I fail to hear the "BAD" production in Morning rise.....!!!!

[Powers]

So we still have yet to hear what Roadrunner's production deptarment will do to them?

All my anxieties about them signing to Roadrunner are coming back again.

 

[Ermz]

It depends what was specified on the contract that Opeth signed. RoadRunner may have total control over that aspect, limited control, or no control at all. I don't think Opeth would hand over control of major elements like that so readily though, especially at this stage in their career. They know what they're doing.

Also, as far as I'm aware, production houses, recording studios, producers and engineers usually work seperate of record labels. There's 'regulars' who the label would go back to frequently, but there's no direct employment. At least, that's my understanding. I think some labels do own their own recording facilities though.

 

[Powers]

I'm glad someone on this board knows a lot more about this stuff than i do.

Cheers.

 

[AnTz0r]

Actually there was a little album called 'Damnation' which came prior to Ghost Reveries. It's where the bass guitar is the most audible, by a long shot.

Of course, I know, but there is no sense in comparing mellow album to a death metal album. You of course know that it's much easier making all instruments audible when there is just some drums, 3 acoustics and bass and vocals then when you got about 5 layered distorted guitars and double bass drums.

This goes for both damnation and heavy albums. The bass in Face of Melinda is of course very audible. But in the heavy songs it's gone.

 

[SacredReich]

The production on Orchid and Morningrise is the best of all the Opeth material, IMHO.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

St Anger is a good album just not by Metallica standards. It's a fucking nu metal record if another band had made people would have praised the ground they walked on. Alas for Metallica it's rubbish.

St. Anger is one of the worst records I've ever heard, by anyones standards. It sits just above Korn in my goodness scale (trust me, that's an insult, I hate Korn).

 

[SacredReich]

Wow. Yeah I got the LE DVD/CD release from somewhere....can't remember...but as we speak it's going for 5 bucks on Ebay.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

God, I'd almost pay for someone to take it away from me!

But no, firstly because I'm cheap, and secondly because as long as I have it I can boast a bigger record collection

 

[SacredReich]

Yeah, well, I'm almost 18....so that means not long ago (4 years ago) I went through the shitty phase of my teenage years where I liked punk etc....So after putting it all up for sale/giving it away, my collection is down about 30 cds now.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

That's a good idea, I probably should do that... Did you ever watch the free St Anger dvd, btw? Talk about a sucky live band! Bad album, played badly
Lars Ulrich looked like he was about to die after they finished St Anger (the second song)!!!

 

[SacredReich]

Oh yeah....piece of shit if i've ever seen one.

THey're just a stupid, stupid excuse for a band. And I can guarantee I'll get at least 20 bucks for it because of the stupid fan base that think they're hardcore for listening to "metal".

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Metallica are so pretentious. They released St. Anger here on a Thursday (all albums come out on a Monday), just so that they could fuel their pussy ego's because they were sure they would be the number one record by Sunday. They weren't. Ok, I bought the record, and even I laughed my arse off at them!!! 'Tards...

 

[SacredReich]

mm. They headlined the BIg Day Out a few yaears ago here in Sydney...I watched from my loungeroom....I hate them, I'll say no more.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Cool, so....the production on Morningrise?

Lol, can't even remember if I commented on that yet, but I think it's ok. Suits the album I guess, but I'm a production freak, so I like things to sound as polished as humanly possible.

 

[SacredReich]

Hehehe.

Nah I love it. I think it's possibly the best production of all their albums.

 

[Jim LotFP]

hmmm. For a long time, Morningrise was my favorite album. This thread made me listen to it again and it's on right now.

I neglect this album these days. I'm an idiot who sold my old Morningrise and got the new one with the shitty bonus track at the end, which makes the whole thing seem... tainted.

Wait. Wait. Wait. WAIT.

HOLY CRAP. To Bid You Farewell just ended... and no extra song. MY WIFE SWITCHED THE REISSUE WITH AN OLD VERSION AND DIDN'T TELL ME?! I was just about to ask everyone here if they had an older non-bonustracked version they'd sell/trade.

You learn something new every day, I guess. That also means my version hasn't been remastered or souped up or anything (if they did do that for the 2000 or 2003 re-issues), so I can get to my original point of replying here.

The only thing this album lacks is Mikael's later singing confidence, but when considering the meaning of these songs, that might even be in its favor. A stronger, more confident style of singing may be totally inappropriate for The Night and the Silent Water, for example.

The production isn't "perfect" (the bass drums have a bit too much click to them) but it is a good production (clear left-right separation in the guitars, a strong and ever-audible bass, nothing obscured in the mix, etc). The atmosphere of the album is aided by the production. This music is not death metal or black metal or any kind of extreme metal outside of the vocals. The thicker, heavier guitar sounds of later albums would destroy this album, just as I suspect this same production wouldn't fit the material on Blackwater Park.

I'd say the sound is far more organic, but I don't know how computer-based Swanö's set-up was in 1996. Surely the album doesn't sound as processed as later work does.

7:27-8:56 of Black Rose Immortal is still the greatest 89 continuous seconds of music ever recorded.

Hmmm. Maybe I need to have a little 'rankings' competition. Now that I'm listening to this album in its entirety as it was originally released (all I need now is an original Candlelight pressing without the logo on the cover, haha), saying that The August Engine bests it may be... incorrect.

Ramble over.

 

[AnTz0r]

I'd say the sound is far more organic, but I don't know how computer-based Swanö's set-up was in 1996. Surely the album doesn't sound as processed as later work does.

well, how digital does Crimson I or Emotional Wasteland sound to you?

 

[Ermz]

I doubt he would've been using analogue tape back in '96. He produced Orchid didn't he? It sounds very digital. Tape doesn't sound that harsh. More than likely ADATs were used.

 

[Jim LotFP]

well, how digital does Crimson I or Emotional Wasteland sound to you?

Crimson sounds 'normal' to me. But it's tricky trying to pick such things out by ear, because studio technology isn't something I keep up on. I'm just disheartened that great artists use digital editing these days to perfect their performances instead of, you know, performing it correctly even one time. It shows how things have changed when Gene Hoglan says that he lets Pro-Tools take care of stray beats instead of doing another take... and he says that on the DVD that came with Alien! *sigh*

Now that I think about it some more, I recall Mikael saying they used a click-track for Morningrise to prevent tempo issues that appeared on Orchid... so I guess Morningrise was 100% played. (not that recent stuff isn't, but I doubt anybody who goes into a decent studio these days doesn't do the editing thing).

 

[Tubbs]

I'd say Deliverance has the worst production...

*sigh* Oh jeez, here we go. ANOTHER person bashing Deliverance. I'm getting tired of you people, seriously.

- the Somewhat Fat Guitarist