Top production albums everyone should have?

[NickL]

Here are some reference albums I recommend for testing monitors and tuning sound systems.

Flat frequency content:
Steely Dan- Aja
Janis Ian- Breaking Silence

Low End:
Nine Inch Nails- The Downward Spiral and The Fragile
Dr. Dre- The Chronic
John Coltrane- Africa/Brass

Impact:
Rage Against The Machine- S/t

If your system tests well on all of these you have an absolutely killer system.

 

[DeclanWhite]

the amity affliction - youngbloods.

sooo smooth on the ears, and therefore pretty marketable...
but mainly huge and vibey as fuck!

most of my others have already been mentioned

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Sybreed - The Pulse of Awakening
Red - Until We Have Faces
Two Steps From Hell - Invincible
Evergrey - Recreation Day
Empyrios - The Glorious Sickness
Katatonia - Night is The New Day
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

 

[Mattayus]

I assume we are talking about TAIS - I have never found it irritating. They really pushed it, but it seems they knew right when to stop. It fits the mechanical/industrial/pseudo-digital vibe of the overall sound and makes the music sound even more explosive... so much energy, even if it lacks dynamics. I haven't listened to their later stuff with Guilewhathisname... I saw a video with him butchering Door 2.12 and acting like a 12 year old on stage and that really turned me off. His former band Scarve is killer though

No I was talking about Sons of The System. Everything else they've done before that has been stellar, but there's something particularly irritating about the mastering on that one. Listen to the youtube vid I put up, and listen out for the overheads when there's any double-kick parts. SSSssSSsssSSsssSSSs...

 

[prostetnic]

Yeah, they really let themselves go on this one, mastering wise.

Pulse Ultra - Headspace. The only album of probably the most underrated alt rock band that ever existed, they were exactly as talanted as they were unlucky Anyway, there is some major natural drums and analog vibe going on here (though i'm pretty sure they went with ProTools), everything sounds beautiful and very, very true, without being plain or dry - its the sound you get when you have great, inspired musicians giving the best they have in awesome recording conditions.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLM3aqHIPdw&feature=related[/ame]

 

[icos]

+1 for NIN, the Fragile.

Tom Waits, Mule Variations

Fear Factory, Obsolete

Portishead, Dummy

Soundgarden, Superunknown

Guns 'N Roses, Appetite for Destruction (so filthy, but you can hear everything, and that bass sound.....)

 

[Ermz]

Portishead, Dummy

Good call. I'm still amazed at how great this record sounds, being almost all in mono. The whole thing is so lo-fi and tape-laden, but sounds lush as heck.

 

[drew_drummer]

Tool, Lateralus - Love the way the guitar and bass sit on this album.
Tool, 10,000 Days - Love the way the bass is more prominent on this album, and how it really cuts through.
ISIS, In The Absence Of Truth - Love how fucking reverby everything is!!
Cult Of Luna, Salvation - Drums are tasty, as are the synths dotted about the place.
Oceansize, Everyone Into Position - Just fat and distorted in places, really crunchy vibe.
Prodigy, Music For A Jilted Generation - It's like hip-hop production applied to electronica.
65DaysOfStatic, The Fall Of Math - Glitchy and abrasive in places, but the whole ethos really shines through.
System Of A Down, Toxicity - Classic metal production imho.
Chevelle, Point #1 - Guitars are really lovely sounding on this album. One of my reference albums.

 

[Nick M]

Just some personal favourites:

Metallica - Metallica
Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine (also love Terria and SYL's City)
Fear Factory - Demanufacture
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Yes - 90125
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Tool - 10,000 Days
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Michael Jackson - Bad
Seal - Kiss From A Rose

And too many of Andy's work to mention individual albums.

I like this list and the diversity

 

[Mm1066]

Parkway Drive - Killing With A Smile

Simply because it was recorded in 2 weeks, and has probably my favourite heavy guitar tone.

Also, the drums actually sound real.

 

[lolzgreg]

Surprised to see so much love for Ghost Reveries, IMO Blackwater Park and Watershed are both better mixes (they sound vastly different, but both sound great, loving the kinda washed-out, beautiful mids on Watershed).

PLUS FUCKING ONE SON!

Blackwater Park sounds so raw and real. I love it to death.

Watershed has a gorgeous cohesive juicy vibe and tons of ambience.

 

[AllanD]

Jane Doe - Converge. Pure analog clipping bliss.

 

[nezvers]

hmm... why nobody mentioned - Becoming The Archetype - Physics Of Fire (job of Andreas Lars Magnusson)
Never heard that guitar fizzing/ crunching/ chuging/ and so on....
I just want to know what the hell is done on it.

 

[Taurean]

Gojira - The Link
Morbid Angel - Covenant

 

[xTomx]

Misery Signals - Of Malice And The Magnum Heart Devin Townsend so no suprise it sounds amazing, production seems like the antithesis of all metalcore today.
Lower Than Atlantis - Far Q Got made on a shoestring budget and recorded in an abandoned printing factory, awesome production.
Defeater - Lost Ground Can think of very few people in hardcore as talented as Jay Maas, really knows how to suit a production to a band.
Mother Of Mercy - IV:Symptoms of Existence Jay Maas again, this album sounds HUGE, probably the only metal thing I'll post either.

 

[Ascendant]

Ayreon - 01011001 Just sounds stellar overall

Someone will probably disagree about this one but
Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
I think the production and mix really fits the material, compliments the atmosphere of the album perfectly.

 

[sprack]

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
Septic Flesh - The Great Mass
Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra
Led Zepplin - Physical Graffiti
The Police - Synchronicity
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

For a live album:
Slayer - Decade of Aggression

 

[FadeToMuffins864]

Am I the only one who absolutely despises Stabbing the Drama? The snare drum sounds like a plastic food container, and the guitars sound like thin, fizzy static. That album has some of the absolute worst guitar tone I've ever heard.

Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin/Anthems of Rebellion
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Unearth - the oncoming storm

 

[kvoid]

Pink Floyd - Animals
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (even with the played-over toms)

 

[AllanD]

Am I the only one who absolutely despises Stabbing the Drama? The snare drum sounds like a plastic food container, and the guitars sound like thin, fizzy static. That album has some of the absolute worst guitar tone I've ever heard.

Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin/Anthems of Rebellion
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Unearth - the oncoming storm

No I agree, it sounds terrible. I could care less how huge the low end is, every other "end" is shit.