Best engineered albums?

[colonel kurtz]

a person who does the actual recordings acts as the recording engineer

the person who mixes the music is the mixing engineer

the person who masters is the mastering engineer

the producer is charged with making sure everything gets done to an acceptable standard, on-time, and within the budget...and can often be any of the aforementioned individuals as well

 

[Manicompression]

Portishead, live at Roseland NY
Pantera, Far Beyond Driven
Metallica, The Black Album
Megadeth, Endgame
NIN, The Downward Spiral

 

[Jordon]

Sevendust - Animosity for a great heavy hard rock record.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Devin Townsend - Deconstruction
Ihsahn - After
Alcest - Ecailles de Lune

 

[Star Ark]

aenima is probably my fav. album of all time...but in terms of straight up fidelity, i feel like nothing fucks with lateralus

If we are talking objectively I agree

 

[-Noodles-]

My usual response always begins with 'any Tool album'. Astonishing pieces of work.

 

[raybrochill]

Korn - Untouchables.
Carries so much weight. Big and earthy sounding yet isn't dull or muddy, incredibly polished but no horrible plastic sheen. Much more than a mix, a window in to a world.

 

[Ermz]

Nickelback - All the Right Reasons
Korn - Untouchables
Sevendust - Animosity
Metallica - Load & Reload
Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
In Flames - Clayman
Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Confession - The Long Way Home
Dead by April - Incomparable
Underoath - Disambiguation
Steel Panther - Feel the Steel

 

[ArthurD]

 

[blue_fAng]

Children of bodom's Hatebreeder and Hatecrew Deathroll sound incredible.
Cradle of Filth's Nymphetamine not only sounds good but also has a nice live vibe in it.
Arch Enemy's Anthems of Rebelion, everything sounds so sick in this album.
Austrian Death Machine's Total Brutal and Double Brutal albums sound very good, I think they programmed drums in some parts but the overall feel of the albums are unique.
Necrophagist's Epitaph, awesome tech death
Trivium's Ascendancy, I love how it sounds.
Drowning Pool's Sinner is sick too.
Disturbed, SOAD, Korn, RATM and Rammstein have also great sounding albums but I don't remeber the names.

I don't have a favourite album, I just named what came in my mind when I saw the name of the thread considering only heavy bands. I've heard many other well recorded albums I can't remember.

 

[LiberaScientia]

I'd like to add Times of Grace - Hymn of a Broken Man to my list Fucking love that album, for the songs and the mix. So anthemic but still heavy as fuck.

 

[ArnaudM]

I would say, on a technical level, "L'Enfant Sauvage" by Gojira is an incredible piece of production magic.

On an aesthetical point of view, I would say ABIGOR's "Time...". Never heard something approaching.

There are such a lot of way of engineering an album. Depends on what you are looking for. And like every work of art, quality depends on the adequacy between the esthetical purposes and the technical means that were used. It's a question of balance, chance and sometimes genius.

 

[Heabow]

Nickelback - All the Right Reasons
Korn - Untouchables
Sevendust - Animosity
Metallica - Load & Reload
Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
In Flames - Clayman
Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Confession - The Long Way Home
Dead by April - Incomparable
Underoath - Disambiguation
Steel Panther - Feel the Steel

I knew that Soilwork's STD would be in your list man! Ahahah! An awesome album for sure! BTW can't wait to listen to the new one

 

[solphilcox]

blink 182 - take off your pants and jacket (absolutely unbeatable production/engineering IMO)
underoath - lost in the sound of seperation/disambiguation
despised icon - day of mourning
any manchester orchestra record
the chariot - wars and rumors of wars
pierce the veil - selfish machines
the bled - found in the flood
fall out boy - folie a demux
brand new - daisy/devil and god


and since when were beatles well engineered?

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

I've seen like 2-3 threads like this in the past, in fact, i think i might have a started a "favorite reference album" thread a while back. I wonder why I'm not seeing much Sneap loving? Anyways heres my list not in any order:

KsE- Alive or just breathing
AILD- Shadows are security
Graveworm- Nutopia
10 years- Feeding the wolves (alt rock)
August Burns Red- Constellations, Leveler
Arch Enemy- Doomsday Machine
Limp Bizkit - Choc Starfish
Slipknot- Iowa
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Impending Doom- For the wicked
Atreyu- Death-grip on yesterday
TBDM- Nocturnal
Papa Roach- Infest
Zao- Funeral of God

 

[ArnaudM]

@XxSicRokerxX

I admire Sneap for his regularity. He never bungles, which is not the case of a lot of producers/sound engineers, even among the greatest. In fact, I can hardly find any weak point in his career. That's why, in my opinion, he is the best.

That said, all the Exodus and Testament albums he did are in my references folder when I mix a new project (+ This Godless Endeavour by Nevermore, Engame by Megadeth, etc.). But I also like when a mix outfits the "good production" standards. That's why I named ABIGOR last album.

 

[Scottxx]

Hammerfall - Legacy of kings

 

[Ensi]

As I Lay Dying - 'An Ocean Between Us' has some seriously killer sound!

 

[IanM]

Deftones- Diamond Eyes
In Flames- Sounds of A Playground Fading
Soilwork- Stabbing The Drama
Exodus- Exhibit B
Bullet For My Valentine-Fever
Pantera- Far Beyond Driven
Disturbed- Indestructible
Thrice- Major/Minor
Opeth- Watershed

 

[Felix Neumann]

Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
Exodus - The Atrocity Exhibition 1 & 2
Symphony X - Iconoclast

I agree with the Metallica records, Bob Rock produced.