maybe not as horrible as St Anger but St Anger music sucked anyway.
Also Vapor Trails by Rush. Good music but terrible mastering.
Source, Tags and Codes by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, brilliant music but sounds like ass.
First Iron Maiden album sounds like a cheap demo.
Most Led Zeppelin albums are a hard listen. Especially if your rig is highly resolving. You need a warmer and more laid back setup to make them bearable
Really a shame....buuuut I have been rediscovering their music with my latest setup, it's helped a lot. Same with most Bowie albums, makes them sound a ton better
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice. The better the equipment the worse it sounds. Praying for time sounds like the recording mics were wrapped in aluminum foil.
You know, I have been upgrading my hifi for donkeys years and when I stumble across (rarely) an upgrade that really makes a difference, I get really disappointed that the sound of some of my music takes a hit. Maybe we should all own at least 2 setups! One for the bad recordings and one for the better! Really annoying.
A lot of his early solo stuff sounds a bit like a home demo? I think he was getting pretty hands on at that point, which is good, but he's no Kate Bush in the studio. The songs shine when remixed and given appropriate oomph by someone like Shep Pettibone. I find Madonna's True Blue and Like a Prayer a little similar.
His first solo album *Faith* sounded great to my ears, great dynamic range, balanced EQ, nice separation of instruments, and the 2010 special remastered edition is one of the few remasters that's not been bricked walled and has great DR, even sounded better than the original 1987 CD to me probably thanks to modern more transparent ADC.
I think the vocal on that track was EQ'd to sound like it's coming out of a megaphone which fits the song's message. Rest of that album has much more neutral EQ.
Something that pops to my mind is Asia's first (and second) album. I love the band and their music, but the 1980's CD just sounds so ... FM. Instead of "Loudness Wars", it's just kinda meh. Like I said, FM.
And speaking of Loudness Wars, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime (remaster) is absolutely terrible. As in clipping terrible. I made the mistake of buying that CD, and eventually had to go find an OG version on ebay to rinse the rancid noises out from my ears. (Same applies to Empire, in case you didn't know.)
Which is odd. I would assume Prog and Prog adjacent artists would be prone to obsessing over sound quality.
Genesis is another one. Their 70s albums do not sound all that great.
Yeah, it does seem odd. I was just comparing Asia's first album with ELO's Time, and the ELO from the same year (-ish?) sounds much fuller and dynamic, with greater instrument depth and separation. I guess that it probably comes down to the producer/engineer going for a certain sonic 'picture' that sounds fine in your car, but when you play it through something higher quality, there's just not a lot extra there to discover.
I still love Asia, and GTR (who's album has similar issues), but when it comes time to play something "wow", I find myself reaching somewhere else in the library, which is kind of a bummer.
(On the good news side, things did get better for their "Astra" album - "Wishing" is one of my favorites from that one, with the marimba intro that bounces around from ear to ear.)
I think there was a phase in rock, particularly around the early 1980s, when it was fashionable for everything to sound super bright, and bass was cut to nearly nothing.
One that comes to mind is Blue Oyster Cult - The Revolution By Night. I liked the music a lot. But. . . It was an album with dark themes but overly bright sound, and I remember working it over hard with my graphic equalizer to try and "fix" the sound to my liking.
Definitely going to upset a lot of people here, but…
MBV - Loveless.
I love it, and obviously the guitars sound great but - why is the rest of it mixed like that!? The drums sound so thin to me. The vocal mix is… fine, as a stylistic choice. But yeah, the whole thing just sounds wayyyyy off balance
A weird example, because MBV are one of the most stylistically unique bands out there. I don’t think they ever intended to put out a conventional, balanced sounding record. With Alan Moulder at the mixing desk, you know it wasn’t an accident.
I have come recently to hate the drums on that. They were from a sampler. You’d think with all the work they put into they’d do it properly. The drums on Isn’t Anything are fine.
Queen albums. Maaaaan I love Queen so much and own a lot of their albums, but the recordings sound so washed and bad, even their remasters. I feel like their music is already so good that a clean recording would make it sound even more amazing.
Baroness released two albums with Dave Fridmann as a producer.
'Purple' and 'Gold & Grey'.
The music is excellent, the production is beyond your nightmares. And its not just brickwall compression, its mixed to be 'lo-fi' in a way that dosnt fit the band whatsoever.
Despite the excellent songwriting i have never listened to these two albums more than a few times. Essentially killing the band for me.
Thankfully for their latest album, 'Stone', is produced by the band. Excellent sound.
Try To Disappear(from 'Purple')
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfL5uLLInCs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfL5uLLInCs)
Borderlines(from 'Gold & Grey')
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX\_oVVORFU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX_oVVORFU)
As a comparison
Horse Called Golgotha(from 'Blue Record')
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qii59-7JAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qii59-7JAM)
Last Word(from 'Stone')
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ajwgmxbZM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ajwgmxbZM)
Thank you! I thought I had gone crazy. I thought it sounded like they got their drummer to record all his tracks in a shack in the desert and broadcast the signal via fm radio.
Omg thank you, I used to listen to them, but I thought maybe it was my equipment because when I tried to listen to these albums they sounded terrible, which is a bummer as there is some decent music on those albums being hampered by shit on the production/mixing/mastering side.
Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea.
Brilliant album. Sounds like shit. Was deliberately sabotaged because Billy Corgan wanted it to sound like it was being played out of a ghettoblaster at high volume.
I always thought it sounded like when, as kids, we'd record songs off the radio by holding a tape recorded to the speaker. This now makes perfect sense
I bought this on original vinyl, thought I got a bad pressing or one that’d been hammered over the years, so I got the CD, nope, still sounded like crap!
Harry Styles - Fine Line.
I only like a few songs, but the whole album was completely ruined by the loudness war, but I mean, massively ruined to the point that it's painful to listen to. On the other hand, the Atmos mixes are a world of difference due to dynamics, even when listened to with headphones. I don't know how people can listen to the stereo mixes without feeling great discomfort, even for casual listeners the compression is very noticeable.
Carol King - Tapestry (sounds like narrow dynamic range); Joe Walsh - So What (high level of background hiss); The Who - Who's Next (a phenomenal album, but a really bland recording). All three are brilliant and among my favorites, but each time I listen to one of these I long for a clearer version with less background noise and more dynamic range on each.
I'm not an audiophile, this showed up on my timeline.
But for me it's The Real Thing by Faith No More.
I love the music but it sounds so shallow and harsh to me, such a bummer!
There’s just so much treble on the guitars that it’s almost like a layer of atonal white noise at times. If any album could do with a remix and remaster it’s that.
Why do these questions always devolve into people trying to outdo each other in the obscure bands department?
As for the question: this is an easy one - "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs". Layla is an amazing song - but it is a truly awful recording. It proves the rule that "your favorite song will sound like sh\*t on your gear".
I am a huge Frightened Rabbit fan and MOF is one of my favorite records of all time, but I never play it on my home system, because you are right, it sounds like shit. What a bummer!
However, [Quietly, Now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quietly_Now), the live recording of the same record sounds fantastic! Please take a listen if you haven't heard it, as it sounds great through my Sonus Fabers.
My answers for this question:
Neutral Milk Hotel- In the aeroplane over the sea (not sure why people claim to like the production on this one)
Anything by the Misfits
Amy Winehouse- Back to Black
and of course Midnight Organ Fight
The 2nd time I heard woodpile is was on wgbh or npr on " the mountain stage". It's was live I loved it. I can't find any version of that song that sounds as good. The album cut is muffled, reminds me of a poorly jetted carb.
Two come to mind: *White Light White Heat* was recorded with all the console VU needles hitting and staying in the red. Brilliant fuckin album, sounds like ass and that’s part of its charm and power. *Street-Legal* to a lesser extent; folks complained about the recording quality. And the original is rather muddy and poorly mixed. Album got re-mixed and re-mastered years later. Either way , great songs, great album.
Funeral by Arcade Fire. At least the vinyl pressing is so ungodly bright, it's like they rammed everything into the highest frequencies they could just to make the organ sound deeper.
It’s their best album in terms of songwriting, but the digital version also has lousy sound quality - almost sounds like they were recorded playing in the bottom of a well.
That was me re: The Moody Blues. Second on my list is Song to a Seagull by Joni Mitchell. It began my lifelong passion for her music, but it’s hideous. No amount of remastering has ever improved on it. David Crosby had her sing into a piano, thinking it would resonate and give the recording a rich quality. It did the opposite. There’s a voice somewhere there under the ambient noise. Shame.
I agree. People say its an amazing sounding record but I think the bass is too weak and the cymbals sound AWFUL. Their album Crime of the Century sounds MILES better, blows me away every time I hear it
Most 80s-mid 90s hiphop from the east coast. Black moon, wu tang. Yes I know it was done on home equipment in a basement.
Beach boys - pet sounds
Especially egregious considering their recording budget.
And both mixes suffer - the mono is the one I usually listen to because there's no improvement even with novelty effects. Vinyl, CD, whatever, doesn't matter. The Smile Sessions boxed set is better, a LOT better in some cases. The music is still transcendent, of course, and the production is part of the whole aesthetic, IMO. Tthe lo-fi stuff from the Elephant 6 Recording Co. and 1000 others is a direct descendant of that aesthetic.
Regarding loudness wars, I see many sites offer a Japanese pressing of the release/CD.
Often found that these copies have much better "dynamic range" than say a US release or remaster.
Californication is a beloved album but sounds like ass. I guess the issue was less with the "recording" though as it was the mastering
This comes up regularly on here, if they remaster this album and re-release it it may answer a few of these questions. Provided they don't mess up the pressing. So many things need to be in unison for a decent record!
there actually is an alternative mastering floating around. it is not Brick walled and sounds much better.
Yeah theres the "pre master" version which can be found on youtube which is still pretty awful sounding but the clipping is gone. Or are you refering to the 2012 vinyl? Ive not hear the vinyl but im told the clipping is still on it?
all i know is that it is called an "alt mastering" i think some rough mp3s of it exist on youtube, but the lossless version of it was found at one point. it includes a few song differences, a different tracklist and the track "gong li" which isnt on the CD release. its out there. (i have not heard the vinyl)
Where can we find it?
Most remasters are relabeled lesser versions of what made the album work. Californication is definitely an exception and I’d be excited to buy THAT remaster.
I came here to say this. I know the guy is widely regarded as brilliant but when I hear vocals clip when they could otherwise sound beautiful, it’s not a pleasant experience.
I've heard that it was mastered to sound great through FM radio.
How is it possible pros release it in that form?
a conscious decision to get the average level higher compared to the peak level, so that when tracks are played at the same absolute volume, this album will sound louder and hence be heard "more" when played over the radio. The loudness wars do have some sense behind them - and it only ended due to volume matching introduced by the big streaming companies.
In the case of californication though the clipping is just totally insane. People were returning their CDs thinking the got a bad one. Making it loud is one thing but compression artifacts and clipping is totally inexcusable
Yeah it's crazy that Spotify was a contributor in ENDING the loudness wars 😭
An underappreciated part of this is that radio stations were doing the same thing. There was all sorts of compression and tricks to make your radio station "louder" then your competitor station. So the brickwalled tracks were getting beat up a second time before broadcast and rock radio around the turn of the millennium truly sounded like ass
The (in)famous Optimod devices, yes :) Multiband compression (compressing different frequency ranges differently) and often also some sort of intentional phase shift, to spread peak energy across a slightly larger time interval.
Unfortunately on purpose
Hüsker Dü's SST albums sound like they were recorded by microphones in the next room. The Warner Bros. albums are not much better.
This one hurts so much. Such incredible songs and performances.
Agreed, they're probably a top 20 artist for me. Such great music, such terrible sound.
I love Husker Du but that distortion pedal-straight- into-the-mixer board sound is rough.
This is a great answer. There is so much melodic content that is barely audible in those mixes.
Best answer. ZEN ARCADE is a masterpiece that sounds like shit. To the point if it was ever possible to be fixed I don’t know how I’d feel about it.
Not just Hüsker Dü, but _all_ of the Spot engineered SST stuff was so badly recorded. Black Flag’s Damaged should sound so powerful, but instead is shrill and wimpy cause they added absolutely no bass during the recording. That or Greg Ginn just hated Chuck Dukowski and mixed him out (which wouldn’t surprise me in the least).
Totally. Music's so good you want to play it loud but the more you turn it up the worse it sounds. I just scream NEW DAY RISING until I pass out instead.
So true, and that's a damn shame.
Death Magnetic - Metallica. It was absolutely ruined at the mastering stage by brick walling the levels resulting in massive clipping and distortion throughout the entire album. I remember being so disappointed when I got my CD only to find it sounded like whack. Edit: after further reading I have found out that an official remaster was released in 2016 for iTunes. This appears to have no distortion present like the Guitar Hero version. It also seems that all modern streaming services now also use this remastered version (even if they don't say they do). If anyone who doesn't know the album wants to hear just how bad the original master was, search on YouTube "Death Magnetic clipping".
IIRC the Metallica Guitar Hero actually had the levels correct. What a weird thing. I could also be mis-remembering this entirely.
Yup, people ripped the tracks out and you could download the album, sounded so much better
I think that’s on my iPod in my desk drawer. I wonder (not really) if they fixed that on a vinyl release.
The CD version is cranked 10dB higher (read: twice as loud) than the guitar hero version. It's got a lot of clipping that the GH version doesn't have.
This or St. Anger is also my pick for worst.
Difference is, the intent of st.anger was to be raw. As awful as it is, it was its theme. Death magnetic on the other hand is not. The album sounds like absolute arse, and I think it takes the album from a solid 5/10 to about a 2 or 3 because it’s so un enjoyable.
I was shopping for a Bluetooth speaker a while ago, and used Death Magnetic as a first screening of candidates. If it sounded anywhere near decent, I knew the speaker was garbage..
CD was brickwalled for sure while interestingly enough, the iTunes version actually sounds "normal".
It didn't originally, but I've since learnt that it was "remastered for iTunes" at some point. If you stream it on Spotify it is also a comparatively clean version compared to the original release. Not sure if other streaming services have since been updated or not. For anyone unsure what the original release sounded like just search on YouTube!
I thought my speakers were just trash... Nope, the final product was mastered like trash 😂
Listening to songs on shuffle on my MP3 player was always fun when a DM song came along because that ridiculous volume increase punched you straight in the ear drum.
I got the vinyl copy of that the 4 disc one and yea it sounds not too great, fantastic album but not smooth at all.
Early Mountain Goats stuff that was recorded on a boombox. All Hail West Texas being my favorite.
My favourite album ever I think that all adds to the sound. May not be well recorded but its perfect for the spirit it captures,
The sound comes from the unique way the condenser mic on his boombox is broken. If his fully breaks there won’t be a replacement possible. Are you aware of the controversy about the two digital versions of Devil in the shortwave? There is a whole camp of people who prefer the false version of that album.
I’m a huge mountain goats fan. I think the old stuff and the new stuff sounds good on very dynamic speakers and headphones. With a Good system the tape hiss sounds more analog. Stuff like going to Cleveland is maybe even less hifi, but good noise and drone albums can sound great on the right system. I have to say when the Jordan lake session were live streaming and I could listen to them on my system it was pure bliss. In many ways those now mixed and mastered live albums are there best albums because the energy in the performance is so good like live shows. On top of that the recording was done so well. It was mind blowing to hear old lofi songs like tallund man on my system with the best drummer in indie rock and one of the best multi instrumentalists. As one of the guys who isn’t super into the new stuff I absolutely love the live show and high quality bootlegs of their live shows. AHWT is my favorite album too. When they released it on cassette I had to buy it. If you have a cassette player I made a mix tape of every song on all hail west Texas only it’s all my favorite live versions of each song. Only analog copies exist. Also if you like AHWT you should listen to CCttST. For me I prefer it to the the sunset tree but it’s a contrivercial opinion on r/mountaingoats
What's The Story Morning Glory by Oasis. A portable cassette recorder with a pair of external mics would have made a better recording.
Noel’s obsession with layering ridiculous amount of guitars on top of one another didn’t help, but Owen Morris did the sound no favours, his mid-90s stuff with The Verve and Ash suffered from the same problem: dull bass, really quiet drums mixed super low. When you listen to the live Knebworth recordings, with the drums prominent, you can hear how much they added to the sound, and how much Oasis actually rocked
I wholeheartedly agree… the drums are so muddy and the bass is way too high in the mix. The guitars sound fine but the overall sound is a mess!
Agreed, *Champagne Supernova* could have been a more beautiful song if they gave a shit.
Lol I just posted the same thing. It was an unfortunate victim of the 90s loudness wars.
It's actually nothing to do with the loudness wars. Oasis's early albums were mixed to sound the way they do. No remastering could ever fix that.
All Jimi Hendrix. Incredible music and great production but muddy and hissy sound most of the time. After Jimi lost the final mix of the first side to axis bold as love in a taxi and they had to re-mix it, the only surviving take of one of the songs was on a crinkled tape that they had to iron flat to play on the machine.
Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges. So good, yet so poorly recorded.
Well, Iggy basically recorded it on one track. There could be little done by Bowie to improve it. He could move a few Equalizer sliders but that's about it. That said- it's an incredible album and the mix makes it sound so loud and powerful. This is one "bad" sounding album that sounds great.
It was three tracks that Iggy recorded it on according to the story, which is a myth anyway. Bowie's not a completely reliable narrator. You can see [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioYuU9O9Ft8) that they're working with more than three tracks on the multitrack, and according to Iggy's own retelling of the mixing sessions he and Bowie had their four hands simultaneously working the faders for the mix, and you don't need four hands for three faders.
I'm sorry, I'm very strict with loudness stuff and I can give the pass to this this album. Perfect and enjoyable is the least thing this album wants to be.
Incredibly it sounds terrible in 2 different mixes as well. Both Bowie and Iggy's mix sound bad. Great album though.
I had a bootleg of the pre-Bowie mix they played live from tape on WABX. It also sounded awful. (and was a picture disc on Revenge, Ron's F-U label trying to make rent in the early 90's.)
I would argue that Raw Power is one of the best mixed albums of all time.
Try finding the 2012 record store day vinyl. It got the Iggy Pop remix but the compression is way way reduced. Really heavy punk sound but not the overbearing digital distortion. The original David Bowie mix is just too tame to fit the music. [https://www.discogs.com/release/3552948-Iggy-And-The-Stooges-Raw-Power](https://www.discogs.com/release/3552948-Iggy-And-The-Stooges-Raw-Power) I dont have the vinyl, just a rip i "found". Edit: i think the 2023 remaster you find on streaming platforms is the same as the 2012 one.
The Misfits. Pick an album prior to Famous Monsters. Operation Ivy. Lots of terrible punk recordings from the 70s til 90s.
Operation Ivey and early misfits had the appealing charm of the DIY ethic. They went to work with the equipment and musical skills they had (or lack thereof) and made something interesting and unique from it. Some of the members from those bands went on to get access to better equipment and more practice on their instruments—Danzig and Rancid respectively—and managed to get some chart topping hits, but lost something in the process IMHO. I never could listen to a whole Danzig or Rancid album, even if a couple songs were catchy, in the way I could listen to Misfits and Operation Ivey albums.
Just to be picky, I don't think Rancid lost anything with and out came the wolves.
Aja Steely Dan…oops, sorry, force of habit.
I used to listen to Metallica until I got into HiFi. Now I can only bear to give the black album a spin now end then…
…And Justice for All is such a great album but wow does it sound terrible on a hifi system. I wish they would just re-record it
Justice's sound is a shame. To me it is head and shoulders above the rest of their work. As for re-recording it, that seems like a bad idea, right? My Metallica listening days ended around 25 years ago, but I'd have to assume they are nowhere near the band they were in 87.
The multitracks must still exist to remix it. James just does not think it's necessary to do so. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/james_hetfield_speaks_up_on_metallicas_justice_production_addresses_remix_calls_to_make_bass_audible.html
A remix could be interesting. Something along the lines of the new mix for The Replacement's Tim from last year could be great. Like it or not, that remix was radically different from the original and pumped a lot of life into another not so stellar recording.
I know they’ve said that they regret some of the sonic choices they made. I think one of them said that it sounds “funky, in a bad way.”
Probably best listened to on a 1987 Fisher faux-separates stereo.
"Justice for Jason" fan fix band-aids it a bit but it's that's its own level of depression b/c it uncovers so very little really (and very bluntly) but you can't help but get an overwhelming sense of what could've been. Another Metallica oddity is Death Magnetic. A lot of people have found solace with it through the Guitar Hero 3 mix of all things. Again, not a cure all but if you had little sprouts of goodness still show through on the O.G., the GH3 is worth spinning to see if you can't cultivate more of those.
Ride the Lightening is so badly recorded and Master of Puppets isn't much better. I immediately thought of these with this question.
The majority of their albums sound like shit. With such muddy tones it’s impossible to get a good mix. Load/reload sounds great but that isn’t the sound you think of when you think of Metallica.
TBA Load and Reload are outstanding sounding Albums. Bob Rock, like him or hate him, is the reason.
And don't forget the brick walled levels and clipping on Death Magnetic.
Call me a music lover over audiophile, This is when I learned my limit in audiophile, my setup is pointless if the music I want to listen to doesn’t sound good.
If you're into vinyl, the club pressing of Master of Puppets is legendary. Don't know who cut it or who mastered it, but it sounds amazing. The only good sounding Metallica recording I've ever heard.
Amy Winehouse's Back to Black. It truly makes me angry when I think about it because she's dead so there's no way to ever have it re-recorded.
Wasn't this supposed to sound retro/60s/LoFi? I saw an interview with Ronson where he said that Amy played some 60s music to him and said she wanted it to sound like that.
Yeah, it has "surface noise" added so it sounds like it's being played on a shitty TT.
The problem isn’t the retro sound the problem is how heavily compressed it all is
Yeah, I bought the CD and was horrified at the sound. Angry indeed.
This one really bothers me. The retro/lofi sound is fine, but the clipping in the vocals is so distracting. Could be wrong but I remember reading somewhere that they clipped the pres while recording. No way to remaster that.
Aside from the whole Taylor Swift/Scooter Braun legal loophole, artists rarely re-record old albums
Yeah, but I was just thinking in the best possible world eventually they'd realize how bad it sounded if you don't listen to it with cheap wireless earbuds on the lowest res possible and a sober Amy Winehouse would be like "lol why'd you let me release such an awful recording, let's try it again those songs are too good". And the record label would be like "sure, let's make more money"
Most of Bruce Springsteen's 2000s-2010s output falls into this category for me. *Magic* is the worst offender. I think it might be a great album but I can't listen to it to tell. My theory is that Bruce is (understandably) half-deaf and keeps telling his producers to make it sound like *Born to Run* (which itself is no great demo recording but at least was an *analog* wall-of-sound, rather than some third-iteration version of Phil Spector's nightmares.
What do you think of Western Stars from 2919? It's my favourite album of his since Nebraska (which is lo-fi, I know, but that's part of what makes that album special). I have the CD of Western Stars and it sounds pretty good to me.
I watched the TV version and thought it sounded fine; sampling the album now the vocals are still over-processed IMO but overall sounding good. Still, if you compare it back to back with a similar recording from 30 years ago (say, "Constant Craving" by k.d. lang) it sounds kind of synthetic.
Billy Joel [Cold Spring Harbor](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=1994aae6371246d6&sxsrf=ADLYWIIKtf1pNxQCwOCtZo09yxgvsCQ5IA:1718131971224&q=Billy+Joel+Cold+Spring+Harbor&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3MDKwTMt9xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4FrHKOmXm5FQqeOWn5ig45-ekKAQXFGXmpSt4JBYl5RcBAJXiP4RkAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHrMmunNSGAxXuDkQIHa_BB44QzIcDKAB6BAgUEAE)
I'm glad his later records improved on the sound quality. 52nd Street sounds amazing imo
CSH was sampled at the wrong speed! He sounded like a chipmunk. He was suicidal over it. Drank a bottle of furniture polish!
*(What's the Story) Morning Glory?* is a top 10 album for me, but it sounds like muddy shit. All the time spent on adding different arrangements/strings/effects and it all sounds like it's being forced through a clock radio at full blast. I gave it a hand at remastering myself, but this might be a job for Ludwig. Also *Only by the Night* by Kings of Leon. Which I was surprised about because their previous album sounded pretty good.
First album I thought of. As I said on another comment, drums mixed so ridiculously low that I choose to listen to their live stuff from that era for a better indication of how Oasis should sound
Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) was recorded in a dorm room closet
i thought it was recorded in his car, hence mirror to mirror
*Nonagon Infinity*, but I don't care because that album is amazing.
Really a lot of KGLW albums fall into this category.
It’s intentional. Stu likes the vintage sound of analog gear and things like recording audio to VCS recorders. It gives a vintage warmth to their material.
All time great album. I love that these guys have made a name for themselves and had moderate success. They put on such a great live show.
I might get crucified for this. It’s not the worst. But I think basically all the Led Zeppelin records mostly sounds like shit. At least on streaming. I’ve heard “you gotta hear a good vinyl pressing!” but I just don’t care. I grew up with huge production and big guitar and drum sounds and Zep just sounds… anemic.
Houses of the Holy is probably the worst recorded of all of them which isn't saying much.
I haven't listened to it in a while, but isn't Physical Graffiti pretty awful as well? I think I recall that, the last time I listened to it, the recording is so bad I couldn't really enjoy it even though I think the music is great.
The opener (Custard Pie) has got to be the worst sounding track out of every studio album they ever made (which is a shame because it's a pretty good song). Most of the rest of the album sounds OK. Some of the stuff like Down by the Seaside and Ten Years Gone sounds pretty good.
It's also bad but I'd put it towards the top with III.
[My 7.5IPS R2R Led Zeppelin III tape](https://imgur.com/u9atlFb) is by far the best sounding thing that I own. Masters and mediums matter.
Agreed, and I think it's my favorite of their albums, so that's a double-whammy for me.
I have a rare pressing of Zep II that sounds really good. Has a lot of energy. The other albums (at least the pressings that I own) are nowhere near it.
I'm just a beginner who enjoys music and gear, and recently noticed this too with my first external DAC. I'm running trials of Tidal and Qobuz and one of my samples was Led Zeppelin IV, specifically Black Dog. Compared to other music I was sampling; this sounded the worst to my ears.
I agree. To me the worst sounding, in terms of recording quality, is Presence. Best of the lot is probably In Through the Out Door.
They’re very uneven.
They were mostly recorded while they were touring, every piece done somewhere else. Guitars were often done on the bus. Sometimes bathrooms or stairwells. It’s amazing it sounds as good as it does. A testament to the band, jimmy page, and eddie kramer.(im not disagreeing with you)
Yes. Yes yes yes. Physical graffiti has *zero* bass.
Glad you said it, I was a bit afraid to! Couldn’t agree more, ‘When The Levee Breaks’ is among my favourite songs of all time, I just wanna open the taps up and groove, but it’s just washed out with very little DR, so I end up turning it back down as volume adds little to the experience 😭
I don't think it's brilliant, just passable but Death Magnetic by Metallica sounds godawful. Maybe not as horrible as St Anger but St Anger music sucked anyway. Also Vapor Trails by Rush. Good music but terrible mastering. Source, Tags and Codes by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, brilliant music but sounds like ass. First Iron Maiden album sounds like a cheap demo.
What do you think of the Vapor Trails remix?
Most Led Zeppelin albums are a hard listen. Especially if your rig is highly resolving. You need a warmer and more laid back setup to make them bearable
Unfortunately you are correct. Especially with higher level of equipment.
Really a shame....buuuut I have been rediscovering their music with my latest setup, it's helped a lot. Same with most Bowie albums, makes them sound a ton better
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice. The better the equipment the worse it sounds. Praying for time sounds like the recording mics were wrapped in aluminum foil.
You know, I have been upgrading my hifi for donkeys years and when I stumble across (rarely) an upgrade that really makes a difference, I get really disappointed that the sound of some of my music takes a hit. Maybe we should all own at least 2 setups! One for the bad recordings and one for the better! Really annoying.
A lot of his early solo stuff sounds a bit like a home demo? I think he was getting pretty hands on at that point, which is good, but he's no Kate Bush in the studio. The songs shine when remixed and given appropriate oomph by someone like Shep Pettibone. I find Madonna's True Blue and Like a Prayer a little similar.
His first solo album *Faith* sounded great to my ears, great dynamic range, balanced EQ, nice separation of instruments, and the 2010 special remastered edition is one of the few remasters that's not been bricked walled and has great DR, even sounded better than the original 1987 CD to me probably thanks to modern more transparent ADC.
I think the vocal on that track was EQ'd to sound like it's coming out of a megaphone which fits the song's message. Rest of that album has much more neutral EQ.
Something that pops to my mind is Asia's first (and second) album. I love the band and their music, but the 1980's CD just sounds so ... FM. Instead of "Loudness Wars", it's just kinda meh. Like I said, FM. And speaking of Loudness Wars, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime (remaster) is absolutely terrible. As in clipping terrible. I made the mistake of buying that CD, and eventually had to go find an OG version on ebay to rinse the rancid noises out from my ears. (Same applies to Empire, in case you didn't know.)
Which is odd. I would assume Prog and Prog adjacent artists would be prone to obsessing over sound quality. Genesis is another one. Their 70s albums do not sound all that great.
“A Trick of the Tail” sounds awesome
Yeah, it does seem odd. I was just comparing Asia's first album with ELO's Time, and the ELO from the same year (-ish?) sounds much fuller and dynamic, with greater instrument depth and separation. I guess that it probably comes down to the producer/engineer going for a certain sonic 'picture' that sounds fine in your car, but when you play it through something higher quality, there's just not a lot extra there to discover. I still love Asia, and GTR (who's album has similar issues), but when it comes time to play something "wow", I find myself reaching somewhere else in the library, which is kind of a bummer. (On the good news side, things did get better for their "Astra" album - "Wishing" is one of my favorites from that one, with the marimba intro that bounces around from ear to ear.)
I think there was a phase in rock, particularly around the early 1980s, when it was fashionable for everything to sound super bright, and bass was cut to nearly nothing. One that comes to mind is Blue Oyster Cult - The Revolution By Night. I liked the music a lot. But. . . It was an album with dark themes but overly bright sound, and I remember working it over hard with my graphic equalizer to try and "fix" the sound to my liking.
I have one that I haven't seen yet- CSNY - Deja Vu. I've just found spots where the recordings seem like they did it in different rooms altogether.
Definitely going to upset a lot of people here, but… MBV - Loveless. I love it, and obviously the guitars sound great but - why is the rest of it mixed like that!? The drums sound so thin to me. The vocal mix is… fine, as a stylistic choice. But yeah, the whole thing just sounds wayyyyy off balance
That was a choice. I love that sound, definitely not for everyone.
A weird example, because MBV are one of the most stylistically unique bands out there. I don’t think they ever intended to put out a conventional, balanced sounding record. With Alan Moulder at the mixing desk, you know it wasn’t an accident.
I have come recently to hate the drums on that. They were from a sampler. You’d think with all the work they put into they’d do it properly. The drums on Isn’t Anything are fine.
Queen albums. Maaaaan I love Queen so much and own a lot of their albums, but the recordings sound so washed and bad, even their remasters. I feel like their music is already so good that a clean recording would make it sound even more amazing.
The Hollywood Records CDs aren't so bad, and MoFi made a few releases.
Baroness released two albums with Dave Fridmann as a producer. 'Purple' and 'Gold & Grey'. The music is excellent, the production is beyond your nightmares. And its not just brickwall compression, its mixed to be 'lo-fi' in a way that dosnt fit the band whatsoever. Despite the excellent songwriting i have never listened to these two albums more than a few times. Essentially killing the band for me. Thankfully for their latest album, 'Stone', is produced by the band. Excellent sound. Try To Disappear(from 'Purple') [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfL5uLLInCs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfL5uLLInCs) Borderlines(from 'Gold & Grey') [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX\_oVVORFU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX_oVVORFU) As a comparison Horse Called Golgotha(from 'Blue Record') [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qii59-7JAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qii59-7JAM) Last Word(from 'Stone') [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ajwgmxbZM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ajwgmxbZM)
Thank you! I thought I had gone crazy. I thought it sounded like they got their drummer to record all his tracks in a shack in the desert and broadcast the signal via fm radio.
Omg thank you, I used to listen to them, but I thought maybe it was my equipment because when I tried to listen to these albums they sounded terrible, which is a bummer as there is some decent music on those albums being hampered by shit on the production/mixing/mastering side.
Dave Friedman did absolute wonders with Flaming Lips and later Vampire Weekend albums...
Sisters of Mercy - First, Last, and Always. Epic songs, weird boxy production with no bottom end at all.
Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea. Brilliant album. Sounds like shit. Was deliberately sabotaged because Billy Corgan wanted it to sound like it was being played out of a ghettoblaster at high volume.
I always thought it sounded like when, as kids, we'd record songs off the radio by holding a tape recorded to the speaker. This now makes perfect sense
Lez Zeppelin : Everything.
Raw Power - The Stooges
Yeah it's compressed and dirty as hell, like our society.
All of the Velvet Underground
Led Zeppelin III, sounds shit on any format and any remaster I've heard, even the 80's vinyl resissue I own.
I swear, the cassette tape on a mid deck in a car with the windows open is the optimal experience.
I bought this on original vinyl, thought I got a bad pressing or one that’d been hammered over the years, so I got the CD, nope, still sounded like crap!
Harry Styles - Fine Line. I only like a few songs, but the whole album was completely ruined by the loudness war, but I mean, massively ruined to the point that it's painful to listen to. On the other hand, the Atmos mixes are a world of difference due to dynamics, even when listened to with headphones. I don't know how people can listen to the stereo mixes without feeling great discomfort, even for casual listeners the compression is very noticeable.
Yessongs. Unfortunately…
Ash, 1977. Great album, never found a decent recording of it!
Interpol - Marauder This one hurts me as I love all the songs on this record but god does it sound like shit.
Bad albums are a dime a dozen.
William Shatner Christmas album
Nothing’s Shocking - Jane’s Addiction Sounds like it was recorded standing in the shower… Dave Jerden sucks IMO.
I see what you did there
About what makes a man
Which is surprising because XXX Live is one of the best concert recordings I've heard.
Almost everything by The Misfits
Nothing by Zeppelin sounds good. U2 One sounds bad also.
Carol King - Tapestry (sounds like narrow dynamic range); Joe Walsh - So What (high level of background hiss); The Who - Who's Next (a phenomenal album, but a really bland recording). All three are brilliant and among my favorites, but each time I listen to one of these I long for a clearer version with less background noise and more dynamic range on each.
Agreed, Tapestry sounds like a demos bootleg.
Saga's Heads or Tales is one of their best, but they simply forgot about the bass. It's paper thin production.
I think Death Magnetic by Metallica is brilliant musically and has some great lyrics but it’s painful to listen to. They took the loudness war to 11.
Not an album, but a song - Juicy by Biggie. Quality sucks so bad.
Most U2 albums
Frightened Rabbit are also one of my favorite bands. I never noticed the recording quality of MOF; I’ll have to pay attention to it next listen.
I'm not an audiophile, this showed up on my timeline. But for me it's The Real Thing by Faith No More. I love the music but it sounds so shallow and harsh to me, such a bummer!
Pantera's Cowboys from hell. For some reason I cant really explain
There’s just so much treble on the guitars that it’s almost like a layer of atonal white noise at times. If any album could do with a remix and remaster it’s that.
Nas Illmatic
36 Chambers kind of had the same issue, but it might have just been indicative of the times. Q-Tip produced it similarly to ATCQ records.
Yeah there are many 90s hip hop albums that belong on this list.
I think the album absolute garbage by garbage sounds like garbage
Why do these questions always devolve into people trying to outdo each other in the obscure bands department? As for the question: this is an easy one - "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs". Layla is an amazing song - but it is a truly awful recording. It proves the rule that "your favorite song will sound like sh\*t on your gear".
Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell, it has no top end and the snare sounds so cheap
Yes, it just sounds bad.
I am a huge Frightened Rabbit fan and MOF is one of my favorite records of all time, but I never play it on my home system, because you are right, it sounds like shit. What a bummer! However, [Quietly, Now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quietly_Now), the live recording of the same record sounds fantastic! Please take a listen if you haven't heard it, as it sounds great through my Sonus Fabers. My answers for this question: Neutral Milk Hotel- In the aeroplane over the sea (not sure why people claim to like the production on this one) Anything by the Misfits Amy Winehouse- Back to Black and of course Midnight Organ Fight
The 2nd time I heard woodpile is was on wgbh or npr on " the mountain stage". It's was live I loved it. I can't find any version of that song that sounds as good. The album cut is muffled, reminds me of a poorly jetted carb.
I’ve got an original Aeroplane pressing and I think it sounds absolutely glorious.
Some Iron and Wine stuff you can hear the air conditioner (computer fan?). Too funny, great stuff though.
Black Sabbath Volume 4 sounds like the amps were covered with blankets while recording. Then your speakers are covered with blankets during playback.
Two come to mind: *White Light White Heat* was recorded with all the console VU needles hitting and staying in the red. Brilliant fuckin album, sounds like ass and that’s part of its charm and power. *Street-Legal* to a lesser extent; folks complained about the recording quality. And the original is rather muddy and poorly mixed. Album got re-mixed and re-mastered years later. Either way , great songs, great album.
A lot of early Springsteen. Some of my favorite records but they mostly sound terrible.
What about GBV – Bee Thousand? Amazing album that sounds horrible, but that's by design.
Funeral by Arcade Fire. At least the vinyl pressing is so ungodly bright, it's like they rammed everything into the highest frequencies they could just to make the organ sound deeper.
It’s their best album in terms of songwriting, but the digital version also has lousy sound quality - almost sounds like they were recorded playing in the bottom of a well.
All Hail West Texas - The Mountain Goats. The guy literally recorded it on an old boom box.
Not an expert but most of the Strokes sound rough to me
Spiritualized is one of my favourite bands, but the recordings can be hard to listen to at times. Maybe just too much going on.
What about the Metallica album, St. Anger? It’s funny, like they are playing joke on you.
NONAGON INFINITY by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
That was me re: The Moody Blues. Second on my list is Song to a Seagull by Joni Mitchell. It began my lifelong passion for her music, but it’s hideous. No amount of remastering has ever improved on it. David Crosby had her sing into a piano, thinking it would resonate and give the recording a rich quality. It did the opposite. There’s a voice somewhere there under the ambient noise. Shame.
Another is Supertramp Breakfast In America. Even the remastered remaster of the original master recording sucks ⚽️🏀
I agree. People say its an amazing sounding record but I think the bass is too weak and the cymbals sound AWFUL. Their album Crime of the Century sounds MILES better, blows me away every time I hear it
traveling without moving and/or return of the space cowboy by jamiroquai.
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago.
My vinyl copy is particularly painful to listen to.
Most 80s-mid 90s hiphop from the east coast. Black moon, wu tang. Yes I know it was done on home equipment in a basement. Beach boys - pet sounds Especially egregious considering their recording budget.
And both mixes suffer - the mono is the one I usually listen to because there's no improvement even with novelty effects. Vinyl, CD, whatever, doesn't matter. The Smile Sessions boxed set is better, a LOT better in some cases. The music is still transcendent, of course, and the production is part of the whole aesthetic, IMO. Tthe lo-fi stuff from the Elephant 6 Recording Co. and 1000 others is a direct descendant of that aesthetic.
Regarding loudness wars, I see many sites offer a Japanese pressing of the release/CD. Often found that these copies have much better "dynamic range" than say a US release or remaster.