How important is production to an album

[speed]

I'd like to know- as I love the cheap shitty production of early entombed, and slayer- gives the music an extra layer- and its cheap as hell, yet it somehow worked.

Of course Im not talking about the intentionally horrible prodction of St ANger- Id rather not talk about it- we all know how bad it is.

Yet, at the same time I love some of the overproduced metal bands- like Hevy devy's stuff( apart from lamb of god), late Samael etc.

So just what do you guys like? Should a band spend a shitload on production- does it matter?

 

[no country for old wainds]

Darkthrone's production fits their music brilliantly (UAFM and TH, mainly). Opeth's production fits their music brilliantly. Both have incredibly different production.

If it costs money to make production sound clear, and clear production makes the music sound better, then most definitely, spend the money. It isn't always the case though.

 

[Phrozenspite]

it depends on the music really, sometimes less production adds to the atmosphere of things(I.E Black metal, and early opeth) but great things can be done with good production as well... Its really up to the artist but generally good production is ok unless the artist is using it to cover up a lack of talent(Slipknot). it definitely matters but there isn't one type of production thats always superior... I generally find that more brutal or extreme forms of music like to have production a little hazier which works for them while more progressive bands go for the massive production

 

[SADUDE]

It depends on the music.

 

[Thanatopsis123]

Best signature ever SADUDE. *reps*

 

[Esteban]

IMO good production is a must, since bad production can ruin an album, no matter what kind of music.

 

[SADUDE]

Best signature ever SADUDE. *reps*

hahahahahha. I expected somebody to respond to it soon. The actress that played winnie cooper is acctually a math genious who recently graduated from UCLA. Brains and beauty...Go figure.

 

[SculptedCold]

IMO good production is a must, since bad production can ruin an album, no matter what kind of music.

Bad production can ruin an album, but I actually find that it rarely does. Hmm, who am I kidding, i'm actually starting to PREFER bad productions! LoL.


nah really....production is part of the sound of the album, so it's an integral element to the entire interpretive quality that's offered to the listener. Of course, some people will say they concentrate on how good the music is, some will say a bad production aids the atmosphere, some will say bad production takes away from the album......I don't hold one view myself. I find it very much varies between albums. I've heard death metal albums that sound awfully produced to me and excellently produced...and read those opinions inverted from other people!

As far as production is concerned, I can really only think of one certain thing; music can be overproduced.

 

[SculptedCold]

hahahahahha. I expected somebody to respond to it soon. The actress that played winnie cooper is acctually a math genious who recently graduated from UCLA. Brains and beauty...Go figure.

beauty???! She looks like someone stomped on top of her head while she was lying belly-down face-up on concrete.

 

[Dick Rott]

Production is very important. I don't care how cool the riffs are, if you can't tell how cool they are because the mix is all treble, and the drums/guitars ect just sound like my balls slapping up against some womans chode, it takes away from the music.

There are exeptions, but can you imagine Suffocation mixed like early Darkthrone? It would sound like shit.

Most music needs a good production (imo). If you play "tr00 Norwegian satanic black metal of the dark lord", then you can get away with shitty productions.

 

[Sacha]

I'm getting really sick of hearing albums where every note is pro-tools perfect, punched in and pitch corrected. Ya just know people can't possibly play that perfect, and that they probably recorded in small little parts and copy and pasted everything together...I could live with hearing a few small mistakes in exchange for knowing the band can pull it off almost perfect live...

 

[Dick Rott]

I just wish these bands with shitty ass production would practice what they preach (or inflict on the masses with their releases), and when on stage the drummer should tighten his skins to the max, and put moongell all around the edges so all he gets is a high pitched slapping sound. The guitarist should turn the treble all the way up, and the bass all the way down. The basist shouldn't play at all, and the vocalist should plug his mic directly into an Aiwa Boombox that is mic'd to the PA system.

If they like that fuckin sound so much.

 

[stefan86]

Depends on the music, but well-produced but not over-produced is the way I prefer it.
The latest cds by bands like CoB and The Haunted have had excellent production.
As long as you avoid the "throwing-out-experienced-metal-producer-for-pop-n00b" thingy that IF did with R2R you'll usually manage ok.

 

[speed]

Why is the bass guitar generally always buried in so many metal bands productions? Hell one has to get out the special earphones to hear the bass- I never have understood why this is the case- the bass guitar sounds great with metal- yet so many bands bury it.

 

[stefan86]

the bass usually gets its revenge on the guitars at some of the live sets with bad sound engineers

 

[AjDeath]

Here is my theory for production, 33.33%material. the material undoubtedly has to be good for it to be a good album-33.33% production, the production must be good, that is a given, I am sure Slayer and all the older bands would have insisted on a good production if the tools were available. 33.34% rawness, raw material, and raw production balanced with sound quality makes for metal production at it's finest. It doesn't sound like it makes sense but believe me, it does.

 

[stefan86]

@AjDeath: it does make sense, taking away all the rawness makes it boring and taking away the quality makes it sound like shit.
Its really a matter of good balance.
For example, I love the production of the good old Metallica - Ride The Lightning, and anyone who says that cd sounds perfected quality-wise must have rammed his head into something big

 

[AjDeath]

@AjDeath: it does make sense, taking away all the rawness makes it boring and taking away the quality makes it sound like shit.
Its really a matter of good balance.
For example, I love the production of the good old Metallica - Ride The Lightning, and anyone who says that cd sounds perfected quality-wise must have rammed his head into something big

Yes, sometimes the material supersedes the production, early Metallica is a great example of this, ...And Justice had horrible production yet is one of the alltime classics in this genre, same with Rust In Piece, but today, production is essential, the material they were doing was new and fresh so it HAD to sound good, b ut today, it's all about putting down something that is treid and true, which is a shame but it isn't a bad thing either, so the production has to be good.

 

[SADUDE]

Bad production can ruin an album, but I actually find that it rarely does. Hmm, who am I kidding, i'm actually starting to PREFER bad productions! LoL.


nah really....production is part of the sound of the album, so it's an integral element to the entire interpretive quality that's offered to the listener. Of course, some people will say they concentrate on how good the music is, some will say a bad production aids the atmosphere, some will say bad production takes away from the album......I don't hold one view myself. I find it very much varies between albums. I've heard death metal albums that sound awfully produced to me and excellently produced...and read those opinions inverted from other people!

As far as production is concerned, I can really only think of one certain thing; music can be overproduced.

I feel we must define over-produced at this point.
Overproduced: Opeth post-still life.

 

[SADUDE]

Why is the bass guitar generally always buried in so many metal bands productions? Hell one has to get out the special earphones to hear the bass- I never have understood why this is the case- the bass guitar sounds great with metal- yet so many bands bury it.

I play bass. It isn't heard because mainly due to egotistical guitarists. Sometimes the guitar eats into the frequency by detuning and they battle it out for the mix. The bass usually loses. And in the rare cases that is is heard people call them gods. Steve Digiorgio, Alex Webster, The cryptopsy guy. They all get their credit mostly because they are more audible than most bass players in a mix. There is so much that could be done but isn't. This really pisses me off. But I'll stop here.