Best Engineered/Mixed Song or Album?

[tedpenn]

I'm wondering what everyone's favorites are for what you guys consider really well engineered recordings. How about a top 5?
This would mean your favorite sounding recordings, with respect to the recording and mixing. Even though it's hard to separate production/songs/talent from the engineering side, I'd like to as much as possible. Feel free to separate by genre, etc.

Along the same lines would be: what do you guys use for reference recordings? Please do separate these by genre, i.e. "for hard rock, I reference blah blah blah..."


What do you guys think?

(Apologies if this has been beaten to death in another thread, I didn't see any in a quick search)

[Rufuss Sewell]

My Favorites... if I need inspiration any of these will do:

60's Classic Rock:
Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd
Sgt. Pepper's by the Beatles

70's Classic Rock:
Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John
Animals by Pink Floyd
Boston by Boston
Dreamboat Annie by Heart
The songs "That Smell" and "Saturday Night Special" by Skynyrd
Breakfast in America by Supertramp

Rock Albums:
In Absentia by Porcupine Tree
Grace by Jeff Buckley
Angel Dust by Faith No More
Aenima by Tool
Dirt by Alice in Chains

Hardcore/Metal:
Ghost Reveries by Opeth
Alive or Just Breathing by Killswitch Engage

80's Metal:
Skid Row by Skid Row
Appetite for Destruction by Guns and Roses
Master of Puppets by Metallica

Acoustic:
Beyond Nature by Phil Keaggy

80's Pop:
So Red the Rose by Arcadia
Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran
Disintegration by The Cure
Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears

Modern Pop:
Stripped by Christina Aguilera
The song "Toxic" by Britney Spears
Ray of Light by Madonna
Post by Bjork

Rap:
The Chronic by Dr. Dre
The song "Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre

Bluegrass:
So Long So Wrong by Alison Krauss

The more obscure stuff:
Black Foliage by Olivia Tremor Control
Mr. Bungle and California by Mr. Bungle
Pony Express Record by Shudder to Think
Any album by Opeth past the first two.

[DRC]

Not sure Ive ever checked a mix against any of them but I took 3 of these albums with me a while ago when I was buying monitors because to my ears they sound amazing. (And so do the tunes!) And because I have OCD I have to make it 10.

Black Crowes, Amorica
"Gone" and "Descender" (Great piano on that cut)

Chris Stills, 100 Year Thing
"If I Were A Mountain" (Can't believe this one fell off the face of the earth. Its a great album)

DMB, Before These Crowded..
"The Stone"

Lyle Lovett, Joshua Judges Ruth
"She's All Ready Made Up Her Mind" and "Church"

Fiona Apple, When The Pawn...
"Limp" ( The drum breakdown is f*cking awesome!)

Jeff Buckley, Grace
"Lilac Wine" (My fav. album of all time as far as material and the mix anit too bad either..nice and wet)

Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
(The whole thing is the perfect exercise in sound design with great songwriting)

The Wallflowers, Bringing down the Horse
"One Headlight" (Best sounding snare that Ive yet to hear and remember a song for it)

Steely Dan, Pretzel Logic
"Rikki, dont lose.."

k.d. lang, Ingenue
(She'll never make a better album than this one)

As much as I love great guitar sounds (ex. 1984, the "black" album, and Operation Mindcrime) There just usually isnt enough space in the heavier stuff....wait...my bad....

AC/DC, Back In Black.


Make it 11.

[mikesilence]

Richard Bona - "Munia - The tale"

Allen Taylor - Color of the moon


Greetz,

Mike

[84K]

In No Special Order:

Soundgarden "Superunknown"

Iggy Pop and the Stooges "Raw Power"

ACstikeDC "BIB" and "Highway To Hell" (tie)

The Rolling Stones "Exile On Main St."

Led Zeppelin "IV"

[bunnerabb]

ALBUMS:

REM - "Lifes Rich Pageant"

Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones

Beatles - "Revolver" - "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

Moody Blues - "Day Of Future Passed"

Pink Floyd - "Dark Side Of THe Moon"

Dixie Chicks -- "Wide Open Spaces"

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes"

The Cars - "The Cars"

Prince - "1999"

The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds"

Sting - "Dream Of The Blue Turtles"

Humble Pie - " Rockin' the Fillmore" (LIVE)

Peter Gabriel - "So"

Paul Simon -- "Graceland"

The Whole Motown Catalogue


SINGLES:

Squeeze - "Tempted"

Van Halen - "Dance The Night Away"

Emerson Drive - "Fall Into Me"

The Four Seasons - "Rag Doll"

Glen Campbell - "Galveston"

The Mamas and the Papas - "California Dreamin'"

Marc Cohn - "Walking In Memphis"

Stevie Wonder - "I Was Made To Love Her" / "Superstition"

Elvis Presley - "Suspicious Minds"

The Righteous Brothers - "(You've Lost) That Lovin' Feeling"

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - "Oooh, Baby Baby

[Anderson]

From well-known artists:

Sia Furler - Color the small one (Tchad Blake mixed it)
Tina Dico - In the red / Far
Placebo - Leni / BMM
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Suicidal Tendencies - The Art Of Rebellion (for the drums)
Rage Against The Machine - All Albums
Helmet - Betty
Ghostride - Cobra sunrise

[the1Hub]

albums (last 5 years-ish)
foofighters, nothing left to lose, in your honor
sarah Mclachlan, Afterglow
peter gabriel, UP
Radiohead, the bends
portis head, live with the london symphony
Norah jones, Feels like home
Anthony Hamilton, Itunes Original
Jimmy eat world, Clarity
Elliot, False Catherals
Coldplay X&Y
Alicia Keys Songs in a minor
Sting, Brand new day
the Mars volta

Albums (older)
U2 auchtung baby
Beatles the white album
Led zeplin IV
Peter Gabriel melt
the police synchronisity
Micheal Jackson Thiriller
Miles Davis kind of blue
Run dmc, Raising Hell
Seal 1994

Songs
Peter Gabriel, the Drop, Sky blue
sting, feel her up
Mutual Admirations society, windmills
Joni Mitchell, Both sides now, (the new version, her voice is amazing on it)
Joe pass, nice work if you can get.
Jimmy eat world, work
Patrick Cassidy/hans zimmer, Vide Cor Meum
counting crows, omaha
the carey brothers, blue eyes
Bob Marley no woman no cry live, (feedback and all)

[TornadoTed]

Top 5 in particular order, albums where I feel the sound perfectly matches the material.

1. Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy
2. Rage against the machine - Rage against the machine
3. Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon
4. Eat Static - Implant
5. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Penguin Cafe Orchestra

[Matt Grondin]

All in all, I don't see too many bad suggestions on the list. Rufuss Sewell, I'd have to agree with several of your selections... that Porcupine Tree record "In Absentia" is one of the best sounding records I've heard... I use the same mastering engineer for my music, Andy VanDette at Masterdisk... he's really cool and very good. When I first contacted him, he told me to check out that record because he thought it was the best sounding record he's done and I'd have to agree. I was blown away when I first heard it.

I love those Skynyrd records too (obviously... the bottom link is where I work at BTW)... Rodney Mills is a friend too and another awesome engineer.... he mostly does mastering now, but those Skynyrd records that he engineered and mixed are rockin'... he also did records with my dad's band, .38 Special, that even though they are very 80's sounding, I think are really good and the had some great songs for the times. Grace, Aenima, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Dark Side... all good stuff... from everyone... I LOVE Pet Sounds... I will try to think of my own list and post. Later.

p.s. Isn't Rufus Sewell the name of the actor from the Alex Proyas movie "Dark City" with Kiefer Sutherland and William Hurt?

[Matt Grondin]

No particular order:

Two Against Nature- Steely Dan
Seal (first record)
So- Peter Gabriel
Pet Sounds- Beach Boys
Siren- Heather Nova

[Gilliland]

Originally Posted by tedpenn

I'm wondering what everyone's favorites are for what you guys consider really well engineered recordings.

Here's a few.

Richard Thompson's "Mirror Blue".

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo".

The Roches "Can We Go Home Now".

And while we're at it, one nominated for this year's engineering grammy, Chris Thile's "Deceiver". Chris played and sang every part on the record, so it took a bit of engineering to make it all work. Drums, acoustic and electric piano, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, string quartet (!), acoustic and electric bass, all with complex vocal and harmony arrangements. Not a trivial undertaking. He and Gary Paczosa are nominated for the grammy.

[Rufuss Sewell]

Wow, I love Chris Thile... he is about the definition of the phrase "bad ass." I didn't know that about his latest album though, I'll have to pick it up.

As far as Rufus Sewell the actor, he stole my name damnit! But just my middle and last name. My full name is Jason Rufuss Sewell.

Glad to hear someone else digs that Porcupine Tree album, I was really disappointed that it didn't have more success. They really needed to release "Trains" as a single. Huge missed opportunity in my opinion.

.38 Special... gotta love Hold On Loosely. Props to your pops! That song has some advice that everyone should live by.

And those two Skynyrd songs have some of the best lyrics ever. Just plain undeniable truth... often forgotten.

Oooh that smell...
Can't you smell that smell?
Oooh that smell...
The smell of death surrounds you

And then three days later...

That's some freaky shit.

[rockcamaro97]

the albums ive been diggin the sound of as of late are:

Mudvayne- Lost and found. the music is hugely complex and there is a lot going on but things are blended so well as to make it sound easy and effortless.

Sevendust-Next. 7D's best album to date production wise, and it was all done BY them in there guitar players home. The tone/sounds on the album blow me away

and finally, last but def not least

Dark New Day-12 Year Silence. 7D's old guitar player. The writing, production, performance are all SPOT ON. AMAZING sound.

MAtt

[djbrough]

Steely Dan- Gaucho

[Jose Mrochek]

McCartneys .. Chaos and Creation is probably the best sounding album I heard in a while.

[Cujo]

Big Star's #1 Record

I am listening right now as I wait fo a session.
Holy shit.

[doorknocker]

- Jeff Buckley 'Grace'

- Frank Sinatra 'In the wee small hours'

- Muddy Waters 'Folk Singer'

Never heard a better acoustic small group recording, the reverb is otherwordly. Though I'm no vinyl snob at all (see below), neither the CD nor the SACD version can hold a candle against the vinyl on this one.

- The Who 'Quadrophenia':

I just bought it again on CD, hadn't heard that one in ages. I was just stunned by the recxording quality, Townshend's guitars are amazing and so is Entwistle's bass. I prefer this over 'Who's next' by far.

- Marvin Gaye 'Trouble Man'

And so many others..........

[Matt Grondin]

That British bastard! We should beat him up for taking your name. BTW, not to get off subject, but if you'll haven't seen that movie "Dark City" with Rufus Sewell, it's really freakin' good, especially if you're into sci-fi movies.

Anyway, I think "Trains" from In Absentia is such a great song.... it's like a modern take on Zeppelin or something. As far as .38 Special goes, yup, that's my dad on the drums... I love those songs. "Caught Up In You" is another good one.

[Kris]

Bonnie Raitt - luck of the draw
Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now
Pink Floyd - DSOTM
Thriller

[C/G]

Wilco - Hotel Yankee Foxtrot

Morrissey - Viva Hate. A little light in the low end, but still sounds bloody fantastic.

Urge Overkill - Exit the Dragon

Old:

Beatles - Revolver

Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy/ In through the Out Door


This list will probably change at some point.

[tedpenn]

Originally Posted by tedpenn

I'm wondering what everyone's favorites are for what you guys consider really well engineered recordings. How about a top 5?
This would mean your favorite sounding recordings, with respect to the recording and mixing. Even though it's hard to separate production/songs/talent from the engineering side, I'd like to as much as possible. Feel free to separate by genre, etc.

Along the same lines would be: what do you guys use for reference recordings? Please do separate these by genre, i.e. "for hard rock, I reference blah blah blah..."


What do you guys think?

(Apologies if this has been beaten to death in another thread, I didn't see any in a quick search)

Wow- so much variation. Keep 'em coming

[theblue1]

I see some favorite albums listed (including some I love but would not have included in this list)... but I don't see an album I sort of rediscovered a few weeks ago that really knocked me back when it was released -- soundwise.

Traffic's John Barleycorn.

It puts the sound smack dab in front of you... one of the first modern uses of compression in rock that I can think of. It used to drive me crazy how the bass on rock records so often changed levels erratically due to undealt with resonances (and/or standing waves in the studio recording room, etc). Every note of the bass on John Barleycorn is smack in place, bumping along on top of the kick, with the drums spread (but not too widely as would be common a decade later) nicely and well balanced.

It's not necessarily my favorite album of the era (I have a bit of soft spot for it and it was a big fave of mine when it was out) but, thinking offhand, it's one of the first really modern sounding rock records I can think of.

[84K]

Pearl Jam's "Yield" has to be one of my favorite sounding albums ever.

[Matt Grondin]

BTW, I think that new Chris Thile record mentioned above is honestly one of the worst cases of recorded music in the history of mankind.... nothing to do with how it sounds though. I absolutely loathe the music on that record... he should just stick to playing mandolin and leave the songwriting and singing up to people with actual talent. He is an amazing player, but a terrible musician in my opinion when it comes to anything other than burning fast bluegrass and newgrass solos, which he's very good at.

[BB Bill]

I think Bill Bottrell's production and engineering on Sheryl Crow's "Tuesday Night Music Club" is just fantastic. The overall sound on that record is just out of this world IMO.

Warm, creamy, organic. Great songs and great performances too.

[Gilliland]

Originally Posted by dobby12

BTW, I think that new Chris Thile record mentioned above is honestly one of the worst cases of recorded music in the history of mankind.... nothing to do with how it sounds though. I absolutely loathe the music on that record... he should just stick to playing mandolin and leave the songwriting and singing up to people with actual talent. He is an amazing player, but a terrible musician in my opinion when it comes to anything other than burning fast bluegrass and newgrass solos, which he's very good at.

Well, it's good to see that his record has inspired such a passionate response! <g> I rather like the Deceiver record, and I tend to like Chris's contemporary stuff just as much as his fast licks and traditional playing. But I'd certainly concede that he is quite immature as an artist, and has considerable room to develop his musical maturity. I'd also agree that Deceiver is flawed in some respects, even though I enjoy listening to it a lot.

Obviously, he is an extraordinary player, but I think he has the potential to be much more than that.

I haven't heard the new live recording that he's made with Mike Marshall (released this week), but that is the kind of collaboration that will allow him to hone not just his chops, but also to increase his grasp of a broad range of music.

[T.RayBullard]

Wilco Being There

Alison Krauss and Union Station Live

Johnny Cash American Recordings

Stone temple pilots Purple

Tom Waits...nighthawks at the diner

[drummin4christ]

Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound

[Earwitness]

Originally Posted by drummin4christ

Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound

I think the post was best-produced not over-produced. :-P

Sorry had to go there, yea I know the Switchfoot guys from doin the Christian circuts and they are great guys... very humble for how far they have come.


OK here goes mine,
Jeff Buckly Grace for sure
Marc Cohn walking in memphis
Toad the Wet Sproket - you pick an album
Sarah McClauglin (sp?)
Wilco - YFH
James Taylor - October Road


Oh here is one nobody has said... Glenn Phillips - Summer Pays for Winter listen to the drum sounds on this album WOW

my2 or 3 or 8