Brendan O'Brien

Gordon -10 · 22nd January 2008, 03:55 AM

After a few years of mixing with low end stuff I've finally amassed some higher end gear. And as a result I am listening to some old favorite albums for what seems like the first time. In particular Ive been listening to Superunknown. Even more specifically the intro to Head Down. I get a little overwhelmed at such a fantastic sonic accomplishment. The perfect mix of expensive gear and actual talent!

Which leads me to my question, what are your favorite songs or albums mixed by Mr.O'Brien. I'm limited to my cd collection and don't want to miss out on any gems. I'm also curious to see where Superunknown holds up amongst credentials...

Drumsound · 22nd January 2008, 05:13 AM

I really love the sound of "Hollywood Town Hall" by the Jayhawks. He mixed that, and possibly tracked some of it too.

There's a bunch of other stuff too.

the_Chris · 22nd January 2008, 05:15 AM

I've always been a big fan of Pearl Jam and he produced a lot of their stuff. Soundgarden is great too... "Superunknown" is a favorite of mine.

He's had a hand in so many great albums: "Blood Sugar Sex Magick" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Shake Your Money Maker" by the Black Crowes, "Spiritual Machines" by Our Lady Peace, "Libertad" by Velvet Revolver not to mention half of Stone Temple Pilots' stuff.

BLueROom · 22nd January 2008, 05:39 AM

Brendan O'Brian is most definitely one of my favs. Superunknown is a fantastic album; a mixing job that has withstood the test of time. I find him and Paul Northfield on the names of a large part of my collection.

SyncSailor · 22nd January 2008, 05:44 AM

and in a slightly different genre, I think his production/mix of Bruce Springsteens The Rising is worth many listens.

AMIEL · 22nd January 2008, 06:31 AM

"Drops of Jupiter" from TRAIN.....great song and album!

Podgorny · 22nd January 2008, 09:27 AM

Kings X - Dogman

**Jules** · 22nd January 2008, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMIEL

"Drops of Jupiter" from TRAIN.....great song and album!

He hit a big warm roomy drum sound home run on that one IMHO

Matt_Weston · 22nd January 2008, 03:44 PM

Another huge fan of Superunknown. I recall liking a lot of that mid-era Pearl Jam stuff too, can't remember off the top of my head which ones he worked on. But Vs. through Yield are the ones I will still listen too.

roscoenyc · 22nd January 2008, 04:45 PM

Great guitar player also.

He played all the lead guitar on "Shake Your Moneymaker" and also on Dan Baird's "Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired.

BLUElightCory · 22nd January 2008, 05:03 PM

Incubus "A Crow Left of the Murder" - unbelievable drum sounds!

heyman · 22nd January 2008, 05:08 PM

That STP album...

Fantastic

minor7th · 22nd January 2008, 05:15 PM

More like all of the STP records.

Tiny Music still stands as one of my all time favorite albums from both a songwriting and production aspect. There are some rough spots in it, but in the end it all lends to a raw aggressive rock record. All the garage rock songs that start out the album sound great.

And for totally insane sounding drums check out "Priceless" on Incubus' A Crow Left of the Murder.

Brendan's guitar tones are what I use to measure my own.

heyman · 22nd January 2008, 07:24 PM

Yes, Tiny music... I love the tones onn that album..

I saw that tour as well..

Blake Minaker · 22nd January 2008, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLUElightCory

Incubus "A Crow Left of the Murder" - unbelievable drum sounds!

Definitely. Sonically amazing. Very deep and warm. One of my favourites.

thedoner · 22nd January 2008, 07:44 PM

Superunknown is a masterpiece!
Also love Purple (the 2nd album) by STP - Great natural, roomy drum sounds
and of course the first Rage album.
-G

rcm · 22nd January 2008, 08:16 PM

Pearl Jam's Vs. album still blows me away. It marries the big crunchy drums sounds of BOB's later work but also maintains great tone and body in the instruments. A real benchmark in rock recording.

Musiclab · 22nd January 2008, 08:34 PM

I also really like Drops of Jupiter. 2 nights ago I was watching a film that had a Springsteen
song on it I'd never heard that had a way cool vibe to it. produced by Brendan O'Brien

Jamz · 22nd January 2008, 08:38 PM

+1 on Black Crowes "Shake Your Money Maker" and Pearl Jam's "VS".
The new Springsteen song (which I like very much) and the new album "Maghic" was produced and mixed by BO'B.

jonboyrock · 15th May 2008, 07:59 AM

BO'B is producing the new AC/DC album.... can't wait to hear that!

kosmokrator · 15th May 2008, 08:27 AM

citing Dve Kushner (Velvet Revolver):
"He [B'OB] is the best musician in the room," guitarist Dave Kushner added. "I talked to Tom Morello because he has done records with Brendan, and he said the same thing. And to have a producer who is so musical, you can't just skate by. He'll say, 'Why don't you try this chord?' And I'm like, 'I've never heard of that chord!' "

Another album that comes to mind is 'Revelations' by Audioslave.

SLy_drums · 15th May 2008, 08:31 AM

He has an amazing CV and everything he touches sounds really amazing, both big and natural.
Anyone knowing what gear he does like to use ? And some tricks too...

fooman · 15th May 2008, 02:06 PM

STP's Purple is one of my fav cd's of all time. Kitchenware and Candybars is a style of song that you won't hear written anymore by a big rock band... so damn beautiful. That cd is pretty from start to finish.

Let's see... Korn's Follow the Leader and Issues are two great sounding discs IMO. I loved them when I was younger and took a listen to both of them yesterday and understood why I liked them so much back when they were 'popular'.

Obviously PJ, Velvet Revolver, I think he did some Rage too..??
I think 5/10 cds in my car right now are produced and/or mixed by BOB.

Speaking of 'bob'... my buddy was out with some friends in the States and one of them mentioned they knew Bob Rock. So they called him and handed my friend the cell. This is the conversation:
My friend - "Wow... umm... I'm a big fan of Metallica's black album. You really show the band in their best light... and"
BR - "Yea thanks.. uh, can you give Phil his phone back?"

Sorry, I had to tell someone cause I found that funny and didn't wanna start a new thread.

Everyman · 15th May 2008, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podgorny

Kings X - Dogman

Agreed. One of my favourite sounding hard rock records of all time.

Mixing Louder · 15th May 2008, 07:07 PM

Superunknown is probably one of the greatest sounding rock records in history.

I would point out though, that Jason Corsaro took 4 months tracking that record and had sub mixes already printed on the mutli-tracks. There were over 30 tracks for just the drums on some of those songs (except Black Hole Sun, Only Stereo Overhead and Kick).

Bredan Mixed the record, all 17 songs, in 9 days.

FELL ON BLACK DAYS-- one of my favorite mixes ever..

**Geert van den Berg** · 15th May 2008, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLUElightCory

Incubus "A Crow Left of the Murder" - unbelievable drum sounds!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blake Minaker

Definitely. Sonically amazing. Very deep and warm. One of my favourites.

Yeah I agree that is a great sounding record, pity the one after it, hasn't the same soundquality and great songs...

mixman499 · 15th May 2008, 09:56 PM

bud is the MAN !!

pure and simple. the perfect combination of organic, musical SONGS mixed with top end production.

everyone of his records sound like the BAND that he is producing.

he is THE guy that made me want to make records !!

some of my favorites....

michael penn "resigned"
pete droge "spacey and shaking"
pearl jam "vs." (really...any pj...)
brad "shame"
kings x "dogman"

and probably my favorite record B.O.B. has mixed...

mayfield four's "fallout"

brendan is the last of a dying breed of TRUE PRODUCERS. he is an excellent musician, and i believe that has been one of his greatest strengths.

i have enjoyed his records for years....and hope to for years to come. AC/DC with B.O.B ? wow !!!

best,

jchristopherhughes

Jaguar Dreams · 15th May 2008, 10:18 PM

This BOB thread got me busy on iTunes....

Ok, so the beginning of "My Wave", there are two guitar doubling the same part, one on the left, one on the right.

The "bouncing trail" I am hearing on the guitar on the left, is that a plate reverb with a lot of tail, or is it being run through a delay w/ repeats and then into a plate? Or is it something else?

-Jaguar

dick swifter · 15th May 2008, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jules

He hit a big warm roomy drum sound home run on that one IMHO

Don't forget his engineer for many of the records discussed here, including Train, Nick Didea.

He worked at the studio where I started my internship. Assisted for him a few times...... When those two work together, they really do create a unique sound. They really know their way around harmonic distortion and how to put it to good use IMO.

huub · 16th May 2008, 02:01 AM

Brad-interiours
One of the best sounding albums ever..
so is incubus-crow left of the murder
RHCP-blood sugar too..

I want to be brendan o'brien..
or brian wilson
or george martin
...

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22nd January 2008, 03:55 AM	#1
Gordon -10 Gear nut Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 130	Brendan O'Brien After a few years of mixing with low end stuff I've finally amassed some higher end gear. And as a result I am listening to some old favorite albums for what seems like the first time. In particular Ive been listening to Superunknown. Even more specifically the intro to Head Down. I get a little overwhelmed at such a fantastic sonic accomplishment. The perfect mix of expensive gear and actual talent! Which leads me to my question, what are your favorite songs or albums mixed by Mr.O'Brien. I'm limited to my cd collection and don't want to miss out on any gems. I'm also curious to see where Superunknown holds up amongst credentials...

22nd January 2008, 05:13 AM	#2
Drumsound Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Bloomington Il Posts: 3,597	I really love the sound of "Hollywood Town Hall" by the Jayhawks. He mixed that, and possibly tracked some of it too. There's a bunch of other stuff too. __________________ Tony Oxide Lounge Recording See the Oxide Lounge! WWJMD? Come see me on the Tape Op boards! "If I have to flip flop more than three times in an A/B test to figure out what the difference is, I lose interest in that difference.'--Tchad Blake

22nd January 2008, 05:39 AM	#4
BLueROom Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: SF, CA Posts: 852	Brendan O'Brian is most definitely one of my favs. Superunknown is a fantastic album; a mixing job that has withstood the test of time. I find him and Paul Northfield on the names of a large part of my collection. __________________ ------------------- ::Supersonic Samples::Premium Drum Replacement Library/ WAV & GOG ::Supersonic is DOWNLOADABLE:: 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 \| ------------------- SPECIAL HOLIDAY PRICING - $99!

22nd January 2008, 06:31 AM	#6
AMIEL Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 2,364	"Drops of Jupiter" from TRAIN.....great song and album! __________________ Peace. Reuven Amiel. Focal Monitors ? PM me "There are no rules, just knowledge, good taste and experimentation" "Music was designed to escape from reality for a moment, not to magnify our fears and problems"

22nd January 2008, 05:15 AM	#3
the_Chris Gear nut Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 132	I've always been a big fan of Pearl Jam and he produced a lot of their stuff. Soundgarden is great too... "Superunknown" is a favorite of mine. He's had a hand in so many great albums: "Blood Sugar Sex Magick" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Shake Your Money Maker" by the Black Crowes, "Spiritual Machines" by Our Lady Peace, "Libertad" by Velvet Revolver not to mention half of Stone Temple Pilots' stuff.

22nd January 2008, 05:44 AM	#5
SyncSailor Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 153	and in a slightly different genre, I think his production/mix of Bruce Springsteens The Rising is worth many listens.

22nd January 2008, 09:27 AM	#7
Podgorny Gear maniac Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Nashville Posts: 176	Kings X - Dogman __________________ Kyle Mann engineer/producer www.kylemann.com

22nd January 2008, 03:44 PM	#9
Matt_Weston Gear Head Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, ON Posts: 52	Another huge fan of Superunknown. I recall liking a lot of that mid-era Pearl Jam stuff too, can't remember off the top of my head which ones he worked on. But Vs. through Yield are the ones I will still listen too.

22nd January 2008, 04:45 PM	#10
roscoenyc Gear nut Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 113	Great guitar player also. He played all the lead guitar on "Shake Your Moneymaker" and also on Dan Baird's "Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired. __________________ http://www.cowboytechnical.com/

22nd January 2008, 05:03 PM	#11
BLUElightCory Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 732	Incubus "A Crow Left of the Murder" - unbelievable drum sounds! __________________ Cory Spotts / BLUElight Audio\|Media bluelightaudio@cox.net http://www.myspace.com/bluelightaudiomedia

22nd January 2008, 05:08 PM	#12
heyman Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005 Location: Waterbury CT, then Providence, RI Posts: 1,938	That STP album... Fantastic __________________ Teee hee ha ha .... I wanna play wit chew. Butter's Does Samwell! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4y...-in-the-bu_fun

22nd January 2008, 05:15 PM	#13
minor7th Gear interested Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Philadelphia PA Posts: 17	More like all of the STP records. Tiny Music still stands as one of my all time favorite albums from both a songwriting and production aspect. There are some rough spots in it, but in the end it all lends to a raw aggressive rock record. All the garage rock songs that start out the album sound great. And for totally insane sounding drums check out "Priceless" on Incubus' A Crow Left of the Murder. Brendan's guitar tones are what I use to measure my own.

22nd January 2008, 07:24 PM	#14
heyman Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005 Location: Waterbury CT, then Providence, RI Posts: 1,938	Yes, Tiny music... I love the tones onn that album.. I saw that tour as well.. __________________ Teee hee ha ha .... I wanna play wit chew. Butter's Does Samwell! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4y...-in-the-bu_fun

22nd January 2008, 07:44 PM	#16
thedoner Gear maniac Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NYCish Posts: 150	Superunknown is a masterpiece! Also love Purple (the 2nd album) by STP - Great natural, roomy drum sounds and of course the first Rage album. -G __________________ You guys are known for having some really long songs. Did you ever write a song so epic, that by the end of the song, you were actually being influenced by yourselves at the beggining of the song? - Steven Colbert, interviewing Rush

22nd January 2008, 08:16 PM	#17
rcm Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,097	Pearl Jam's Vs. album still blows me away. It marries the big crunchy drums sounds of BOB's later work but also maintains great tone and body in the instruments. A real benchmark in rock recording. __________________ Ronan Chris Murphy: Producer-Mixer http://www.venetowest.com (Ulver, Terry Bozzio, Jamie Walters, Tony Levin, Steve Morse, Chucho Valdes, Steve Stevens, Nels Cline, King Crimson ......) + http://www.homerecordingbootcamp.com Six day boot camp March 2-7 in Los Angeles

22nd January 2008, 08:34 PM	#18
Musiclab Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Elmont NY Posts: 3,222	I also really like Drops of Jupiter. 2 nights ago I was watching a film that had a Springsteen song on it I'd never heard that had a way cool vibe to it. produced by Brendan O'Brien __________________ Lou Gimenez www.musiclabnyc.com

22nd January 2008, 08:38 PM	#19
Jamz Lives for gear Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Bucks County/Philly, PA Posts: 2,152	+1 on Black Crowes "Shake Your Money Maker" and Pearl Jam's "VS". The new Springsteen song (which I like very much) and the new album "Maghic" was produced and mixed by BO'B. __________________ Jim Salamone http://myspace.com/cambridgesoundstudios http://cambridgesoundstudios.com http://myspace.com/onajerecording

15th May 2008, 07:59 AM	#20
jonboyrock Gear maniac Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 180	BO'B is producing the new AC/DC album.... can't wait to hear that!

15th May 2008, 08:27 AM	#21
kosmokrator Gear nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Berlin Posts: 141	Brendan O citing Dve Kushner (Velvet Revolver): "He [B'OB] is the best musician in the room," guitarist Dave Kushner added. "I talked to Tom Morello because he has done records with Brendan, and he said the same thing. And to have a producer who is so musical, you can't just skate by. He'll say, 'Why don't you try this chord?' And I'm like, 'I've never heard of that chord!' " Another album that comes to mind is 'Revelations' by Audioslave.

15th May 2008, 08:31 AM	#22
SLy_drums Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 659	He has an amazing CV and everything he touches sounds really amazing, both big and natural. Anyone knowing what gear he does like to use ? And some tricks too...

15th May 2008, 02:06 PM	#23
fooman Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 853	STP's Purple is one of my fav cd's of all time. Kitchenware and Candybars is a style of song that you won't hear written anymore by a big rock band... so damn beautiful. That cd is pretty from start to finish. Let's see... Korn's Follow the Leader and Issues are two great sounding discs IMO. I loved them when I was younger and took a listen to both of them yesterday and understood why I liked them so much back when they were 'popular'. Obviously PJ, Velvet Revolver, I think he did some Rage too..?? I think 5/10 cds in my car right now are produced and/or mixed by BOB. Speaking of 'bob'... my buddy was out with some friends in the States and one of them mentioned they knew Bob Rock. So they called him and handed my friend the cell. This is the conversation: My friend - "Wow... umm... I'm a big fan of Metallica's black album. You really show the band in their best light... and" BR - "Yea thanks.. uh, can you give Phil his phone back?" Sorry, I had to tell someone cause I found that funny and didn't wanna start a new thread. __________________ XXII-22 Productions

15th May 2008, 07:07 PM	#25
Mixing Louder Gear Head Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 74	Superunknown is probably one of the greatest sounding rock records in history. I would point out though, that Jason Corsaro took 4 months tracking that record and had sub mixes already printed on the mutli-tracks. There were over 30 tracks for just the drums on some of those songs (except Black Hole Sun, Only Stereo Overhead and Kick). Bredan Mixed the record, all 17 songs, in 9 days. FELL ON BLACK DAYS-- one of my favorite mixes ever.. __________________ Mixing Louder Huh??? www.myspace.com/tallmusicproductions www.myspace.com/bangrecording

15th May 2008, 09:56 PM	#27
mixman499 Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: usa Posts: 1,140	bud is the MAN !! pure and simple. the perfect combination of organic, musical SONGS mixed with top end production. everyone of his records sound like the BAND that he is producing. he is THE guy that made me want to make records !! some of my favorites.... michael penn "resigned" pete droge "spacey and shaking" pearl jam "vs." (really...any pj...) brad "shame" kings x "dogman" and probably my favorite record B.O.B. has mixed... mayfield four's "fallout" brendan is the last of a dying breed of TRUE PRODUCERS. he is an excellent musician, and i believe that has been one of his greatest strengths. i have enjoyed his records for years....and hope to for years to come. AC/DC with B.O.B ? wow !!! best, jchristopherhughes __________________ "how about more of less....?" jchristopherhughes producer/engineer/mixer/sound geek myspace.com/jonchristopherhughes

15th May 2008, 10:18 PM	#28
Jaguar Dreams Gear nut Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Posts: 132	ok, so what is that sound on "my wave" This BOB thread got me busy on iTunes.... Ok, so the beginning of "My Wave", there are two guitar doubling the same part, one on the left, one on the right. The "bouncing trail" I am hearing on the guitar on the left, is that a plate reverb with a lot of tail, or is it being run through a delay w/ repeats and then into a plate? Or is it something else? -Jaguar

16th May 2008, 02:01 AM	#30
huub Gear addict Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: amsterdam Posts: 431	Brad-interiours One of the best sounding albums ever.. so is incubus-crow left of the murder RHCP-blood sugar too.. I want to be brendan o'brien.. or brian wilson or george martin ...