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06-11-2011, 07:02 PM | #1 (permalink) | |
The Sexual Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Somewhere cooler than you
Posts: 18,605
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Quote:
The bass & the drums never sounded better on a Metallica album. The problem with the album is the songs were lacklustre, not the production.
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06-11-2011, 07:19 PM | #2 (permalink) |
Buzz Killjoy
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 2,692
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Yeah, though I think at the same time Metallica had part to do with that production, it was right after Cliff Burton and they were a**holes man, it is no secret they would turn Jason's bass down on him during the recording sessions... i think both the band and the producer of AJFA had equal part of making that record that way.
But the difference is, the songs on AJFA were actually really interesting, it is hard to tell because of the fact the production sucked... no clarity in the bass.. well, actually pretty much no bass... and Lars drums sounded like soup cans, and the tone on the guitars sucked.... But behind it was great songs, and interesting music... more so than anything. Looking at a list of other albums he has produced or co-produced... he is not all bad. He did Morbid Angel's "Covanent", I am not sure if you are a fan of Death Metal, but either way that album had a great production quality to it. It sounded pretty good... so that says he is a capable producer. "By Inheritance" by Artillery. Which is a great thrash metal album, it holds a pretty good rating on rate your music, so i think that speaks to the fact he has experience.. not to mention he co-produced both "Ride the Lightening" and "Master of Puppets"... But looking at Bob Rock's stuff, he has a whole list of stuff that just wasn't that good, or else may it is just he had no experience with metal, besides Motley Crue before... but i could not give a crap about that. I listened to the 2009 remaster of AJFA recently, and all though it is not perfect, it did improve a lot of it and made for a more listenable album, one of the few remasters that I actually felt improved the quality. You are right though, the songs are lackluster. I can not dispute that at all. But I think it was also to do with the prodution as well... given the right one, it could of been much better.
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last.fm "I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people." - Jack Handey. |
06-12-2011, 02:28 AM | #3 (permalink) |
Horribly Creative
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: London, The Big Smoke
Posts: 8,265
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They chose Bob Rock because he was capable of giving them the exact sound that they wanted, which was a clean sounding metal album for the masses and to be be fair they succeeded. Before that album Bob Rock had shown what he could do with "Sonic Temple" by the Cult and "Dr.Feelgood" by Motley Crue so they knew what they were getting. Flemming Rasmussen besides already being known to them, had done good production jobs with Morbid Angel and Blind Guardian. As far I know and have read, a lot of the fault for AJFA is down to both Jason Newsted and Rasmussen not getting the bass mix right, personally I always felt Newsted was made a scapegoat for the **** up largely because he was the new boy.
That aside, I still think AJFA is their most interesting album and one of my favs by the band and definately agree with it being cited as a flawed masterpiece. |
06-12-2011, 05:01 AM | #4 (permalink) |
∞
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 3,792
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Jason Newsted definitely wasn't at fault on AJFA. I'm pretty sure it was Lars and James that made the decision on the bass mix, they had no confidence in Jason's bass-playing abilities so they decided to mix him out.
I think Jason's bass on the Black Album is pretty solid though. He was no Cliff Burton but he got the job done well.
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06-12-2011, 11:08 AM | #6 (permalink) | |
Buzz Killjoy
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 2,692
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Quote:
James atleast if I recall correctly has even has they really gave Jason a hard time while recording AJFA. They were drunken a**holes who treated him badly just on the basis that he was not Cliff Burton. I never once blamed Jason personally for the bad bass on AJFA, he did his best, which was good... it was Lars and James final say in the production that screwed him. Jason is a good bass player, the remaster I heard of the album shows it more.. it was fixed a bit, and it is more clear. Jason was not the issue, it was that I think James and Lars would turn it down, just to screw with him. I dot not think it is a secret that they actually did not like him, and treated him like crap when he joined up. they got better as time went on, but i think in a sense Cliff Burton's death screwed Jason on AJFA.. because the rest of the guys took it out on him.
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last.fm "I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people." - Jack Handey. |
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