First album with Andy's Signature Sound?

[meanmrmustad]

What was it? I listened to disgust from 96, or the Artillery album from '99 but they don't sound like sneap?

 

[Fox Mulder]

That's a hard one. Exodus' Another Lesson in Violence maybe?

 

[JeffTD]

I think the first album with the Sneap sound as we now know it could very well have been Dead Heart in a Dead World. The Gathering and the older Skinlab/Lock Up/Stuck Mojo albums all rule but they don't sound like 'Sneap' if that makes sense.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'd have to go with "Declaration of a Headhunter"

 

[JeffTD]

Alright now I'm really confused. Why was this moved? It was a discussion about Sneap, definitely fits in the front page?

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'm guessing because it has more to do with the establishment of his sound throughout his discography or something like that?

I might be wrong but its all that comes to mind

 

[Jind]

I'm guessing because it has more to do with the establishment of his sound throughout his discography or something like that?

I might be wrong but its all that comes to mind

That would be my thought.

I'd be interested to hear Andy's thoughts on the question and whether he would really think he has "a signature sound"? or is everything really driven by the individual song, album, desired outcome, ...

It is an interesting question, one I'm probably not qualified to provide input to as I readily admit that while I appreciate the production side of music and have worked hard to understand it as much as I can and apply things I like to my own music, I don't really look for signature sounds in music, it really is as simple as I like this, I don't like that, If I can enjoy a song, or a band, the production, while important and surely playing a part in that enjoyment on some physical level, is secondary to me (I know, I know - possibly sacrilege to some around here but I'm being honest).

There are very few albums I would say I enjoy simply because of the production - for me a great production does not make bad or boring music tolerable, but like everything else, it's simply a personal opinion. But then again everyone's taste in music and how/why, they enjoy certain aspects is very much an individual thing.

Back on topic however, I'd really be interested to hear Andy's thought's on the specific subject and the larger question of signature sounds in production, not necessarily the music itself.

 

[Manicompression]

I think for anyone who does anything at a top quality professional level it starts with a period of just doing the best you can with what you have and as your skills improve things become something you have an ability to steer and control the outcome of. When I hear the Pissing Razors album I think it rules but it was probably just the best Andy could do at the time, and when I listen to the newer stuff like Megadeth or Testament I can tell that he shaped the outcome in a flattering way that is more cohesive overall and not just "good enough".
To the OP I think the transition to his current skill set has been very gradual and that naming a definate turning point would be pretty difficult.

 

[cfh11]

first 2 pissing razors albums... those mixes rule

 

[dan weapon]

Back in 1998 I started buying pretty much any album, regardless of the band, that was mixed by Andy. I seem to recall; 'Rising' (Stuck Mojo), 'Inside The Torn Apart' (napalm death), Pissing Razors' eponymous debut and Testament's 'the Gathering' were all released that year and they all have a classic Sneap sound to my ears. They were certainly the albums that made me go 'holy fuck this sounds incredible' years before I knew anything about sound production. A couple of years earlier I'd noticed that all my favourite sounding albums had Colin Richardson's name on it (machine head, dearly beheaded, fear factory etc) but then The More Things Change came out with both of them in the credits... maybe that was the turning point? I don't know for sure, but somewhere in late 1997/early1998 would be when all of Andy's albums started to have his signature clarity/guitar tone/drum punch (I would guess).