DISTANToblivion's post
here gave me this thread idea. The question is simple - what albums do you think have suffered from over/under production or poor production in general? The words 'marred' and 'suffered' imply that the album should have some worth before production is taken into account so I don't want to hear any mention of Kenny G and his polished turds.
I like XTC's Skylarking but sometimes find it a bit overproduced and hard to handle. I'd prefer the production to be more akin to that of their earlier albums. Maybe I'm in the minority there? I feel that Black Sabbath Vol. 4 and Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny are a bit weak/thin sounding. And I'm not a fan of the production on Give 'Em Enough Rope (the Clash) either.
Californication is an example of a production disaster. I'm not a huge fan of the songwriting anyway (some good songs and some atrocities like Purple Stain but either way pretty run of the mill compared to the early stuff) but what the hell was Rick Rubin thinking when it came to the production? It's treble-addled, loud and annoying.
Speaking of treble, it can work sometimes...
this album has possibly the harshest production I've ever heard (supposedly recorded on an 8-track in the forest) but I think it suits. Conversely, I don't think black metal necessarily demands crap production and I've always found Emperor to be underproduced since they have a lot going on but it's sometimes lost in the sound.
Unlike most, I'm not too bothered by the flat production of the Smiths' S/T. What do you guys think of the pristine production behind Steely Dan?