Best Production on a Album?

[Two hands31]

What's your favorite album production-wise?

Note: answers like "the production was perfect for that album" are perfectly acceptable, even if the production wasn't great by the usual standards.

My choices:

Metallica - Black Album:
Heaviest sounding guitars I've ever heard in standard tuning...ever.

Metallica - St. Anger:
An interesting experiment that, while I don't think the final product was as good as it could have been, was really cool and, I think, a success.

Finch - What It Is To Burn:
This CD is everything that St. Anger should have been: total abuse of Pro Tools with fantastic results. With entire halves of songs pieced together from random samples from earlier in the song (some of which is more noise than notes) and a ten minute long break before the bonus track (the title track ironically) of warped and twisted cymbal, piano, vocal and feedback sounds, I'd say this CD is exactly the kind of thing Pro Tools was made for. Though the drums are a little quiet in places (which sucks, cuz the guy's not bad).

The Tea Party - The Interzone Mantras:
Really raw sounding, yet with enough layered instruments to drown in.

The Tea Party - Transmission:
The total opposite of Interzone, this CD is near-industrial, with heavy Nine Inch Nails influence (I can guarantee they had a copy of "Pretty Hate Machine" on hand).

I Mother Earth - The Quicksilver Meat Dream:
Tool producer David Bottrill does an excellent job making this CD sound completely otherworldly and gives it an atmosphere that's downright creepy in places, and absolutely beautiful in others.

I Mother Earth - Blue, Green, Orange:
Once again, the complete opposite of the above album, this album is raw sounding, like a band jamming in the studio (something Metallica tried for, but failed). It really shows off then-new singer Brian Byrne's voice as there's very little vocal overdubs on the album.

there's more, I'll be back

[BucketBot]

Queensryche - Empire

[Reaper]

I would say that Meshuggah's "Destroy Erase Improve" had excellent production.

[pawel]

U2 - Achtung Baby
U2 - Pop
Radiohead - OK Computer
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Rolling Stones - Stripped

In terms of heavier stuff:

Pantera - TGSTK
Metallica - Black Album

I know there are more, but those are the ones I can think of...

[darren wilson]

Oh, yeah... OK Computer is a stunning album from beginning to end.

Mutt Lange's production on Def Leppard's "Hysteria" was also astounding for the time. His production style is too slick for today's heavy music, but it looks like Shania is pretty much his full-time project these days. And really, who can blame him? (I was going to make a "twiddle her knobs" joke here, but thought better of it.)

[trouble311]

Deftones - Around The Fur, White Pony, and Self-Titled. THE rhythm tone I have always wanted since I discovered I wanted a rhythm tone.

Their production is just ridiculous.

Also, Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory

Vai - Fire Garden

Tool - anything. Justin Chancellor's bass tone is without equal, as is Danny Carey's drum sound.

[Drew]

-Although the stereo mix is actually pretty boring, Devin Townsed's "Terria" has been hugely influential on my conception of what an album should sound like. Layer upon layer upon layer, overdubs, echoes, and just sounds... The guitars sound so lush, no easy feat for a crunch-y, almost abrasive distortion sound.

-When I'm mixing tracks, I usually go to Satch's "The Extremist" for a reference mix. Sure, it's not his best... but it's a very clear recording that at the same time has a very "live," in-the-room sound to it.

-Anything done by Kevin Moore, particularly OSI... I LOVE that album, and what he did to Portnoy's drum work is nothing short of brilliant. The way he processes his voice and the harmonies he arranged are amazing, too- i walked around campus humming that title track the entire first week i bought the disc, lol.

-Sarah McLachlan, "Surfacing." I've raved about the guitar work on this disc around here before- it's like "anti-guitar" playing, gives all the texture of a guitar without actually sounding like one.

-Nirvana, "Unplugged." Kind of a ballsy choice, but you wanna know what I like about this one? the fact it doesn't SOUND produced. The recording itself is pretty true to life, there was no attempt to remove crowd noise or banter between songs, and I just love the sound of Kurt's guitar... Basically, because it's an honest testament to what that performance must have been like. It "Feels" like a concert, and this is something very few live CD's really do, I feel.

-D

[pawel]

Originally Posted by darren wilson

And really, who can blame him? (I was going to make a "twiddle her knobs" joke here, but thought better of it.)

Well, you effectively just did tell the joke... And the choice between Shania as a full time "project" and producing Leppard albums is pretty obvious to me

Another surprisingly well produced album is Tom Petty's Wildflowers...nothing flashy, but it sounds amazing...

And, yes OSI has great production, and I can see what you're saying about the Nirvana album...

[revsharp777]

Meshuggah - "Destroy Erase Improve"
Opeth - "Blackwater Park", "Deliverance", "Damnation", "Still Life"
Dimmu Borgir - "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia"
Carcass - "Heartwork"
Dream Theater - "Awake", "SFAM"
Megadeth - "Rust In Peace"
Mr. Bungle - "S/T"
Pantera - "Vulger Display of Power"
Prong - "Cleansing"
Steely Dan - "Aja"

All of these mixes are godly!

[failsafe306]

I'm not a big Korn fan anymore, but I think that Life is Peachy is the best produced Korn album. Every time I listen to that cd through headphones, I hear something new that I never noticed before. To me, things like that can make a good album a great album.

[failsafe306]

Also, the new 36 Crazyfists cd that isn't out yet is unREAL!! The production on that is so amazingly clear, yet heavy at the same time.

[JESTER700]

For metal,
DT - Images & Words
King's X - the first 3
Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
Europe - Out of this World
Def Lep - Pyromania

[guitarkatana]

The best production I've ever heard is Dream Theater's Train of Thought, Opeth's Black Water Park, and Meshuggah's Concatenation Remix on their CD Rare Trax.

[wilch]

Best production on any CD = Dream Theater Awake

wil..

[The Madness Here]

The answer is, without a doubt, Blind Guardians A night at the Opera.
To have upwards of 130 studio (50 devoted to vocals!) tracks with so many different parts all mixed seemlessly. All the important parts come out when they need while the less important parts fade into the background. Now for your typical 5 piece rock group this is easy, but with a band like blind guardian, and especially with this album, this is amazing.

If you haven't heard it download Battfield and the epic And then there was Silence.