Jazz at the Yawnshop, Snorah Jones, etc.
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I have wondered about ‘Jazz At The Pawnshop’ for years, as it was always said to be such a great recording. I bought a copy a few weeks ago, and must play it soon, if only to hear for myself what all the fuss was about.
That’s interesting, I have never heard complaints about the sound quality on ‘Born To Run’ - I shall have to dig out my copy, and give it a spin. I would have said that it’s a well recorded album. We shall see.
I don’t think it is, technically, badly recorded. Springsteen just wanted to get that “wall of sound” effect and I am not a fan of that
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For me it is the title track ‘Born to Run’ that sounds out of kilter with the rest of the (great) sound on the album.
Bruce and his manager Mike Appel recorded the track in a different studio to the other tracks on the album. It then sat around for a year before they got round to finishing the album.
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I am glad it’s not me - that should have been on my list too.
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I think I first thought that when I first heard it in 1972, when my ears were a lot better than they are now!
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Damn I wish you hadn’t pointed this out. The first track First Light doesn’t sound too bad and then on I see what you mean.
Shel Talmy produced the album - known for his productions of The Who and The Kinks - probably used the amps Dave Davies had perforated with knitting needles.
Actually even the first track sounds a bit screwed to me. I won’t tell you how many tweaks to my SME 3009 Series 2 arm and V15/2 (Improved) cartridge I tried. I even swapped to the ADC26 cartridge and then later the Technics U205CMK3 in the pursuit of better. When eventually I bought the album on CD, I was amazed that it sounded just as bad as the vinyl, especially as I had expected to get “perfect sound forever”!
A mate of mine has all my old vinyl and he has a highly loaded LP12 with a Lyra cartridge. I must ask him to have a quick listen!
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This is an easy one for me. I think Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti is terrible on modern hifi, especially those without separate bass/treble controls or a loudness button. Kashmir is the worse. I have a 1975 Marantz receiver with Klipsch speakers (Belles, I know but I have always loved them), and every single person who has ever listened to Kashmir on my 500 series Naim system prefers the old Marantz/Klipsch on that song (except Tyler and he sold me all my new stuff). It’s just a terrible recording, IMHO.
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Same goes for Achtung Baby.
But… Lanois’ work on Bob Dylan’s ‘Oh Mercy’ from the same era, was genius.
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Just about all of Todd Rundgren’s albums on the Bearsville label
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Here’s one. Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Don’t Stand Me Down
There are a couple gems on this album but this LP is really the strongest argument for tone controls. Unless you whack the trebble to max and the bass over halfway, it sounds like listening from the bottom of a swimming pool. It’s so messed up that when I first played it, I thought I got a rare non RIAA equalised record and had to check the sleeve to make sure it wasn’t DECCA or something.
“The Oasis Paradox”. The better your system, the worse their earlier albums sound. ‘Definitely Maybe’ has well documented recording and mixing issues, but I suspect the Bono alarm clock radio trick mentioned earlier played a part too.
Oasis isn’t about musical subtleties and nuances of course, but that’s the same for many “louder” artists - who end up with good recordings anyway.
By the time you get to the subtler stuff like “Whatever” and “ Half the world away” things are more listenable on a decent system.
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Another vote for Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, I love the energy but I find the mix way too dense. I’ve recently got a hi res version that’s better but still not brilliant.
Apart from “Todd”. A very good recording especially the original vinyl. Benefits from being a double album so the music hasn’t been squeezed on. Compare this with “Wizard” and “Initiation” which are both far to long for a single album.
Crickey! I see what you mean. I’ve not listened to the Joshua Tree for years but just played it (admittedly on Tidal) and it sounds like I’ve got ear plugs in. What a desperate shame. Surely it’s an important enough record for someone who knows what they are doing to get hold of the masters and produce this properly?
Haha NorfolkT - doesn’t it just!!! What a truly abominable recording - Eno and Lanois must be bloody deaf!!
I liken it to listening to music with a bad head cold - or was that the effect they were seeking???
Just give the masters to Giles Martin I say - everything he touches turns to solid gold just like his father…
Somebody earlier asked what U2 albums I would consider better recorded and from memory (I haven’t played it in a while) I recall “The Unforgettable Fire” actually sounded pretty good on my original vinyl copy. Might need to test that theory today!
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These technical insights are fascinating. DG and Karajan influenced my selection of albums so much in the 80’s; I suspect I was not alone. Since the demise of the Penguin Guides to music (LP then CD) the streaming era has opened up other versions of the music that I return to regularly, although I did discover superb Finish recordings of Sibelius in the 90’s. As a result I am rediscovering Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.
In more contemporary terms, a Sandy Denny compilation on Island Records disappoints. It’s ‘who knows where the time goes’; it has some great tracks but perhaps not enough care was taken with the set.
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BTR is a bit flat but as it doesn’t suffer from jarring dynamic compression, it’s problems don’t bother me too much. I have probably the same hi res version and while it doesn’t “sparkle” neither does any of my other music from the same era to be honest… which makes up a huge amount of my collection.
I can get past a lot of faults with recording as long as they are not dynamic range compression/total range normalisation.
For example, Sly And The Family Stone’s Stand! is a great album. Very low fi due to how their recording process used multiple layers of tape to keep recording the next instrument over the top in multiple iterations. Hissy. Lacking detail. But not committing the cardinal sin of over compression so played back it still conveys that great energy and performance. If I let more than compression bother me, I think I’d have to give up on hifi given my taste in music.
Compared to a lot of my collection, BTR actually falls into the “very good quality” bucket.
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