Amazing albums with garbage tone

[HueyRamone]

Wraffchild - Stakk Attakk

Kiss debut has garbage tone and garbage performances, but great songs.

[Sticky]

A few come to mind -
Kiss, Hotter Than Hell
Overkill, I Hear Black

And basically anything Toby Wright produced in the late 90's
Queensrych, HITNF
Kiss, Carnival of Souls
Alice in Chains, Dog Album 1995

[Gibsonite]

Foo Fighters - S/T

Sounds like it was recorded in a cardboard box, which, to be fair, it probably was.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry

For my money, a classic. Belongs in the top 10 of every 80's hard rock/metal list.

I think the impulse is to always blame Tom Werman, as evidenced by our ABTW credo above the door, but I think the band just sounded like shit.

And French/Ojeda get shit but they truly did themselves zero favors with those tones. Was the whole idea to sound like kids in their bedroom playing through tiny Peaveys? If so, I guess I can appreciate it conceptually...

[Hellsinkey]

Jethro Tull - Aqualung

[GoodJudge]

Wolfsbane - Live Fast, Die Fast

[Psychobolia.com]

Suffocation's 2nd album, Breeding the Spawn. Production is so bad on that one that they've been re-recording each of it' songs one at a time for all of their latter albums.

[SchenkerFan]

Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry

For my money, a classic. Belongs in the top 10 of every 80's hard rock/metal list.

I think the impulse is to always blame Tom Werman, as evidenced by our ABTW credo above the door, but I think the band just sounded like shit.

And French/Ojeda get shit but they truly did themselves zero favors with those tones. Was the whole idea to sound like kids in their bedroom playing through tiny Peaveys? If so, I guess I can appreciate it conceptually...

Yup, guitars sound like they're played through cardboard amps. They went from awesome tone on You Can't Stop Rock n Roll to this shit.

And I definitely blame Tom Werman. He may have been a good pop producer, but he completely neutered heavy metal bands. The records he did for Dokken and Crue had similar problems.

[Love_Industry]

And I definitely blame Tom Werman. He may have been a good pop producer, but he completely neutered heavy metal bands. The records he did for Dokken and Crue had similar problems.

Dokken Tooth and Nail has one of the worst tones for a major label album. The Rock Candy CD remaster is a massive upgrade but still not even close to their Neil Kernon produced albums.

[Hellsinkey]

Wolfsbane - Live Fast, Die Fast

Rick Rubin couldn't be bothered. The drum machine on Manhunt is rubbish, for example.

[Alessa]

Black Sabbath - Born again

Love the songs but the sound is horrible.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Black Sabbath - Born again

Love the songs but the sound is horrible.

I kinda like it. Iommis tone is trebly and solid-statey, but it fits the heaviness of the material. Some of those riffs are like proto-thrash.

[Love_Industry]

Black Sabbath - Born again

Love the songs but the sound is horrible.

I kinda like it. Iommis tone is trebly and solid-statey, but it fits the heaviness of the material. Some of those riffs are like proto-thrash.

Wasn't that going to be remixed now that Iommi has recovered the studio tapes? What he /they did with Forbidden was amazing. I used to hate that album and now it's not even the worst Martin era Sabbath album - Cross Purposes is weaker and if you remove The Shining it gives Eternal Idol some tough competition.

[Bono Nettencourt]

I never heard that. There are some raw demos floating around.

[Hatchets Molly]

Aside from the limitations of recording equipment decades ago, how the hell do producers and sound engineers not hear shit tone when we can? It's like tv shows and movies. One watch and I can often tell if it's a flop and headed toward cancellation, yet some executive greenlit the show for prime time.

[Love_Industry]

[/quote]

Aside from the limitations of recording equipment decades ago, how the hell do producers and sound engineers not hear shit tone when we can? It's like tv shows and movies. One watch and I can often tell if it's a flop and headed toward cancellation, yet some executive greenlit the show for prime time.

Would be interesting to see how accurate your predictions are. Never missed a big hit or failed to see that something will bomb?

In 1991, you would expect Europe's Prisoners in Paradise to take them to the next level. It sounds good and both band, producer and song doctors have multiplatinum track records. This would Surely be their Dr Feelgood or Pump?

Yet it bombed and that years runaway success was the 2nd album by a band whose debut did nothing and the new one while not sounding bad was not what was expected to be a hit in that era.

Full disclosure, I prefer both PiP and Bleach to Nevermind. But we all know what sold....

[Jason Jennifer Leigh]

KISS - Crazy Nights

Maybe not an amazing album in the traditional sense but an amazing album to KISS fans, tone sucked.

Metallica - St.Anger

[HueyRamone]

Metallica - St.Anger

Oh yeah, I remember how everyone was raving about how amazing that one was.

"My lifestyle determines my deathstyle!"
"Frantic tik tik tik tok!"
"Im madly in anger with you!"

Im really mad that Purify was ruined by poor tone.

[Mojo]

I'll get some hate here, but Blizzard of Ozz/i]. Randy's wah-half open sounding tone has always sounded off, to me.

[Zabooka]

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls.

Some great songs, but flat, cold and distant tone.

[Love_Industry]

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls.

Some great songs, but flat, cold and distant tone.

Priest's worst album with Halford. Maybe a good song or two on the bonus disc but overall it blows. Lazy Priest by numbers. On Nostradamus at least they were trying.

Just realized that from 1990 to 2018, 28 years, their only album that didn't suck was Angel of Retribution. And then they make two albums in a Row better than anything since Turbo. Strange trajectory.

[Jason Jennifer Leigh]

What the wha … I liked St.Anger.

If only it had the Black album production and Jason.

[Sleek]

And I definitely blame Tom Werman. He may have been a good pop producer, but he completely neutered heavy metal bands. The records he did for Dokken and Crue had similar problems.

Dokken Tooth and Nail has one of the worst tones for a major label album. The Rock Candy CD remaster is a massive upgrade but still not even close to their Neil Kernon produced albums.

Fuck, I always liked Werman's productions, specifically remember Tooth and Nail sounding badass when it came out.

Werman was great at bringing songs and performances out of groups.

Tastes change and so does technology. A lot of records I liked on vinyl or cassette sounded weak on CD and that has carried over to digital files. Most '80's records sound like trash anyway because of then-current choices like gated snares and stuff.

A lot of the "beloved first albums" bands did BEFORE working with Werman sounded like demo tapes, but are now much loved for sounding RAW. LWTCDI, L.A. Guns, Breaking the Chains and Stay Hungry among them.

[HueyRamone]

And I definitely blame Tom Werman. He may have been a good pop producer, but he completely neutered heavy metal bands. The records he did for Dokken and Crue had similar problems.

Dokken Tooth and Nail has one of the worst tones for a major label album. The Rock Candy CD remaster is a massive upgrade but still not even close to their Neil Kernon produced albums.

Fuck, I always liked Werman's productions, specifically remember Tooth and Nail sounding badass when it came out.

Werman was great at bringing songs and performances out of groups.

Tastes change and so does technology. A lot of records I liked on vinyl or cassette sounded weak on CD and that has carried over to digital files. Most '80's records sound like trash anyway because of then-current choices like gated snares and stuff.

A lot of the "beloved first albums" bands did BEFORE working with Werman sounded like demo tapes, but are now much loved for sounding RAW. LWTCDI, L.A. Guns, Breaking the Chains and Stay Hungry among them.

You mean You Cant Stop RnR. And you forgot TFFL.

[Hatchets Molly]

Aside from the limitations of recording equipment decades ago, how the hell do producers and sound engineers not hear shit tone when we can? It's like tv shows and movies. One watch and I can often tell if it's a flop and headed toward cancellation, yet some executive greenlit the show for prime time.

Would be interesting to see how accurate your predictions are. Never missed a big hit or failed to see that something will bomb?

In 1991, you would expect Europe's Prisoners in Paradise to take them to the next level. It sounds good and both band, producer and song doctors have multiplatinum track records. This would Surely be their Dr Feelgood or Pump?

Yet it bombed and that years runaway success was the 2nd album by a band whose debut did nothing and the new one while not sounding bad was not what was expected to be a hit in that era.

Full disclosure, I prefer both PiP and Bleach to Nevermind. But we all know what sold....
[/quote]

I don't keep a logbook (and I did say often, not always). Anecdotally, I'm often right. My first sentence is really the crux of my comment: Why can't professional record producers/audio engineers hear shit sound when the layman can?

[Bono Nettencourt]

Aside from the limitations of recording equipment decades ago, how the hell do producers and sound engineers not hear shit tone when we can? It's like tv shows and movies. One watch and I can often tell if it's a flop and headed toward cancellation, yet some executive greenlit the show for prime time.

Would be interesting to see how accurate your predictions are. Never missed a big hit or failed to see that something will bomb?

In 1991, you would expect Europe's Prisoners in Paradise to take them to the next level. It sounds good and both band, producer and song doctors have multiplatinum track records. This would Surely be their Dr Feelgood or Pump?

[Hatchets Molly]

Aside from the limitations of recording equipment decades ago, how the hell do producers and sound engineers not hear shit tone when we can? It's like tv shows and movies. One watch and I can often tell if it's a flop and headed toward cancellation, yet some executive greenlit the show for prime time.

Would be interesting to see how accurate your predictions are. Never missed a big hit or failed to see that something will bomb?

In 1991, you would expect Europe's Prisoners in Paradise to take them to the next level. It sounds good and both band, producer and song doctors have multiplatinum track records. This would Surely be their Dr Feelgood or Pump?

Just to be clear, that wasn't my quote. Looks like my response to it above, I must have jacked up the quote hashtags.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Fixed it.

[Hatchets Molly]

Fixed it.

A true Prince.

[Bono Nettencourt]

I'm all excited, and I don't know why.