Reference Albums

[diVer]

To begin... this is my 1st post, so greetings and all that

I was thinking of albums the other day, and I was brought to think about the albums that both as just a listener impressed me, and as someone who writes, records and mixes have influenced me most. These then are albums that get frequent rotation in my music listening, and due to their influence I also go back to to study (their aspects such as the sounds chosen, arrangements, the mixing, production, etc.)

I've narrowed my list down to these albums:

- The Cure's "Disintegration" and "Pornography"
- Slowdive's "Souvlaki Space Station"
- New Order's "Movement"
- Curve's "Cuckoo"
- Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works"

I'm curious as to other people's lists similar to what I've chosen to call reference albums.

[Sonicvalley]

steely dan-aja or gaucho
new switchfoot record
sting
pat methany
an endless list...

just find a good mainstream comparison for whatever client you are working with

[TheArchitect]

Steely Dan - Aja and later
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
Marillion - Seasons End
John Patitucci - Imprint / Communion
Diana Krall - Love Scenes
Steve Vai - Sex and Religion
Queen - Anything

[vixapphire]

my studio reference monitor record that gets played everywhere i go as a "test record" is black dog by zeppelin. sure, it has no low end by today's standards, but i've lived this record since i was 2 years old (i'm 36 now) and by this time i *know* how it's supposed to sound. that's probably at least as important a criterion than the fidelity of any given reference recording, when it comes down to calibrating/trusting your ears in a mixing situation.

plus, it's just such a great song to start the day with!

[WilliamFF]

Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris
Shine - Daniel Lanois
Kenny Wheeler - Angel Song
Amon Tobin - Permutations
Velvet Underground - Banana Album
Theme From Deadwood - David Schwartz
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac ( Remastered version )
Seasons In The Abyss - Slayer

[feyshay]

The Feelies--The Good Earth
Los Lobos--Kiko
Pat Metheny--The Way Up
Steely Dan--Aja
Radiohead--Kid A

[djwayne]

Interesting thread.

Just today I wanted to do a demo recording of a 30 year old song by CSN. I had these great memories of how wonderful their music sounded. I was tweaking my system to get my recording to sound like I remebered them sounding. Then I played their actual recording and A/B'ed it next to mine......It's not a perfect match, it's a little different, and I'm not gonna say mine sounded better, but all of a sudden I was happy with the sound I was getting out of my system, compared to the original recording. The original recording wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't the sonically perfect thing I had remembered it to be.

hmmmm.

[reggiesears]

Johnny Hates Jazz(Tall Stories)
Phil Thornalley(Swamp)
NIN(Downward Spiral)
Tears For Fears(The Seeds Of Love)
Haddaway(The Best Of)-(Great Club Sound)
Solo(Solo)-(Motown...1994, I think)
The Thompson Twins(Into The Gap)
Cheap Trick(Woke Up With A Monster)
Keith Sweat(Get Up On It)
Prodigy(Fat Of The Land)
Eve 6(Horrorscopes)
Vannessa Williams(The Comfort Zone)
Surface(Nice Time For Lovin')
Jason Weaver(Luv Ambition)
Adina Howard
Disco Rick & The Dogs(Beware Of The Dogs!)
Disco Rick & The Wolfpac(Booty Mixx Party)
Anythang By Michael Jackson
Laura Branigan(Self Control, Remastered)
Of Course, anything Depeche Mode released(haven't heard their new one though)

[Jeffguitar]

FRANK ZAPPA, Joe's Garage. great mix and a lot of great songs with a huge variety of instruments, electronics, synths, great bass, guitars, all of it.

[Piranhadrum]

Originally Posted by TheArchitect

Marillion - Seasons End

I am wearing a Seasons End t-shirt right now!

Love that band.

[Teddy Ray]

Gillian Welch--Time the Revelator

Bap Kennedy- Domestic Blues

Wilco- YHF, A Ghost is Born

Muddy Waters- Folk Singer

Willie Nelson- Phases and Stages

Loose Fur- Born Again in the USA

Ray Lamontagne- Till the Sun Turns Black

Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker

Whiskeytown- Pneumonia

Tom Waits- Rain Dogs

[Terry McInturff]

I have a number of them, too lazy to list,

but my latest one is "The Future" by Leonard Cohen.

[Knastratt]

Amused to death - Roger Waters
In Absentia - Porcupine tree
Svarte bjørn - Kari Bremnes
Continuum - John Mayer

+ hundreds more